Pop Culture Fair has a little something for everyone
By Lacey Morris
EDMONTON — Zealous pop culture fanatics are expected to flood the Alberta Aviation Museum on Oct. 16 for Edmonton’s second Pop Culture Fair of 2011.
The bi-annual fair, which has been around since the early 1990s through several name changes and organizers, offers a broad variety of collectible pop culture items, including:
- Vinyl, cassette and compact disc music collections
- Comics
- G.I. Joe figures
- Collectible toys from the past and present
- Video games and video game memorabilia
- Apparel
- DVDs and VHS
Organizer John Do Rosario has been running the fair for the past two years and describes the event as a “vendor-run show.”
“I was a vendor at the Pop Culture Fair for about five years,” he said. “[I started] organizing the show when the previous organizer could no longer do it, but I’m a vendor first.”
Do Rosario’s specialty is 1980s anime memorabilia. “I’ve always had an interest in it, even though it’s a lot of work, it’s still my hobby and I really enjoy doing it,” he said.
- Vendors catering to collectors of pop culture memorabilia filled the Alberta Aviation Museum, 11410 Kingsway Ave, for the Spring 2011 Pop Culture Fair on May 8, 2011. Another fair takes place Oct. 16, 2011. Photograph supplied by John Do Rosario.
Unlike the other collectible-and-memorabilia-oriented events that Edmonton has to offer, the Pop Culture Fair stands out because it caters to collectors from across the pop culture gamut. “We want to bring in as much variety as possible,” Do Rosario said.
The Pop Culture Fair is hosted twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall, rather than as an annual event, mainly because of the cycle in which toy collectibles are released, Do Rosario said.
“Some of the collectibles are released at the beginning of the year and some are released in the middle of the year,” he said. “But we also noticed that we haven’t had a decrease in attendance, so it’s popular enough that we can do it twice a year.”
The average number of attendees ranges from 1,800 to 2,000. Do Rosario said that he expects approximately 2,000 people to attend the fall 2011 fair.
Aside from the vast array of vendors that will be attending the show, the fall fair will also have a few new and unique attractions to offer patrons. Do Rosario will be bringing in a caricature artist as well as several self-published writers.
Do Rosario said the event is a great way for people to be exposed to all sorts of collectibles, many of which are no longer available, but the real appeal is that there are items available in every price range.
“There are things that start off at 25 cents and they can range up to $5,000,” he said. “There’s something for everybody at the fair.”
The Pop Culture Fair will run from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Oct. 16 at the Alberta Aviation Museum, 11410 Kingsway Ave. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Santas Anonymous.
