Get your pictures taken with ‘Frodo Baggins’ and ‘Samwise Gamgee’ at Fan Expo Dallas
In just over a week, fans of pop-culture from all facets will descend onto Dallas for this year’s annual fan expo.
Fan Expo Dallas will take over the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center June 17-19, with celebrity guests, autograph sessions and walls of merchandise. Tickets are still available for either single day or weekend passes.
The large fan event has been around North Texas since 2002 when it was called Dallas Comic Con. Historically, the event had been held in Plano, Richardson and Irving, despite its Dallas namesake.
In 2014, publishing company Informa purchased the convention and re-located the event to the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas, where it has been held ever since. Just a few years later in 2017, the event name was officially changed to Fan Expo Dallas.
The event is the largest pop-culture fan gathering in the state, attracting tens of thousands of people each year, according to the expo. Fans can choose to roam the merchandise floor shopping from various vendors and artists to getting in line for photographs with their favorite celebrity.
There isn’t a consensus to the type of pop-culture celebrated at the events, but naturally a celebration of all things movie, television, comic book, anime and video games. All walks of celebrities attend Fan Expo Dallas for photo and autograph sessions or to nerd out themselves.
Here’s what fans can expect from this year’s Fan Expo Dallas:
Celebrity guests
Several television show casts, voice actors, action movie stars and artists will attend this year’s fan expo.
All four main hobbit actors from “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy will be at the expo on Saturday and Sunday for photos. Elijah Wood who played “Frodo Baggins”, Sean Astin who played “Samwise Gamgee”, Dominic Monaghan who played “Merry Brandybuck” and Billy Boyd who played “Pippin Took” will be there.
The Netflix show “Cobra Kai”, which is a sequel series to the “Karate Kid” movies of the 1980s, will bring four of its core cast members to the floor. Actor’s William Zabka, Martin Kove, Peyton List and Jacob Bertrand, will appear at the expo all weekend.
Not to be outdone, the serial killer show “Dexter” is bringing six of its cast members to the expo, including “Dexter” actor himself, Michael C. Hall. Joining Hall at the show is actor’s Jennifer Carpenter, David Zayas, C.S. Lee, James Remar and Erik King.
Brendan Fraser, star of “The Mummy” and “Doom Patrol”, will be available for photos also, along with several cast members from “Star Wars” shows, “The Mandalorian” and “The Book of Boba Fett”. A full celebrity guest list is available on the expo’s website.
Merchandise
It wouldn’t be a convention without the ability to purchase merchandise surrounding the many properties celebrated at the expo, and there will be plenty of it in Dallas.
Thousands of square feet will house vendors, artists, creators and all their merchandise. Everything from t-shirts, apparel, action figures, statues and artwork will be on sale.
There could possibly even be limited edition items you can only get at the expo on sale next weekend, along with artists taking commissions for private pieces.
Everything else
Besides shopping and hanging out with your local celebrity, there are plenty of other things to do at the expo.
Several creators will host panels on a variety of things from creating art, building YouTube channels, designing costumes and working in the entertainment field. Cosplay contests will be held for fans looking to show off their newest creation.
Fans can also participate in trivia, karaoke and other events surrounding the expo next weekend.
Fan Expo Dallas takes place next weekend from June 17 to 19. The show opens up on Friday from 4 to 9 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This story was originally published June 6, 2022 at 5:35 PM.
