Alabama Phoenix Festival

Jul 03, 2012 07:58

I am fully aware of the lateness of this report therefore I apologize for the lateness of it. /swt2 Now that business is out of the way on to business.

Alabama Phoenix Festival was held May 25-27 2012 in Birmingham, AL. The genre for this event was sci fi/fantasy/comics. This is the first year for this convention so I was not sure what to expect. The convention venue was somewhat split between two venues. The bulk of the con was held at the Cahaba Grand Conference Center. Gaming was held at the Hilton Perimeter Park Hotel. Being a believer supporting my local con scene I decided to go check out to see what the con offered. Truth be told I was on the fence about attending the full weekend. I made decision to attend Saturday only and stay overnight. My bestie and I packed our bags and set out on overnight adventure.

The con atmosphere was very laid back. The main venue was very spacious. However, outside parking was very limited. However, additional parking was available at the con hotel and free shuttle was avaiable to transport them to the conference center. A little inconvenient but if you decided to tuck your flask of your favorite spirit then this was a very good option. Registration was very easy to find. It was front and center as you entered the con venue. The staff was very polite and helpful. I always like a nice con staff. Bonus points for APF. The actual con itself was one floor up which was accessible by either elevator and stair case. There was a large artist alley area; walk of fame hall and decent sized dealers/artist area as well. There were a variety of jewelry,t-shirts, comics and other hand crafts available all in line with the convention theme. It seemed they drew a lot of local artists and dealers in which is good. It's always a bonus to have your local artists support your local con to encourage future growth.

The con programming was plentiful and varied. Everything from drawing manga, costuming, Star Wars LARPing, Legos, and even a sit down with the Hero of Canton (Adam Baldwin) available to please every sort of geek fandom. Everyone got along together. This convention by far had to most approachable, chatty attendees I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. If you said something loud enough, others would join in your conversatgion. I had a wonderful conversation with a fellow kaiju fan a podcast about why Rebirth of Mosura movie series is great and the various themes that each movie represented. Another fun random conversation was about zombies. Costumers were everywhere and the variety of costume was varied as well. Doctor Who, Marvel comics, steampunk and Star Wars seemed to be the most popular genres. However, my personal favorite of the weekend was a Red Robin and Batgirl. We chatted at length and digressed into a 15 minute conversation about Young Justice. Call me bias but I am a DC fangirl LOL.

All in all I had a very good time. APF is what I call a relax-a-con: a very chill, laid back, low stress convention. I look forward to attending APF next year and cannot wait to see what they have to offer. For more information about APF please visit their website at: http://www.alabamaphoenixfestival.com/

conventions

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