FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention will take place on September 5-7 and span the space of the Salt Palace Convention Center. With over 100,000 fans expected to attend this year, it is the most attended convention in the state of Utah and the largest comic convention in North America per capita. An event of Dan Farr Productions, FanX has often been held twice a year since its start in September of 2013. However, the fall events have always been the largest and most exciting of the cons.
FanX always hosts an impressive list of stars at each event. Whether you’re into Marvel, Star Wars, Supernatural, Lucifer, Harry Potter, Power Rangers, wrestling, 90s boy bands, or animated shows; there’s a celebrity guest that is sure to excite anyone in attendance.
This year, attendees can do photo ops and autographs with TV and film stars such as; Tom Holland (Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe), Christina Ricci (Addams Family Films, Casper, Sleepy Hollow), Keifer Sutherland (24, Stand By Me, The Lost Boys), Lana Parilla (Once Upon a Time, 24), Hayden Christensen (Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones & Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith), Billy Zane (Titanic, Twin Peaks, Tombstone), Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter film series, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Wars: Rebels, The OA), Mathew Lewis (Harry Potter, Me Before You, Ripper Street), Lesley-Ann Brandt (Lucifer, Spartacus), Lou Diamond Phillips (La Bamba, Young Guns, Longmire, Stargate Universe), Ming-Na Wen (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Mulan), John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Shannara Chronicles), among many others.
Also set to appear are voice actors Jess Harnell (Animaniacs, Doc McStuffins, Phineus & Ferb) and Susan Egan (Hercules, Spirited Away, Steven Universe). Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick of ‘N Sync fame will be there, as well as WWE Hall of Fame wrestlers Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Jerry “The King” Lawler.
Even with about two weeks to go until the convention takes place, FanX will continue to announce new guests.
Aside from the always impressive celebrity guest list, FanX offers a ton of experiences and events for con goers to partake in. This year, you can check out Area 51 ½ Dart Tag, a tabletop gaming lounge, social axe throwing, karaoke, Middle Earth Archery, The Doctor Who Experience, Zorb Track, and a Mystery Escape Room. You can also expect to come across neat features like Charlie the Impala, Deadpool vs. Carnage Mustang, Deathstroke Camaro, Droid Builders- Star Wars Droid Replicas, and the Spider-Man Buggy.
Cosplay is a huge part of the convention experience and everyone is highly encouraged to dress up during this event. The cosplay contest is scheduled for Saturday, September 7 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The con also hosts cosplay meet-ups, in which you can get together with other cosplayers who are also dressed up as a character from the same fandom and have professional group photos taken. Guest cosplayers DC Doll, Ghostbusters SLC, The 501st Alpine Garrison- Star Wars Cosplay Group, Utah Browncoats- Firefly cosplay group, Lindsay Elyse, and many others will be hanging out for attendees to meet and take photos with.
If you’re planning to dress up for the event, or even just meet and take photos with people who are cosplaying, make sure to familiarize yourself with FanX’s Rules and Weapons Policy as well as their Anti-Harassment Policy to ensure that everyone has a safe and fun experience.
If art, comics, and books are your more thing, make sure you head over to Artist Alley. Artist Alley an extensive set-up jam packed with creative types where you can browse and purchase artwork and books. The area features amazing artists, comic book illustrators, and authors. Support artists from all over the world by buying prints, posters, cards, or even custom and commissioned pieces.
The vendor floor is also a great place to check out. Aisles of local and national vendors fill a large space of the Salt Palace where you can find just about anything that your geeky heart desires. Search through comics, DVDs, games, toys, t-shirts, costumes, posters, collectible memorabilia, and other items for sale until you find exactly what you’re looking for. This year, the Vendor Floor features Funko Pop Exclusives from Scott Orozco.
Finally, for those of us who have young kids and know what it’s like to bring children to busy conventions, FanX offers a cure for our cranky child needs. KidCon has been a staple of FanX for years and is a genius idea that parents definitely appreciate. Set off in a separate area of the convention center, KidCon is a great space for children and families to enjoy without all the hustle and bustle of the main convention. This year, KidCon is STEAM focused and takes place all three days of the convention. Here, kids can take part in hands-on, educational, crafty, and fun activities.
There’s a kid cosplay parade (ages 12 and under), face painting, princess tea time, virtual reality, arts and crafts, as well as setups from organizations like; Utah STEM Action Center, Star Labs Systems, Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum, and The Leonardo. It’s also a nice way for parents to decompress and relax during an often busy and stressful convention day.
Celebrity guests have also been known to stop by and visit KidCon in the past. Evangeline Lilly stopped by one year to read her book, and Zachary Levi also made a visit.
Each day is also filled with celebrity and special topic panels with fantastic panelists. The panel schedule will be available closer to the convention, but with such amazing guests in attendance, you can bet there will be some great panels to sit in on.
Panel schedules, Ultimate Experiences, and more guests will continue to be announced as we get closer to the convention. Much of the information is already available on the FanX mobile app, which is extremely useful in organizing and keeping track of events you want to attend. You can also keep up to date by checking out the FanX website and following them on Twitter and Facebook.
VIP, Jr. VIP, Gold, Multipass, and single day and children passes are still available and you can purchase them here. You can also purchase photo ops or photo op vouchers now.
