The amazing Denver Comic Con weekend is over, and I’m now overflowing with so much to write about! Our family’s whole weekend was such fun! Let’s talk about it!
About Denver Comic Con
Denver Comic Con is an education program of the Pop Culture Classroom, a non-profit that serves the Denver area with programming that centers on pop culture.
During DCC itself, the Pop Culture Classroom was ready to go with nearly 400 hours of educational programming and 9,000 sq. ft. of convention floor dedicated to the Pop Culture Laboratory, an area designed to engage kids in STEAM educational activities, youth-based programming, and fun activities for our younger attendees and their families. Younger guests were able to work directly with professionals from the comic book and animation industries as well as other creative professions.
Family Focused…No, Really!
Denver Comic Con prides itself on being family-friendly, and they mean it. You see evidence in this with the low prices for children to attend ($5 for one day, $10 for the entire weekend—the same costs as taking your kids to a movie!), as well as the plainly published rules for cosplay and conduct during panels.
As mentioned in the previous section, one of DCC’s most celebrated features is the Pop Culture Laboratory (which is pronounced “La-BOHR-a-tory,” as explained on signs around the con). Located in the dead center of the upper convention center floor, this area is meant expressly for younger guests; the kids have priority for all programming, however, parents and kids-at-heart can take part if space is available. In fact, at some point during the con, some makeshift signs appeared reminding guests that the laboratory area is alcohol-free. Who wouldn’t want to take part in comic art classes, a forensics lab mystery, or hearing Patrick Warburton read Green Eggs and Ham?
Family Cosplay: The Rule, Not the Exception
Children are everywhere at Denver Comic Con. While I was pleased that my sons are old enough to keep up with my crazed roaming all over the Colorado Convention Center, I was constantly making googly faces at the adorable younger children dressed as everything from Steven Universe (easy peasy: jeans, flip flops, and a red t-shirt with a yellow star painted on) to Harley Quinn to Princess Peach to one of Daenerys Targaryen’s baby dragons.
When our family was at Dragon*Con in 2012, we were stopped constantly because family cosplay, by which I mean the family is dressing together with a common theme, isn’t as popular there. In fact, there simply aren’t many kids at all. But if are looking for all the fun of an affordable, large—and by large I mean over 100,000 guests!—con with a focus on youth and doesn’t sell out in two minutes, come to Denver!
Enjoy photos of some of the family cosplay from this past weekend.
GeekMom received family media passes to Denver Comic Con for review purposes.
