FAN EXPO Canada returns to Toronto for 30th year

FAN EXPO Canada kicked off on Thursday at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, with all things pop culture.

The event, which is billed as the largest comics, sci-fi, horror, anime, and gaming convention in Canada, is celebrating 30 years.

It’s a milestone anniversary shared with Pokémon.

Sarah Natochenny is a long-time voice actor behind Ash Ketchum, among other characters in the multi-billion dollar franchise.

She says she’s looking forward to meeting dedicated fans.

“I love meeting people’s children who are like ‘Oh, I just got into this.’ It’s such an honour to be able to meet the people that have had my voice in their living room,” Natochenny said.

From Pokémon cards to plush toys, you can catch ’em all at FAN EXPO.

“It’s so timeless and I think Ash Ketchum specifically, he never grows up, to me, because he needs to be there for every generation. He needs to be there for the parents who are going to show the show to their kids and the kids that are going to show it to their siblings,” Natochenny said.

If you want a Star Wars photo op, the LEGO booth has a massive AT-RT you can sit inside.

It’s made up of more than 142,000 bricks and took more than 1,000 hours to build.

This year, attendees are also invited to join the Fellowship.

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The actors behind Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin are reuniting for The Lord of the Rings’ 25^th film anniversary.

“They are taking to the stage for two special events on Friday and Saturday night. I believe there’s still some tickets on Friday night. And some people are lucky enough to have Second Breakfast with the Hobbits too on Sunday morning,” said Andrew Moyes, vice president of FAN EXPO HQ.

“It’s a great way to learn unique things about the movies that you may not have known before.”

People can even get up close to Mark Hamill who played Luke Skywalker, and legendary wrestler-turned-actor, John Cena.

You can also meet Canadian actor Ari Millen, who plays the title character in Ice Cream Man, a slasher flick shot in Toronto that sees children transform into homicidal maniacs.

“What I normally like to do is read the script and then get into costume. It’s a very distinct costume that when I would get out of it, people wouldn’t even recognize me on set,” said Millen, whose character is silent.

“The new challenge in this role was just sort of understanding the different moments and what they meant to him and learning how to express that with my eyes, with my smile or with body language.”

At FAN EXPO, many take on an alter ego.

Samantha Elford, who came dressed as Rogue from X-Men, says it’s her first time cosplaying.

“I’ve had a couple people look at me, a couple people compliment me, a couple people shout at me, and I’m just like, ‘This is nice,’” she said with a laugh.

“It’s a fun community here. There’s no judgement, everybody’s here just doing whatever they want to do.”

Another attendee, Amarion Johnson, is playing the part of Kiba Inuzuka from the anime series Naruto.

“Trust me, it’s really easy to make friends. You go up to a person in costume and you’re like, ‘I love your costume,’ and they’re like, ‘I love yours,’ and it’s just such an amazing experience,” he said.

Maria Martin transformed into Raven from Teen Titans.

“I love Halloween so any chance I get to dress up, cosplay, I’ll take it,” she said.

“Never be shy, just go out and do it and have fun, be yourself, it’s always the best thing.”

Organizers are expecting around 130,000 people to make their way down for the four-day event, which wraps up on Sunday.

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