After a 28-month hiatus, Awesome Con, the premier pop culture festival in Washington, D.C., returned to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center this past weekend, Aug. 20 to 22.
Awesome Con began in 2013 as an upstart version of San Diego’s Comic-Con International. It started small, drawing just 7,000 and occupying an 18,000-square-foot corner salon in the convention center. By 2017, it grew to 70,000, having swallowed the entire building — all 2.3 million square feet of it. Like many other public events in the District, and after two postponements, the 2020 convention was canceled due the novel coronavirus.
What began as an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture has evolved to encompass a wide range of the pop culture landscape, including animation, video games, motion pictures, toys, pop art, manga and science. As in past shows, the National Science Foundation and NASA set up informative tables in the show’s exhibit area staffed by scientists.
CDC and local venue guidelines were adhered to including mandated masking and social distancing. Sanitation stations were ubiquitous throughout the building and eating areas were greatly expanded for safety purposes. Celebrity guests signed autographs behind plexiglass barriers, but were allowed to be maskless from the safe distance of the main stage. Cosplayers were particularly adept in working their masks into their costumes.
According to Lauren Dabb, the director of marketing at LeftField Media, the show’s organizer, this year’s attendance is estimated at 48,000, down from recent years. However, she said, “We were focused on ensuring that the floor felt safe and comfortable at this capacity, especially for our first Awesome Con since the pandemic began…. One challenge we faced was the constantly changing landscape of Covid. There are many decisions that need to be made a year, six months, and three months in advance of the Con and that was difficult to do without knowing what was going to happen and change with Covid in that time. “
Celebrities at this year’s event included William Shatner, George Takei, Christina Ricci, Michael J. Fox and Carl Weathers, among others.
To many, the great appeal of attending a pop culture convention is the opportunity to express themselves in costume, especially on center stage during the Awesome Con Cosplay Contest on Saturday night. Cosplay, originally a Japanese word combining costume and play, is the activity of dressing up as characters from a comic book, anime, a video game or a fantasy-based movie or TV show. Costumes range from the simple to elaborate creations consuming many months of preparation in some cases.
Added Lauren Dabb: “We are committed to returning to Washington, D.C., and continuing to grow our fan community in the city. We look forward to seeing everyone again June 3 – 5, 2022!”
View Jeff Malet’s photos from Awesome Con 2021 by clicking on the photo icons below.
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Kangelic Cosplay competes as Morgan Le Fey, a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books. Photo by Jeff Malet.
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Bre, Jen and Kelsey, (the_engineers_cosplay) as Ty Lee, Azula and Mai from Avatar: The Last Airbender (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Cosplay contest “Best of Show” Mando from Disney’s the Mandalorian (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Jara Barrett from NYC as Anastasia (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Connie’s Cosplay Creations of Raleigh NC as Mistletoe LeBlanc from League of Legends. It took 8 months to build. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Sara go Bragh is one of the USO Girls from the Captain America First Avenger movie. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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William Shatner was Captain Kirk in Star Trek (photo by Jeff Malet)
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William Shatner who just turned 90 remains active. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Rebecca Ryan as Queen Elixabeth I in a coronation gown, cosplaying as Foxy Roxy Cosplay won in the Tailoring category (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Supermanfitt cosplay (Aziz Raad) as Batman: Arkham Knight (first place in Warrior Competition) (photo by Jeff Malet)
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aurorakittty cosplay as Lilian Voss (World of Warcraft) (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Chewbacca (Matthew Leech from Rebel Legion) with Alexa (5) and Evie (9) of Boyds Md. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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The exhibition hall is busy on Saturday (photo by Jeff Malet)
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George Takei, gives the Vulcan Salute. He was Sulu in the original Star Trek (photo by Jeff Malet)
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George Takei’s as a 5-year-old was interred during WWII because he was a Japamese-American. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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For sale in the exhibit area (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Claudia Rivera Arts & Design with King Kong. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Star Wars characters: played by Grant from Lexington Park Md. and BenaeQuee Creations from Baltimore Md. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Cosplay contest “Best of Show” Mando from Disney’s the Mandalorian (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Cosplayers dressed as Marvel and DC Comic characters gather for a group photo. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Rebecca Ryan as Queen Elixabeth I in a coronation gown, cosplaying as Foxy Roxy Cosplay (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Gillian Foxglove of Springfield Va. as Queen Amidala from Star Wars won 2nd place in the competition (photo by Jeff Malet)
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From the “Overcooked” video game – this group from N. Va (photo by Jeff Malet).
