FAIRFIELD — More than 200 self-described nerds turned out Sunday for the first Maine Sci-Fi & Fantasy Nerd Festival at the Fairfield Community Center.
Michael Huard, the festival’s creator, had the idea for the event after he noticed a lack of “nerdy stuff” in the area.
“There’s no nerdy stuff. Everyone is, like, into sports,” Huard said. “There’s a lot of stuff going on, but there’s nothing nerdy.
Brittanie Ferris, dressed as a character she describes as being “very bubbly and very friendly,” is seen Sunday during the Maine Sci-Fi & Fantasy Nerd Festival in Fairfield. Ferris said she has 23,000 followers on the app TikTok. She added that she has not yet named the new character. Morning Sentinel photo by Rich Abrahamson Buy this Photo
“I’m getting ready to do a circuit of fantasy author comic cons myself and I said to myself: ‘There’s nothing around here like that. Why don’t I just do one?'”
Huard of Fairfield is an author who has written several books, including his series “The Mystical Slayers.”
Huard was among 22 vendors at Sunday’s festival. Others included GameStop, Kaleidoscope Beadworks, Black Cape Comics and Nine Ravens Woodworks.
The festival had a $5 admission fee and offered food, video games, Dungeons & Dragons, face painting, balloon animals and live, on-stage padded weapons fighting. There were also cosplay characters available for photos.
“We have a little bit of everything that nerdy people enjoy,” Huard said.
Sci-Fi fanatics Heather Neal and her daughter, Luna Reyhaerts, drove from Detroit to attend the festival.
Neal was dressed as the 13th doctor from “Doctor Who,” and Luna made her own Baby Yoda costume.
Darin Beaulieu, right, portrays Captain Dartanio Darkenwulf as Justin Fletcher portrays Captain America Sunday during the Maine Sci-Fi & Fantasy Nerd Festival in Fairfield. Morning Sentinel by Rich Abrahamson Buy this Photo
“It’s a really fun festival, and it’s especially great when people recognize your costume,” Neal said. “It’s great to indoctrinate her (Luna) into this culture.”
Gary Serje, who was dressed as Jesse Custer from the comic series “The Preacher,” said he liked Sunday’s festival so much that if it happens again next year, he will be back.
“It’s a really diverse festival and a great community,” Serje said. “I’m having a great time.”
Jillian Thompson was also in attendance, dressed as Princess Elsa from Disney’s “Frozen.”
Thompson, who does appearances at parties dressed as different princesses, was invited to the festival to walk around and interact with attendees.
“It’s been super fun today,” Thompson said. “There’s not a lot of events like this in the area, so it’s nice to see and be a part of it.”
Huard said the festival went better than he could have expected.
“The response has been awesome,” Huard said. “It was a pretty big hit by the looks of it. We’ve had such a blast today.”
Although there is no set plan — yet — for the festival to return next year, Huard said he is considering the possibility.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.