Funcon was a departure of the usual conventions and events our community goes to. It wasn’t held at a plush mall or an enormous convention center. It was held at a small restaurant with attendees barely reaching the hundreds but that didn’t really matter. It lived up to its name as its attendees had a great fun time with lots of games, music, and surprises from start to finish.
Organized by Mark Vibas and supported by his family and friends, Funcon was conceptualized as an event that made pleasant deviations to what people have been used to in otaku events. Although quite knew to event organization and planning, they had thought things through and had done their homework in more in coming up with something innovative the community can look froward to.
Held at the Funky Monkey Bar & Grill in Fairview, Quezon City, the venue was favorable to the event, having an ample stage, space for booths, and space for the attendees to do their preparations, dressing up, congregating and photo taking. Around the venue were Azalea’s Cosplay Shop, Serendipity Beauty Products, Loki’s Haven & Lyme Cosplay providing attendees the opportunity to browse through their products and learn more about them and cosplay in general.
Great music was provided by amazing indie bands: Zoryl, Kupita, Pikoy, Shigai Cake, Asterysk, Ikuzoiwa, Radyo, and the Mirage. Playing a variety of songs from various genres, they kept the crowd up and alive from morning till night.
Funcon also had the debut of Kitsune Da~O, the Philippine’s first Baby Metal cover group. Theirs was a much anticipated performance enjoyed by everyone in attendance.
There were games for everyone, like Low Cost Cosplay, where participants dress up one of their own members as a particular character using literally whatever they can find lying around.
Panel discussions and talks given by some of the most prominent cosplayers around about the many fascinating aspects of cosplay give Funcon its unique edge: Naru discussed “Art of Choosing” for those new to cosplaying and their considerations when choosing their characters, RB Cheng shared “The Art of Mechas” with tips and techniques on building mecha and armored costumes, Shiela Millette discussed “The Art of Versatility” in cosplaing, and Ms. Loki Heart shared “The Art of the Trade” which dealt with being smart and frugal when it came to cosplay necessities. Then there was Deadpoolicious, Mark Vibas himself, who talked about “The Art of Performance” in cosplay.
Everyone had a wonderful time partaking in the sight and sounds of this event, small but cozy enough for participants to make new friends, catch up on events, share opinion and ideas, and take lots of photos and videos from. Best of all, everyone who attended got to help out as proceeds from the event help Colors and Doodles, the Funky Monkey Bar & Grill’s project to help the community through supporting the education of the less fortunate, as they now help send 365 children/scholars to school.
We congratulate everyone who was involved in organizing this event for a job well done and for boldly trying out something new for the community. We eagerly look forward to the next installment.
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