Light saber duels, celebrity signings and anime cosplay abound at day two of Pensacon

Veteran Pensacon enthusiasts will tell you that Pensacon isn’t about the celebrity roster, it’s the “fellowship of fandom” that Pensacon director of media and guest relations Julio Diaz will preach is the heart of the pop-culture festival. After a busy Saturday bringing in tens of thousands, attendees will likely tell you Diaz was on to something.

It’s the day where people won’t look at you funny if you’re dressed like a giant hot dog but will high-five you instead. The place where you can snap a selfie with the movie heroes whose faces are printed on your bedroom movie posters, A place where you can play a shared favorite video game alongside a stranger from the other side of the country. For one weekend, the 850-area code transforms into a magical place where there isn't a person who feels as if they don't belong.

Pensacon’s reputation wasn’t just a local thing, but spread to fame sci-fi and horror actor Anna Lore, who scored a role in the television show "Gotham Knights." Lore was one of the A-listers attracted to Pensacon because of its positive reputation. As fan after fan made a beeline for her table asking her for autograph, she came to see the "little fan club" the convention allowed her to be part of with her fans.

“Pensacon comes highly recommended among friends who have done similar styles of conventions. I’ve never done a convention, this was my first one,” Lore said. “I’m actually so glad this is my first time because the people in Pensacola are nice nice. I’ve been so welcomed.”

“People believed in (Gotham Nights) so much and cared about it so much and then to not be able to have a second season was really heartbreaking for everyone. But coming and meeting people who did see it and did connect with it, even though it was so small is like 10 times more magical,” Lore said. “It almost feels like we have, what I want to say is like we're in a little fan club together…. It's been good. I'm actually having a really great day.”

Veteran actor Andrew Robinson, best known for his work on "Hellraiser," "Dirty Harry" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," was also there for that reason ? the connection with the fans who have supported his work throughout the decades of his career. While he’s worn a variety of hats, giving the extra-terrestrial Garak a life of his own in Star Trek tended to be what Pensacola fans wanted to talk about the most. Even though the heavy make up took him a while to get used to when first filming, it turns out, it was well worth it.

“Probably judging from the response of the people who are coming in, who most of them are fans of this character I played on Deep Space Nine (Star Trek) where I played the character of Garak,” Robinson said. “It changed my life…Here I am in 2024…It’s because of this character.”

For longtime Pensacon attendee Sarah Kuh, getting face-to-face with actors from “The Walking Dead” was one of her favorite parts of her past seven years of Pensacon. Not only was she able to get behind-the-scenes questions answered from the stars who acted in the scenes but was able to get a sense of the actors’ personalities. Personalities that she was delighted to see matched her self-proclaimed nerdiness.

“That is like the best, finding out your favorite characters are actual nerds as well,” Kuh said. “That was one of my favorites, if not my favorite, panels I’ve been to in the years I’ve been coming to Pensacon.”

For anime enthusiast, 12-year-old Olivia Patterson, she was most looking forward to hearing from the voice actors for her favorite anime series.

For her, part of the fun was dressing up in her own cosplay, where she created her own female version of the anime character Satoru Gojo. While she was hesitant to go all-out in her cosplay at first, she now feels the confidence and excitement the festival brings - white wig, eyelashes and Husky blue contacts intact to prove it.

“You’re expressing another character, and you just feel like a whole other person,” Patterson said.

While passing the time between celebrity panels and workshops, you’ll often find fans congregating around Poseidon’s Bay, the outdoor area in the front parking lot of the Pensacola Bay Center filled with vendors, food and entertainment.

You never know what you’ll find, whether it be a band full of singing pirates or LED light saber training. Pensacola’s Gulf Coast Saber Training was able to show off their skills and put their fans skills to the test during a full-blown light saber duel.

Light sabers started as a fun theme for his son’s birthday party, but now instructor Desso Faulkner trains Pensacola how to duel with them every Sunday, year-round.

There’s plenty of more to see, as Pensacon continues Sunday for its final day of the 2024 season. More schedules and information can be found on Pensacon.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola's Pensacon has action-packed day two of weekend festival