On Feb 18-20, 2022, the Pensacola Bay Center hosted this year’s Pensacon. Pensacon is an annual festival in the Pensacola area, to celebrate fandoms of different media and gives fans the opportunity to meet some of their favorite stars.

   This year Pensacon had over 30,000 guests and beat previous years’ turnouts. Julio Diaz, Pensacon’s Marketing Director, was asked about the lack of space with such a large number of people. He says, “Growth is a good problem to have.”

   They plan to stay in Pensacola but find bigger venues for the event. “We’re not going anywhere, we’re Pensacon, we are Pensacola, we want to be here,” Diaz said.

   Pensacon is also very popular with cosplayers, in which people dress as characters and make their own, creative costumes. Who.com says “Think Halloween costume, but all year-round and then dial it up to 11” when describing cosplay.

   Cosplayers travel to conventions like Pensacon all over the world to show off their wearable art-pieces. This year’s event had some incredible cosplays where people came dressed as Star Wars characters, Marvel heroes, Disney villains and many other recognizable people.

   This year’s Pensacon hosted many big names, with stars from Bill and Ted, The Muppets, The Mario and Luigi Series, Star Trek, The Mandalorian, Jaws and many other popular TV shows and movies.

   You could meet some of the smaller celebrities at their booths for free, but the bigger names have scheduled meet and greets, where guests could pay to get a few minutes with them to ask questions and take photos.

   Pensacon has been a staple in Pensacola for years. The event has been held at the Pensacola Bay Center since its start in 2013. Pensacon’s mission is “to create the best multi-genre convention that is unique to the Pensacola community and that is a safe and welcoming environment for all types of fans,” as stated on their website.

   Pensacon will return to Pensacola in 2023 from Feb. 24-26. This event will mark ten years since Pensacon’s debut.