WITCHBOMB – Starfury Event Report

Earlier this month I attended Witchbomb a new event from Starfury centred around Motherland Fort Salem and Warrior Nun.

Witchbomb

It was my first ever Starfury event but they have an excellent reputation within Sci-Fi/Fantasy fandoms. I’ve had some friends attend and they’ve said it was a great place to be. Both for the guest interaction and the chance to see fellow fans there. Thankfully with the event in Heathrow it was straightforward. The total tip from Essex taking less than 3 hours to the hotel. Once I got to Heathrow it was just a fair walk until I got out to Heathrow Central and grabbed a bus that dropped me off in front of the hotel.

From L to R: Kandyse McClure, Olivia Delcan, Kristina Tonteri-Young, Lyne Renée, Amalia Holm, Taylor Hickson, Diana Pavlovská, Emilie LeClerc

While it offers Fan meets, autographs, signed photos and panels honestly the greatest thing about Witchbomb is the community. A space for enthusiastic fans of two shows that had major effects on them. It is somewhere that feels comfortable even for someone like me at their first event and not knowing anyone, hard to explain easy to experience.

Special Circumstances

The special guests blew it out of the park. Walking a tight line throughout the event with the restriction on subjects for discussion thanks to the SAG AFTRA strike . In turn the guests were blown away by the welcome they received from the fans. They were several guests who had not appeared at Starfury events previously or fan conventions in general who talked about being nervous about attending but those concerns eased over the weekend.

Being with hundreds of fans of the same TV show is s a pretty rare thing for me. Obviously going to something like MCM Comic Con and a panel there will be a gathering of fans but once that panel ends those people will head back out into the con proper and join fans of all kinds. Sitting in a room with hundreds of people who love a show you spent 12 months getting your friend to watch is a very different thing.

Fandom

Being a fan of a show is not a simple thing. Falling in love with a show only for it to be cancelled after one season is a meme likely older than some of the Witchbomb attendees. The news of Warrior Nun’s resurrection and the form it would take came out just before the event. We got email clarification that we would not be able to ask any show based questions during panels less than 48 hours before the event. As an interviewer I stew over questions for weeks before events but the fans were ready with well thought out questions that made the guests think.

Book recommendations, favourite thing about their pets, working in a second language and how to improve one’s self confidence. That is just a small part of the questions submitted by fans. The question lines

Things To Do

One handy thing about a smaller show centred event like this is there is a lot more flexibility in timings. Panels started at 12 leaving the mornings free for photo sessions and fan meets. Fan meets see fans seated at guests in small groups with the guests visiting each table. I heard it described as very much like speed dating by someone who had actually been to the fan meets.

One event I did not attend due to feeling a little overwhelmed was the Cosplay Contest but from one little I can gather it was amazing. The quality of the cosplays was great as I got to see some of them over the weekend. The guests were on judge duty and absolutely loved the ones based on their shows. It was one event where the guests go to take part in without being the centre of attention.

Highlights

• Kandyse and Diana, opening the event proper up and just feeding off the energy of the crowd and giving back as much. Their stories and insights were amazing and definitely set the tone for the event.
• Volunteering as a steward might not be for everyone but was a way to step out of my comfort zone.
• Amalia serenading Taylor as us fans collectively lost our minds. Quite a nice surprise to be treated to.

Ready to Answer The Call? Head over to Starfury to register for Witchbomb #2 coming in 2024.

Thanks for checking out my short review of Witchbomb 2023, there was way too much to cover but I wanted to get something out there for people to check out if they couldn’t attend. Continue the conversation in the comments or please feel free to chat to us Twitter/X.