For the Love of Sci-Fi
For the Love of Sci-Fi is a fan convention held annually in Manchester, UK that celebrates the science fiction genre in various formats such as films, sci-fi fiction, comics, video games, and sci-fi cosplay which is organised by UK Events company Monopoly Events.
History and organisation
For the Love of Sci-Fi has been running since 2015 and was originally titled "For the Love of the Force" when Monopoly Events CEO Andy Kleek saw a gap in the market for a science-fiction themed fan convention, the very first event had a strong focus on the Star Wars franchise, however, for the second event, Kleek wanted to expand into other areas of the genre and changed the event name to For the Love of Sci-Fi. He liked the idea of a comic convention style event that focussed purely on science-fiction rather than comic books and general pop culture.Monopoly Events is a Manchester-based event organization company that specializes in events held in the North West of England and Scotland. Along with the For the Love of Sci-Fi event, they are also responsible for organizing Comic Con Liverpool, Comic Con Scotland, For the Love of Wrestling, For the Love of Horror, For the Love of Fantasy, and Comic Con Manchester. The first For the Love of Sci-Fi event ran over three consecutive days in December 2015 and was extremely well received by the public for a first-time event, with approximately 21,000 visitors across the three-day event.
The convention consistently includes celebrity guest appearances from various science fiction films, television shows, video games etc including classic franchises such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, The Punisher, Dredd, Stranger Things, Robocop, Doctor Who and many others.
Notable events
The 2018 event was introduced for the first time with an opening night concert, appearing on stage along with numerous bands was Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo played alongside his band Work In Progress, while Ray Parker Jr. sang the Ghostbusters Theme alongside sci-fi band Blues Harvest.The upcoming 2020 event, due to run from 5th-6th December 2020 saw a huge soar in ticket sales when the events social media platforms announced the appearance of Netflix hit show Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown, within hours, tickets to get the actresses autograph had completely sold out.
Venue
For the Love of Sci-Fi is held exclusively at Bowlers Exhibition Centre, situated in Trafford Park, Stretford, Greater Manchester. The venue is also the site of many raves and music events including Sidewinder and Manchester Adored, conventions such as For the Love of Horror and Comic Con Manchester, various food and drink expositions and regular boxing and mixed martial arts events, dart's championships and tours and other sporting events. It is also home to a gym with a boxing ring, a Caribbean themed cafe-bar and a fan-built replica of the Mos Eisley Cantina from the Star Wars universe which doubles as a functioning bar and an escape room.The event runs across the entirety of the arena, including the Cantina Space Bar, which is often used for after-parties as well as being open to visitors for the duration of the event. The main exhibition hall, Trafford Arena 1 is home to various film sets, a stage for celebrity guest question and answer panels and also live music performances, celebrity guest professional photoshoots and autograph sessions, cosplay events, and other displays. As of 2019, the smaller Trafford Arena 2 features a large dealers zone selling sci-fi related memorabilia, artwork, and collectibles, prior to this the dealer's area could be found in the smaller Bridgewater Arena and before that in a marquee at the entrance to the arena, for the 2019 event, the decision was made to move the dealer's area to allow for more room for visitors in the zone and a more extensive range of vendors. As of the 2019 event, the Bridgewater Arena is home to a gaming area and attractions aimed at smaller children and families such as a Grinch Grotto, arts and craft displays, inflatables and funfair games. A smaller suite called the Trafford Suite is home to a Jedi lightsabre training area while a small funfair can be found at the front of the venue as well as a food court area.