/CONVENTION
FOR The Love of Sci-Fi lands in Bowlers Exhibition Centre this weekend - and brings whole host of famous names from the big screen with it. William Shatner, Dolph Lundgren and David Hasslehoff will all be in town – and the exhibition also features a full scale Cantina Bar from Star Wars.
As if that wasn’t enough, Ernie Hudson (Winston from Ghostbusters), Zach Galligan (Billy Peltzer from Gremlins) and Billy Dee Williams (Star Wars’ Lando Calrissian) will also be in attendance, to name a few.
There’s also be a first UK appearance for Joonas Suotamo the 6ft 10in Finnish actor who played Chewbacca in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. And yes, he definitely does want to hear your impressions.
As well as that, there’ll be props and set builds from sci-fi classics - including the Batwing, K.I.T.T from Knight Rider, Ecto 1 from Ghostbusters and The Colonial Viper from Star Wars.
The Cantina Bar is likely to be a big draw though – flashing droid scanners, incredibly lifelike stone detailing and decoration, cosplayers ordering sci-fi themed drinks from flair waiters or sat chatting in dimly lit booths side by side with alien mannequins from the movies.
Look out of the windows and you’ll find characters struggling to cross the desert wasteland and ships landing to refuel overhead. There’ll be an after-party from 6pm til late on both days, with live entertainment from DJ Leroy and nerd rock Star Wars tribute band, Blues Harvest.
A sci-fi stage will be hosted by a Hollywood actor acting as master of ceremonies, to be announced soon, and across both days guests will form a panel on stage to talk about their careers and take questions from the audience.
There will be exclusive screenings of sci-fi fan short films and movie trailers, the Piccadilly Symphony Orchestra will play a selection of favourite sci-fi theme tunes, and there will be a performance from Andrew Lawden, Liam Neeson’s stunt double in The Phantom Menace.
For The Love of Sci-Fi visits Bowlers Exhibition Centre tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday. To book tickets visit fortheloveofsci-fi.com/ tickets