If you're one of those people who doesn't believe that comics and animation are just for kids or someone who likes computer games, Japanese art and culture or even puppets and stuffed toys related to successful books or animated series, you'll want to be on saturday and sunday on the 1st Manga & Comic Algarve Event.
The Algarve Geeks Center will organize at the Association's headquarters Faro 1540, at Rua Pedro Nunes, in Faro and in collaboration with this community, the first event held in the region that brings together Cosplay demonstrations, exhibition of animation classics, exhibitions, illustration, debates, video games, card games and commercial stands with manga, comics, soft toys, pictures and merchandising, not forgetting several workshops.
Some of the highlights of the event are linked to cosplay, an international movement that consists of creating a costume of our favorite character, dressing him and, in the case of participating in a competition, playing a small role.
In this field, in addition to a sold-out workshop, there will be a Cosplay parade on Sunday, at 14 pm, followed by a photo session for those who are dressed up, at Jardim da Alameda.
Another highlight was the presence of the winner of the European Cosplay Gathering in 2011, the Portuguese Ana Isabel Santos.
In addition, there will be Free Karaoke, from 14 pm on Saturday, and Debate Between Geeks, at 16:30 pm on the same day. At 18 pm, a short film that has never been seen before in Portugal will be screened, as part of the 30th anniversary celebrations of the world-wide successful anime (animation film) «Sailor Moon», followed by the screening of the film «Ghost in The Shell».
On Sunday, in addition to the initiatives linked to Cosplay, there is also space for a Karaoke Idol session (14 hours), a martial arts shw (18 hours) and for the screening of the animated film «Batman: Gotham Knight». The detailed program can be consulted on the event's website.
At this point, those who still want to participate in the workshops will have to be quick to register. The Cosplay and Sushi workshops are already sold out, but whoever wants to participate in the Real Drawing with Model, 2D Illustration, Manga vs Comic and Gundams Modeling and Painting Workshops can still go in time.
The first edition of the Manga & Comics Event in the Algarve has a very diversified offer, which fits well with the organization's objectives. “This is a meeting of people with different tastes, but who are not that different. We want them to share and learn," he summed up to Sul Informação Fábio Neves, one of those responsible for the event.
And nothing like an example to illustrate this philosophy. “When I was younger, everyone watched Dragonball, we even skipped classes to see it. But I had another passion, that of assembling robot kits, that no one else I knew had. The first time I went to an event in Lisbon, I was watching a modeling video on my mobile phone and a lot of people soon appeared commenting and saying they liked it too», he said.
Algarve “Geeks” have traveled thousands of kilometers to participate in events
Sharing tastes turns out to be, in large part, the spirit behind events of this kind, which have been taking place for years in Lisbon and Porto and which have a large dimension in Spain and, above all, France. The now organizers started by participating in an event in Lisbon, but won the “little bug” and have driven thousands of kilometers since then to participate in different initiatives.
In the case of the informal group of young people called Núcleo de Geeks do Algarve, it all started with a great desire to go and a spirit of adventure. “We filled a car and hit the road, as individually it would never have been possible. Afterwards, more friends were gathered and we created a group that goes along with the events», said Fábio Neves.
“After two years on the road, we realized that it was extremely difficult to do what we do, for most people interested in these topics”, he revealed.
In Portugal, most manga, anime and comics aficionados are teenagers, since “few people maintain interest after adults, as there is a culture that comics are for children”.
So, they decided to hold an event in the Algarve, the first of its kind in the region, not least because over time they ended up meeting many people from the Alentejo and other parts of the Algarve at the events in which they participated.
«This is year zero and it will serve to test a lot and see how much the public will join. That's why we chose August, to try to catch some people who are here on vacation», said Fábio Neves. And it won't be for the prices that the public will stop flowing, as admission costs only 2 euros for one day and 3 euros for the two days of the event.
Organizing was simple, find a space, you didn't
Faro was the location chosen to host this initiative, but despite the eight months that were dedicated to the organization, the host location was really the most difficult part. This, despite the event having guests who are references in their area, such as the Portuguese illustrator Tiago da Silva.
The group of friends knocked on many doors, starting at the Portuguese Youth Institute, but none opened. only the association Faro 1540 was immediately available to give up space for its new headquarters, but this meant that the organizers of the Manga & Comics Event had to help restore the building, including contributing material. «It cost us a lot of sweat and tears», confessed, laughing, Fábio Neves.
So the choice of Faro it had to do, essentially, with the «centrality and ease of access». Fábio Neves, who, like most of the members of his group is from Loulé, also confesses his desire to “try to make a little more dynamic Faro», something that says to be «very difficult», as the difficulty in finding a space demonstrated.
The organization relies on the work of 40 volunteers, as well as the support of the Moto Clube de Faro, Portuguese Cosplay Association, PT Merch, BD House, Kingpin Books – Comic Book and Gallery, Portuguese Ninpon Taijutsu Association, Sailor Moon Portugal, Cosplayer E-Zine and OtakuPT.
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