One of Huntsville’s largest conventions for all things geeky will be launching the 2016 installment coming up on October 22nd and 23rd at the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library.  Entering its third year, Rocket City NerdCon has grown larger than ever, boasting programming and entertainment in pop culture, comic books, movies, tv, books, games, collectibles, crafting, cosplay, and even LARPing.

Geek Out Huntsville is also proud to be a participating sponsor of NerdCon this year, where we will be co-hosting the Kickoff Party at Yellowhammer Brewing on Friday the 21st from 7PM to 11PM.  We’ll be hosting geek-friendly rock bands Foot Pound Force and The Mad Gear, spinning some DJ music, and even having a costume contest on stage between bands.

As the crew at the HMCPL preps for the fun of next weekend, we caught Adult Programs Librarian Suzanne Flynn to talk about everything happening at NerdCon.

Where did the idea of hosting Rocket City NerdCon originate from?

The idea started when a couple of library staff suggested a comic book convention. We thought a convention was a great idea but thought that doing a more general pop culture convention would be more fun and inclusive.

What are the plans for the NerdCon party at Yellowhammer?

We have so much planned for the kickoff! Yellowhammer is hosting us so they will have delicious beer on tap all night long, Earth and Stone Pizza will be there so delicious pizza’s, Honeypie Bakery will be providing delicious cupcakes.

We will have two bands performing that night.  Foot Pound Force is a nerdcore rock band based in Huntsville, Alabama; an alloy of Weezer and MC Front-a-lot, with 80% Geek, 15% Rock, and the remainder a mix of musical styles. We will also have The Mad Gear, a video game music / nerdcore band from Nashville.  We are also going to have two selfie stations to take pictures in your costume, as well as a Star Trek trivia contest!

What’s the most creative costume that you’ve seen at NerdCon so far?

We have seen some amazing costumes in the previous two years of Rocket City NerdCon.  A pitch perfect Hodor, a lit up Mr. Freezer, a greaser gang of Gotham baddies, even a lumberjack Batman!  One of our favorite parts of the convention is seeing all the crazy creative costumes that people come up with.

What can we expect at future installments of NerdCon?

We love the convention here at the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library!  In a world where people download books to their phone it reminds them that we are here, and we love how it brings different people together to celebrate whatever makes them nerdy.  We’re pretty new to the con game so every year we learn how to make the convention bigger and better!

To learn more about NerdCon, visit the HMCPL website or learn more on their Facebook Page!