PITTSBURGH (PTTP) — Steel City Con, Pittsburgh’s premier comic book convention, is set to kick off at the Monroeville Convention Center, featuring a cast of celebrities from all forms of pop culture.
This conventions’s lineup includes Steve Burns from Blue’s Clues and Nancy Cartwright, better known as the voice of Bart Simpson. With the convention drawing big-name celebrities like these, organizers are expecting over 10,000 fans and 750 vendors during their multiple conventions each year.
However, overcrowding has become somewhat of an issue in recent years due to the convention’s growth.
“The pathway [for the main convention hall] was bout two to three people wide, but five lines were expected to be there,” stated Nimbus Grey, who has been attending conventions for over ten years.
Despite the crowds, fans continue to flock to the convention. Some of the main drawing points to the convention are cosplay competitions, fan-made merchandise, and the large sense of community within the convention’s doors.
“Everyone was super nice, and just being able to experience not only the interests of the artists within the Artist’s Alley and all the people who come in in their cosplays who just want to share their interests with giant props they made themselves, it’s always just been a dream,” stated Maddy McGrath, a four-time veteran of Steel City Con.
Steel City Con draws fans from around the country, thanks to the large amount of media the convention covers, ranging from horror to professional wrestling, and even anime. As a comic convention, there will, of course, be a wide range of attractions for fans of superheroes.
Despite the challenges of managing large crowds, Steel City Con remains one of Pittsburgh’s great conventions, drawing fans of all forms of pop culture to the Pittsburgh area.