Fandom Celebration of Cosmic Proportions

As fandoms collide, the Donald Tucker Civic Center transforms into a haven for cosplayers, gamers, and everyone in between. Join me as I explore InfinityCon, Tallahassee’s one-of-a-kind pop culture convention. 

Early on Saturday morning, I woke up bright and early to get ready for the day. While I wasn’t cosplaying, I wore my best earrings: small, silver 20-sided dice, perfect to fit in with all of the other Dungeons and Dragons fans attending. Braving the Florida heat, my friend and I walked to the convention. We knew we were in the right place when we saw cosplayers heading up the Tallahassee hills towards the Civic Center, dressed up as characters from Demon Slayer, Project Hail Mary, Persona, and more. Anticipation and excitement were in the air, the Southern Shakespeare Company bard welcoming guests. 

As the clock struck 10, we took the escalators to the Civic Center’s bottom floor, where the convention was set up. The escalators opened into the main hallway, which branched off into the vendor’s hall and arena. To kick off the day, my friend and I headed into the vendor’s hall to browse the Infinite Market and explore the vendors, artists, and other creators’ offerings. The vendor’s hall is also where we found the Isle of Wonder featuring the 20ft planetarium provided by the Challenger Learning Center. On the outside it’s a round, inflatable dome, but inside it lights up to reveal Tallahassee’s sky. The presenter took us on a tour through the cosmos, the stars twinkling as we sat in a circle looking up. We learned how to navigate the sky on our own, even getting a glimpse of the constellations visible that night. 

In the Arena, I was greeted with any Pokemon lover’s dream – a giant Gengar, posed next to a Pikachu car. A wild Sylveon also appeared, with fans lining up to take pictures with the pink, fuzzy Pokémon.  In the background, we could hear the clanking of armor as knights dueled.  After our pitstop, we continued our journey to the Mystic Forest area to play Blood on the Clocktower, a social deduction game. My friend and I put on our detective hats, ready to uncover evil and out the demons. I was dubbed the mayor, but good ultimately triumphed before my special ability came into effect. We decided to leave afterwards, heading back out into the Florida sun to rest and recover for day two. 

While we’d just briefly sat down to play board games in Game Tally’s demo area the day before, On the second day, this was our main course, and my favorite part of InfinityCon. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., we sat at one of the plastic folding tables and played a plethora of board games. Across the games we played––Castle Combo, Alice’s Garden, Las Vegas, and Splendor––I came out victorious, winning 4-3 in total. Besides playing these games, though, we connected with other players from the community. 

When we left for the day, tired but looking forward to Game Tally’s meetup on Wednesday, we were greeted by gloomy skies. Dashing through the rain didn’t put a damper on the day, though––InfinityCon was a truly special experience, and I can’t wait to go back next year and experience the magic all over again.