After a raucous Saturday crowd, CAPE, or the Cornwall and Area Pop Event, had what has to be its biggest second day turnout yet. Excited crowds, many dressed in costume, flooded the Benson Centre, primed to explore its many booths. . . ranging from Funkos and vintage toys, to original artwork and literature, while others were looking to meet their favourite celebrities from film and television.
With The Walking Dead continuing its reign as one of the supreme draws to any pop culture type weekend, organizers extraordinaire Randy Sauve and Carol Grant were able to bring in heavy hitters Cooper Andrews (who plays fan favourite Jerry. . . the right hand man of King Ezekiel, who first arrived on the scene in season seven) and Margot Bingham (series regular Max Mercer, beginning in season ten). Ever gracious with their time, panels that were meant to last an hour doubled thanks to inquisitive fans and robust answers from the stars, while they spent much of their time on the floor, posing for photos and signing autographs for fans young and old.
On the film front, the cult classic Clerks took centre stage for the second time at CAPE. . . this time with Harley Quinn Smith (yes, daughter of creator Kevin Smith) making her Cornwall debut. An up and comer in the industry, she has appeared in both sequels to Clerks, while she recently had a small but exciting role in Quentin Tarantino’s Best Picture nominee Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. She was joined by character actor and musician Scott Schiaffo, who will be immediately recognizable as the Chewlies Gum Guy in Clerks. For those who have been attending the event since the very beginning, it was an excellent opportunity to further their Clerks collection after fellow alumni Brian O’Halloran, Marilyn Ghigliotti, and Ernie O’Donnell made appearances back in 2016.
Now eight years on from its inaugural event, CAPE just continues to grow. Canadian icon Ed the Sock, one of the great comedic voices of the music and pop culture industry, also made his first appearance at the event. . . and for anyone in the vicinity of my age, that alone brought back a flood of happy memories of music videos being roasted by the sharp talent. All in all, it was another ultra successful weekend. Rain or shine (the weekend featured both), the place was packed, the fandom was alive, and there is no doubt that people are already prepared to gets their capes on again as they plan to return to their fortress of ‘not so’ solitude next year.