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Actress Christina Ricci played Wednesday in “The Addams Family” (photo by Jeff Malet)
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The DC Ghostbusters with PSS Cosplay as Megazord from the original Power Rangers. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Spy vs. Spy from Mad Magazine: Anna (Alexandria Va.) and Deb (Stafford Va.) (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Soundwave (Rodney Wells of Gainesville Va.) from Transformers Generatiojn 1. It took 3 months to build. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Artist Marcel Davis of Creative Mind Development (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Kawena of Ewa Hawaii holds his book signed by George Takei. His Japanese-American uncle served in WWII. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Morgan Prescott (DC) is lifted by Doug (Baltimore) (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Octo Lily Cosplay of Cheverly Md. as Esme Squalor from A Series of Unfortunate Events (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Jara Barrett from NYC as Anastasia (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Any Reason to Empower Cosplay as Cheese from “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends” won in the “Beyond Human” category (from Solomons Island Md.) (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Sisters Natalie (3 years) and Elizabeth (6) wonder at Star Wars robot R2-D2 (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Mike Mollman, writes epic fantasy. (photo by Jeff Malet)r
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Ian as Sonic the Hedgehog (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Leonard Johnston from Ottawa Canada (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Crab Rave (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Caps announcer Wes Johnson displays his Stanley Cup ring. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Disney’s Cinderella by Stitches and Sparkles Cosplay (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Gillian Foxglove of Springfield Va. as Queen Amidala from Star Wars won 2nd place in the competition (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Steven from Newport News Va. is Fallout Super Mario (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Draygo from Germantown Md. is Kratos from God of War 2018 (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Joe Colton Cosplay as Wonder Woman was one of three judges at the Cosplay Competition (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Joe Colton Cosplay as Wonder Woman was one of three judges at the Cosplay Competition (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Ezra (age 12) from Cheverly Md. is Monitamon from the Digimon Series won in the “Youth” category. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Cosplay contest (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Cosplay Competition (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Andrea Thomason of Croften Md. is a fan of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Carl Weathers gained fame playing Apollo Creed in Rocky (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Carl Weathers played Greef Karga in the Star Wars series The Mandalorian (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Ginger Kitty Cosplay as Danny Sexbang of the Prophesy Album (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Author John Gallagher (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Supermanfitt cosplay (Aziz Raad) as Batman: Arkham Knight (first place in Warrior Competition) (photo by Jeff Malet)
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aurorakittty cosplay as Lilian Voss (World of Warcraft) (photo by Jeff Malet)
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DJEliott – his first convention since Feb 2020. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Center stage during the Awesome Con Cosplay Contest (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Anime art by Dominic Glover (Dylin in photo) (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Libby with Baby Yoda as Aayla Secura of Star Wars (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Cody of Arlington Va. as the Grinch who stole Christmas (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Ayla from Rockville Md. of the Society for Creative Anachronism (Midieval History) (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Tatoo Artist Lucky 13 of Tatoo Galaxy from Rehoboth Beach Del. with son Ronin (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Arlen (Tulsa Okla.) as Aziraphale, one of the main characters in Amazon series Good Omens (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Terry Dossey and son Dylan of Pasendena Md. from the R2-D2 Builders Club (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Julz Stewart of Arlington Va. is first in line to have her book signed by William Shatner (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Zero cosplay as Junko Enoshima (the main antagonist of the Danganronpa franchise) (photo by Jeff Malet)
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Lori Frye of Reston is a Snow Trooper from Empire Strikes Back (photo by Jeff Malet)
Where are the other costume contestants
My purpose in writing the article was to take a representative sample from the show, and the contest. This was for an article about Awesome Con so there wouldn’t be room for each of the contestants.