Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd of December saw For The Love Of Sci-Fi return to Manchester! The two day event brought together guests from the world of TV and Film, along with live artists, prop builds, cosplayers and traders into one huge event.
There was also an opening concert on Friday which featured Ray Parker Junior performing Ghostbusters and Gaten Matarazzo’s band Work In Progress all performing live.
We attended the Friday and the Sunday.
Friday kicked off with a chat to some of the guests in the Star Wars Cantina bar.
During the Q&A L found out that not only did Mike Quinn perform in Star Wars, but he also was a puppeteer on far more 80s films than I realised. He had been a puppeteer on Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal and on Little Shop of Horrors. Mike has agreed to take part in an interview with 80sNos next year.
Nick Maley was also in the Q&A – he is responsible for creating and performing Yoda in the new Star Wars films. He was slightly concerned that Yoda had been misplaced by the airline, as his airport baggage had not turned up. The thought of Yoda stranded in a box somewhere in France is not one I wanted to imagine! Luckily Yoda did turn up the day after and Nick was happy to show him in action. Nick will also be appearing on an interview with 80sNos in the new year.
We recorded the Q&A and will hopefully be able to upload some of the chat with Caleb, Lou, Spencer and Ray in the next few days.
The Friday evening concert was superb! Check out Ray during the soundcheck.
Other builds around the venue included a full-sized X-Wing, and a racer from Star Wars. There was also a full-sized recreation of the Forest Scene from ET, with authentic bikes from the film.
There was a Stranger Things set where you could get your photo taken with Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin) and Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas), along with a full sized Johnny 5 from Short Circuit!
The traders hall was packed and sold everything from plushes and toys to signed photos and clothing. There were also artists in there who were happy to sign anything you bought from them. We did get a *few signed things.
*quite a lot of
You could also get to meet the film and TV stars. Brigitte Nielsen, Carl Weathers, the cast of ET, Lou Ferrigno, Stranger Things… Where else could you meet a line-up of awesomeness?!?
The day ended with a Q&A with the boys from Stranger Things.
Quick video of the attractions.
