Why PopCon Should Be On Your Go-To Convention List

By Sean Winningham

on May 6, 2024

Pop culture conventions have grown immensely popular over the years. From San Diego Comic Con to GenCon, you can find a convention that’s centered around any genre of your choosing. One of my favorites that I attend is in my own hometown of Indianapolis, PopCon. Started in 2014, PopCon is celebrating its 11th year, with each year growing in attendees, guests, and offerings. It’s grown so popular, they now offer a second PopCon weekend every year in Louisville, Kentucky.

My kid and I have been attending this convention over the past few years now, and I’ve always been so happy and impressed with it that I always invite family and friends to check it out. Of the many conventions I’ve attended (in person and virtually) as well as heard about, PopCon stands out and resonates with so many people for many reasons.

So here’s why you should attend PopCon.

Want to see what PopCon Indy was like this year? Watch the YouTube video below.

Locally Owned and Operated

In case you didn’t know, a lot of conventions nowadays are run by third-party companies. So a convention like Indiana Comic Con is actually run by FanX, who also runs the comic convention in Tampa Bay, Wisconsin, Atlanta, & Salt Lake City. FanX is also owned and operated out of Salt Lake City. Although this is a very common practice nowadays (e.g. ReedPop runs C2E2 & New York Comic Con), you’d be surprised how a locally owned and operated convention can make a huge difference in attendee experience.

PopCon was created by Carl Doninger & Kris Keys, Indiana natives who have owned and operated it ever since. Because of this, they are more involved with the convention at the ground level than most, and they are more accessible if you ever want to give them suggestions, ideas, or feedback (which they have implemented many of them into the convention). Many of the staff members are also local to the area as well. Having that local connection to the convention where its hosted really makes it a special event that has a love that goes into providing a great convention experience that goes beyond the bottom line dollar.

Anything And Everything Pop Culture

When they say that PopCon is about everything pop culture, they mean it. Where many conventions are honed in on a specific genre or two, what makes PopCon different is that they have a little bit of every genre that the attendees want.

Here’s a list of some (but not all) of the genres and events you’ll find at PopCon that’s part of their show:

After Parties
Anime
Beard Competition
Board Games
Celebrities
Comics
Darts
Drag Show
Escape Rooms
Film Festival
Laser Tag
Magic Shows
Podcast Awards
Trading Card Games (TCG) Tournaments
Wrestling
Video Games
Ultimate Cosplay Championship

Game On!

I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about their gaming events! PopCon partnered with Who’s Yer Gamers, a statewide gaming organization, to offer a wide variety of gaming events. Having an entire Hall dedicated to this hobby, Who’s Yer Gamers organizes the programming for games that they offer, such as providing their large gaming library for the public to use and play, setting up demo tables for a number of board games, and more! Additionally, Kingdom Cards & Games hosted a series of trading card game tournaments (such as Lorcana and Star Wars Unlimited) and The Established Facts podcast hosted the Neverending Dungeon, a series of D&D one-shots which raised money for Riley Hospital of Indianapolis.

Additionally, iCon Legends ran an eSports video gaming tournament, and the Indiana University Luddy School of Informatics demonstrated the video games their students created as a project in partnership with the U.S. Navy.

Family Friendly

There are some conventions that makes it a bit difficult to bring your children or other family members to attend because of lack of events geared towards them. As you can see with the list of events mentioned earlier, PopCon has programs and events that kids will enjoy. I took my own Geekling (the name of the pass that PopCon gives out for children who are 10 or younger, who can attend for free!) and also went with my cousin and her teenager. We had a blast watching WCWO Wrestling, the various magic shows, and checking out the various vendors on the floor for our next purchases, which for us included Funko Pops, wooden signs, and 3D printed dragons.

With that said, keep in mind that not all vendors have family-friendly products that they sell. As a parent myself, I saw a few vendors that had their merchandise out on their tables that I did not want my child to see. But those instances were few and far in between, and the majority of it was more suggestive than revealing.