ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – An annual pop culture expo is underway in Escanaba.
BAY-CON kicked off Friday afternoon at Bay College. The event continues Saturday, May 2, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The campus is filled with activities for every type of fan. Vendors are selling comic books, vinyl records, vintage toys, and retro video games. Attendees can register for a cosplay contest, participate in trivia, and join video game tournaments. This year’s celebrity guests are artist Jason Moore and voice actors Carla Perez, André Sogliuzzo, and Alejandra Reynoso.
“We also have little coins here for the BAY-CON scholarship that are $1 apiece,” said Laura Palmgren, executive volunteer and cosplay contest host. “We’ve got ones that represent each of the four years previously, plus ones that have this year’s logo on them and ‘2026’ inscribed on the side of them. They’re really cool collector’s items, and they’re going toward a great cause.”
Executive volunteer Bob Baron says BAY-CON is a fun event for people of all ages and interests.
“We offer something that we don’t get often up here in the Upper Peninsula,” he said. “We get a chance to kind of get together and celebrate our various enthusiastic geek pursuits in pop culture, TV, music, everything. It’s a chance to put on a great event and watch people come in and have smiles all day long.”
The event is run by students, and proceeds benefit their clubs, organizations, and athletic teams.
“Just the chance for the students to have the experience of doing something like event planning,” Palmgren said. “It’s not something I ever expected I was going to get into, but here I am planning my own event within the event. It’s a lot of fun.”
Admission to BAY-CON is $5 per person. To purchase tickets in advance, click here. On Saturday, cosplay contest registration will be held at the Student Services desk inside the Besse Center. Click here for the full event program.
