Applied physiology and kinesiology sophomore Thor Fiol, 19, dressed the part — hammer and all — as Thor at the Reitz Union Sunday.
Outfitted in plastic armor and helmet, Fiol became a magnet for pictures with Thor fans during the second-annual SwampCon this weekend.
“They’re like, ‘Oh, it’s Thor,’ and I’m like ‘Yep, that’s my name,’” Fiol said. “They don’t even know it’s my real name.”
The two-day event featured science fiction, comic book and anime panels, as well as gaming tournaments and costume contests.
Registration lines snaked around the second floor of the Reitz Union hours before the event began at about noon Saturday. By 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, about 2,000 people had registered for the event.
“It was like a tidal wave,” said SwampCon Sustainability and Tabletop Coordinator David Wasserman, a 22-year-old sustainability studies senior.
Wasserman, who dressed as The Doctor from “Doctor Who,” said 30 percent of those attending were from outside of Gainesville. He said most people were UF and Santa Fe College students, as well as local high school students.
Wasserman said he was prepared to manage a younger crowd by having 18-and-older panels and checking IDs.
He said he was most proud of the tabletop board games in the Arredondo Cafe, his own contribution to SwampCon.
Chemical engineering sophomore Jon Martin and criminology sophomore Sterling Monroe, both 19, played Scattergories in the Arredondo Cafe before attending a History of Zombies panel. Martin said he found out about the convention online and enjoyed the costumes.
“They won’t get the experience anywhere else,” Martin said.
Vendors selling pins, posters and apparel filled the Reitz Union Colonnade. Larry Scott, 54, from North Carolina, had a table on the colonnade for his store, TinyTopHats.net.
Scott gained much attention at the convention dressed as the Weeping Angel from “Doctor Who.” He said the convention was his first in Florida.
“It’s free, which is nice,” Scott said. “There’s lots of space, lots of room.”
Telecommunication junior David Dulak and psychology junior Erica Orama, both 21, came to SwampCon to “people watch.”
“I’ve never seen so many people dressed as different characters,” Dulak said. “It’s like Halloween all over again.”
Dulak and Orama attended SwampCon both days and stayed until midnight. The pair met Fiol during SwampCon and attended panels together.
“I definitely feel less nerdy than I normally do,” Fiol said.
“It’s good to know we’re not alone,” Orama said.
Contact Colleen Wright at cwright@alligator.org.
Amy Bradley, left, a 23-year-old UF alumna, and James Hamlin, right, a 19-year-old engineering and Japanese freshman, dressed up as Vocaloids during the second-annual SwampCon, a multigenre convention, this weekend at the Reitz Union.
