Sci Fi Weekender 23th – 24th March 2018
Hafan Y Mor Holiday Park, Pwllheli
Right back at ya with Part 2 of my report from Sci Fi Weekender 9. Apologies for the delay, I’ve had some issues with memory banks getting wiped.
Day 2 of the festivities began with a monumental shock for our crew. One of our team, Ensign Davies, had succumbed to a strange, planet borne virus. When we awoke, there was no sign of our comrade. He soon made contact however with news that he had beamed back up to the ship to recover.
Never the less, yet again the crew were falling prey to illness. We would need all our stamina to see this campaign through.
First Mate Adam was up and out on patrol early; he went to view the new film from Tom Paton: “Black Site”. Tom’s work had been witnessed before at SFW, and expectation was high for this new production. Adam was happy to confirm that the movie was, indeed, excellent and well worth viewing (along with the cast and crew Q&A).
Myself, I took a local planetary transport omnibus to the nearby settlement of Porthmadog in order to feed my vinyl craving. Crew members Greeny and Kurt remained in the static exploration cabin; monitoring visual communications.
Upon my return, the crew and I ventured out for further reconnaissance of the SFW9 event. This involved in depth examination of merchandise for sale and photographing some of the unusual and impressive costumes on display.
Saturday evening was all set up for a big entertainment explosion in the Main Void, with the Imaginarium in full swing. The action began with the Area 51 dancers disrupting visual scanners with fire eating and other astounding acts. There was also Merlin the Escapologist, who managed to escape from a giant fish bowl on his head. Or something like that, I was quite far away and it was packed out.
Whilst chilling with my crew and imbibing some refreshment, I managed to completely miss the highlight of the whole weekend: the Cosplay final. I as absolutely horrified to realise I’d missed this, as it’s always a genuine highlight of SFW. Luckily I was still able to capture some images of many of the guests; to my shame this was not enough however.
Instead I enjoyed the brilliant BBC Radiophonic Workshop, who performed live a veritable feast of electronic sci-fi sounds. Chief among these of course were themes from Dr Who, a real treat that brought back some fond memories. I’d missed the BBC Radiophonic Workshop on previous excursions, so I was delighted to hear their evocative experimental ear-worms properly. Fantastic stuff.
I then made my exit from the Main Void, as the next feature wasn’t to my taste. I appear to be the only person at SFW – out of hundreds – who doesn’t dig The Dark Room. I’d seen the start of the previous night’s show and wasn’t into it. It was just Peter Stringfellow with a bad temper.
Maybe it’s because I’m not into computer games, or maybe – for once – I’m just not geeky enough. Either way, I’m in the minority as far as The Dark Room goes, and that’s fine with me.
So off I went to see Blues Harvest, a multi talented rock band with a penchant for all things nerdy. They put on a great show, including Star Wars themes (performed by a rock band, remember) that were simply superb – all set to a cool visual edit from the movies.
Funnily enough my memory banks appear to be somewhat fried at this point, but I do recall Blues Harvest playing a storming Bowie tribute (“Life on Mars?” and “Magic Dance”, I think!). Their final number was the Huey Lewis and the News chestnut “The Power of Love” – rounding off a fabulous set that combined rockin’ goodness with nostalgic treats.
The night was played out by the living legend that is DJ Level Up Leroy, who did a fine job of spinning a pulsating mix of tunes. The sci-fi theme was continued nicely with come choice cuts and awesome visuals!
And that, ladies and gentle beings, was that. Sadly for another year, the spectacular Sci Fi Weekender was at a close.
Before I leave you, some thanks: to all the Cosplayers, you were fantastic! Fun and friendly, everyone of you was a joy to behold. Yet again your talent and creativity were mind boggling to see. Well done all! I’m sorry I didn’t get more photos, but my sincere appreciation to all of those I took pics of.
Finally, to all the Sci Fi Weekenders, from across all known worlds and galaxies: THANK YOU! You make this event the success it is. Sci Fi Weekender is all about camaraderie and celebrating the things we love as one big tribe (to borrow Professor Elemental’s words). It was a pleasure to meet you again or for the first time; long may it continue.
Epic group shot
Look, I’ll tell you what. This blog is a monster. To save delaying posting it any longer, I’ve got no choice other than to do a Part 3. So the final batch of photos (don’t worry, I’ve run out of ramblings) will be soon. Stay tuned!
The Sci Fi Weekender website is here.
Platinum Al's Virtual Hot Tub 