Britishfest aims to ‘bring the best from across the pond’ to Omaha area July 10-12
Doctor Who invading the Omaha area? Harry Potter? Hobbits? They are among the possible characters you can expect to see at the second annual Britishfest at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs July 10-12.
Celebrity guests, speaker panels, vendors and Cosplayers and Steampunk are expected to be part of the festival. Celebrities scheduled to attend include: Adrian Paul, Simon Fisher-Becker and Mark Ryan.
“Highlander” actor Adrian Paul may be best known as “Duncan MacLeod” in the series, but Paul has appeared in numerous movies and television series, including “Charmed,” “Relic Hunter” and “Tides of War.” He starred in “Tracker,” as Cole/Daggon. Paul will be at Britishfest all three days, leading panels, posing for pictures and signing autographs.
Fisher-Becker may be best known as Dorium in “Doctor Who” and Fat Friar in “Harry Potter” series.
Fisher-Becker will conduct a free comedy show July 12th, “My Dalek has a Puncture.”
Ryan has voiced Bumblebee, Jetfire and Lockdown in the “Transformers” movie series. He has appeared onscreen recently as Gates in “Black Sails.”
Breuer is a renowned Doctor Who look-alike. He looks strikingly similar to the second Doctor.
Event goers can look forward to a riveting debate on Paddington Bear vs. Winnie the Pooh. I suspect this a panel we will be interested in checking out, since we have owned cats named Tigger and Winnie. Me thinks we’ll come down on the side of Winnie the Pooh. I could be wrong, though.
Another panel will explore the relationship between “Star Wars” and Britain. “Star Wars and the British Connection” will focus on the fact that several actors in the original trilogy were from the United Kingdom. Also, several of the robots were constructed there.
Britishfest will be home to several popular posts. Anyone interested in checking out the Tardis console? Yes, please! More Doctor Who props are scheduled to be on site: the blue box, Dalek Bob and NSD Dalek.
A section of Platform 9 ¾ will be available for Harry Potter fans.
Cosplayers will be represented throughout the weekend. Festival goers will dress as their favorite characters, so I imagine we’ll see a lot of Doctor Who, Potter, Lord of the Rings’ characters and even a few Austin Powers and James Bond.
I anticipate Steampunk will be popular here. It’s a cosplay style that incorporates a bit of Victorian-era dress to the costume. We saw some Steampunk at the recent O Comic Con festival.
Cosplay and Steampunk national guests will be represented during the convention, too.
Ezmeralda Von Katz will be on hand as a national Cosplayer. Von Katz has dressed as Catwoman and Ursula, among several others.
Johnny Ireland Laci Niel are the Steampunk guests of honor. Ireland will run a booth highlighting Steampunk garb and will let people dress up for free photos. He is also in charge of the Steampunk ball July 11th. Neil will lead panel discussions, among her weekend activities.
Not to be left out, the 402nd Storm troopers will be on for pictures and more during the convention. The “Star Wars” costumers plan to bring along a life-sized Jabba the Hut character.
The three-day festival offers vendors, exhibitors and more guests and panels. For more information on Britishfest or to obtain tickets, please visit www.britishfest.weebly.com.
