Sci-Fi Weekender

Last weekend, my husband and I went to Pwllheli at the Sci-Fi Weekender. The lovely Rebecca from becster.com asked us if we would want to go to the event last year as she wanted to share the tickets she won with us. We were very happy to hear and also very keen on going. Initially I though I will dress up, but then decided against it as I didn’t have a proper costume nor time and inclination to make one.
I’m not a huge fan of Sci-Fi, my husband does love the genre though. But I’m a big fan of cosplay, I always like looking at costumes.

This year was the Sci-Fi Weekender 9th cycle. It’s a festival of all things Sci-Fi. The festival had different areas with themes. There were two arenas with talks and guests. Also, a few places to buy a lot of things, from cosplay to books.

Me and Rebecca, at the Sci-Fi Weekender.

Many people were all dressed up in fantastic costumes. I think it’s amazing to see them cosplay, they spend so much time making the costume and it’s impressive.

This was one of the arenas. We’ve seen a guest drawing a character with input from the crowds. It was hilarious. Later on it was a discussion with a panel of people cosplay. They talked about how much they spend making the costumes. It was interesting to see the insight. I love the “behind the scenes” sort of thing.

In the second arena, in another building, there were a few talks. Besides, a training held by someone that appeared in Star Wars. It must have been a fun activity for children.

How clever is this cosplay? I wouldn’t have thought to put a flower pot on my head. It’s hilarious. But, as you can see from the pictures, there were so many amazing looking cosplay. It was hard to pick a few that I liked best.

It was a shooting range with replicas. Of course I had to go shooting. My husband was eager to try it. Even though he was not as eager as I was. I’ve tried shooting before and it’s exhilarating to hit the target.

I would have preferred a bullseye sort of target. It was not, but, well, is not real. A human form target had multiple spots and that was a good thing, as not spots were as easily to hit. We got two guns and switched them midway, so we could try two. We also tried both targets, as the spots were placed in different locations.

First I tried the AK47. I asked and it was a bit lighter than a real AK47. I was surprised because the gun felt quite heavy. He said that weights are added to make it feel realistic. I got around 22 pellets and I hit 7 spots. An accuracy of almost 30% is quite good.
My husband hit 8 spots with 22 pellets. It was the first time he tried shooting, so it was very impressive indeed.

Next was the pistol. As you can see from my position, I tried “like in the movies”. Well, only 1 spot hit from 12 possible. The accuracy was so poor. My husband adopted a different technique, instead of stretched arms, he kept the gun close to his eyes. Hence he got 7 out of 12!
In movies though stretched arms look so much better, not realistic.

I love shooting. Obviously, I prefer the AK47, because it feels heavier. If you ever have the change, do try it. It’s a fun sport.

Next, let’s talk about the things you can buy.

This is a creation of Mark Cordory. All the things on the stand were amazing, you can have a look on their website, at markcordoy.com.

There were T-shirts, pieces of steampunk jewellery, games, replica arms for cosplay, watches. So many things to buy, if you fancy.

At the book stands they were offering a small book for free, with two short stories. I got it and I’m going to read it to see if I like the style or not. I’ve read Ender’s Game and that was fascinating, but nothing else.

We had an amazing time at the Sci-Fi Weekender. I’m so happy Rebecca invited us.

If you want to attend next year, the event takes place in Hafan y Môr Holiday Park, Pwllheli, Gwynedd, North Wales,LL53 6HJ. It will be from 28th to 31st March 2019.