Geekfest: A Home Away From Home
This is a tiny bit late, I know, but I guess it’s better late than never, right?
On the last weekend of November, the 29th to be accurate, Gauteng played host to yet another Geekfest. This year was my first, and although I have nothing to compare it to, I quite enjoyed myself. Granted, I did get heatstroke and almost passed out on the grass, but I still found it enjoyable.
This year’s Geekfest was held at the Ball and All Driving Range in Krugersdorp, and I was told that they used a much larger area for the fest than previous years, and it showed. It wasn’t so much a shortage of stalls, but a surplus of space and it made the fest feel a little bit disjointed. At one end of the field there was a large tent that housed Cosmic Comics where people could play board games, while all the way on the other there was a beer tent and one drink stall with only two (beautifully nerdy) cars in between, with a bunch of stalls set up at the ass end. It’s not that these are big problems, just inconveniences for attendees.
There were practically only two places to buy anything except beer and they were so far away from anything it was kind of one of the reasons I almost collapsed. I didn’t really get the chance to hydrate.
However, all of this I can over look because in all honesty, I felt quite at home. People of all types showed up; cosplaying mothers with their young ones, girls and guys who you can plainly see aren’t really into this kind of thing, LARPers, comic book nerds and people who just wanted to have a beer and enjoy a day with friends. For this I commend the organisers of Geekfest, they managed to attract a considerably large pool of people. They also made sure there was something for everyone to enjoy.
I was a bit surprised by the amount of people who sat and cheered the cosplayers on while they were doing their skits. It made me feel proud to see all those souls bravely standing in front of those people doing what they love. Even those who didn’t participate, I commend you. To those who LARPed or even challenged the LARPers, you guys are awesome. To the guys who just came because it sounded like a good way to spend a Saterday, we’ll see you next year.
Finally, thank you to Dark Carnival for organising this event. You guys did OK.
Note: I wasn’t there to take pictures or to work like at rAge. So if you’d like photos of what went on, please visit the Geekfest Facebook page. I uploaded what I took, though.
Gallery
Name: Bianca Louw
Location: Pretoria
Position:
- Tracy Benson
- Raidz19
- Trebzz
