{"id":17822,"date":"2021-03-18T13:30:21","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T11:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cosplayers.gr\/?p=17822"},"modified":"2021-03-30T16:59:24","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T14:59:24","slug":"comic-n-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cosplayers.gr\/en\/main\/comic-n-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Comic N’ Play! The oldest Comics & Board Games convention in Greece talks with us!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Comic N’ Play in Thessaloniki, the oldest comics & board games convention in Greece, talks to us about Cosplay, the event and its work!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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19 YEARS AND GOING !<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n
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19 years<\/span><\/strong>! The longest-running convention in Greece<\/span><\/strong> that combines comics<\/span><\/strong> and board games<\/span><\/strong>, located in Thessaloniki<\/span><\/strong>! Every November<\/span><\/strong>, all eyes of fans of those two fanbases are set on it! Comics, board games, artists, exhibitors, collectibles<\/span><\/strong>, and generally anything they could ask for is there!<\/p>\n

Starting in 2001<\/span><\/strong> as part of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki<\/strong><\/a>‘s Student Week, it relocates to the French Institute of Thessaloniki<\/strong><\/a> in 2011<\/span><\/strong>, and finally to Warehouse C at Thessaloniki’s Port<\/strong><\/a> in 2019<\/span><\/strong>, growing dramatically with each transition! It now counts 19 annual three-day events<\/span><\/strong>, with the exception of 2020 where it was executed in digital form, due to the pandemic! Every year thousands of visitors<\/span><\/strong> flood the event, filling the corridors between the many exhibitors and artists<\/span><\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Multiple panels, presentations, workshops, exhibitions, and much more<\/span><\/strong>, compose an extensive program, not giving the audience any chance even for a moment to get bored! Starting from 2015<\/span><\/strong>, corresponding Cosplay activities are included in this set! Cosplay Workshops<\/span><\/strong> ( 2015, 2016, 2018 ), Online Cosplay Photo Contest<\/span><\/strong> ( 2016 ), Cosplay Show <\/span><\/strong>( 2017 , 2018 ), Cosplay Props Showcase<\/span><\/strong> ( 2018, 2019 ) and Cosplay Face \/ Body Painting<\/span><\/strong> ( 2017, 2018 , 2019 ).<\/p>\n

Among them, our favorite Cosplays<\/span><\/strong>, which started to make their gradually increasing appearance from 2017<\/span><\/strong> onwards, reaching 55 Cosplays<\/span><\/strong> during the last physical event, Comic N’ Play 2019<\/strong><\/a>! Cosplayers\/\/GR<\/strong><\/a> was there until the last event to fully cover all of its content and Cosplays, as always.<\/p>\n

Let’s talk in detail , with Comic N’ Play<\/span><\/strong>‘s coordinator Nikos Dalabiras<\/span><\/strong>!<\/p>\n

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Find Comic N' Play on the following media!\r\nPage<\/a> - Facebook<\/a> - Youtube<\/a> - Instagram <\/a>\r\n\r\nCheck out the organizer's profile and events, with all their info and thousands of photos & videos, on our website, HERE<\/a>!\r\n<\/strong><\/pre>\n

\nCOMICS & BOARD GAMES !<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n
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1) Tell us a few words about Comic N\u2019 Play, its history and contents! When and how did it start? What themes is it about? Are those themes based on the organizers’ personal interests, and if so, when did you start taking an interest in each of them, before your first event?<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Our event is neither the first that took place, with its content being about comics and board games ( although it was probably the first one to combine them ) in our country, nor the biggest of course, but it’s definitely the one that proved to be the longest running of all – 19 events so far (!), starting in 2001 and based in Thessaloniki, Greece.<\/p>\n
Regarding Greek comics, our exhibition is a product of the need for extroversion of a core group of young ( then ) comic creators, who met at the end of the 90s through a self-created – and in a embryonic form – distribution network of self-published Greek comics.<\/p>\n
Regarding board games, we tried to integrate and develop  further, the first corresponding activities of the oldest club in our country ( E.S.F.I.P.S.<\/strong><\/a> – year of foundation 1993, Thessaloniki ).<\/p>\n
Of course, the fact that the creative team of these first exhibitions included people who shared their interest in those two creative spaces, also played a big role in the development of the event’s character. Each of us involvement with these hobbies naturally dates back to our childhood and pushed us in search of people with corresponding hobbies \/ interests during our student life. Because there were no places back then ( referring here to the almost unreal distant 1997 ) that provided systematic support or understanding around our hobbies, it didn’t take long before we decided to create them ourselves!<\/p>\n
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Exhibitors at Comic N’ Play 2019<\/a> – Photo by Cosplayers\/\/GR<\/a><\/p>\n
2) What led you to proceed with organizing Comic N\u2019 Play? How long and what exactly did it take until the first event was possible? What can one find there and how do you think it differs from other events of similar type or theme?<\/strong><\/h5>\n
The reason was and always will be one: the need to discover other people with the same interests as us and our enthusiasm to share ( or initiate ) others in our hobbies’ fantasy worlds! Because some significant personal experience from participating \/ organizing music events \/ festivals already existed, we immediately managed to use this knowledge to convince a number of institutions to entrust us with venues \/ infrastructure and secure some minimum expenses. The rest was done as time passed.<\/p>\n
Since then, we haven’t made any particular effort to differentiate ourselves from other events – after all, most of them have only appeared during the last 5 years – but we tried mostly to focus on what we liked most, during this twenty-year period: meaning, the event’s educational aspect, since we consider young people’s education and visual literacy as a necessary condition that nurtures the love for reading comics and their dissemination and the love for learning history ( as far as strategy games are concerned ). So, every year, we organize activities that target parts of all levels of education.<\/p>\n
We also consider the original exhibition part of our event to be of primary importance, since we believe that the catalog \/ album that accompanies it each year is a reflection of both its character and a recording of participating artists. In other words, it’s a form of documentation of our organization, which also has emotional weight for us, besides its historical aspect. And all this is done in light of supporting Greek creators, because they are the ones we believe, whether young ones or veterans, that have a real need to get in touch with the public.<\/p>\n
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Cosplay Show at Comic N’ Play 2018<\/a> – Photo by Cosplayers\/\/GR<\/a><\/p>\n
3) What was the biggest, but also the most difficult Comic N\u2019 Play you have done so far? What defines them as such?<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Each year had its own difficulties and surprises, so it’s not easy to answer this question, although it’s certain that the best Comic N’ Play is always \u2026 the next one! We learned to deal with any problems that arise with humor and … by improvising! Let’s not forget that this is a non-commercial event – meaning it doesn’t have any entrance tickets. It relies therefore on private initiative, work, time and money of people who believe in Comic N’ Play’s vision, professionals and individuals, but also institutions who identify with our vision sometimes.<\/p>\n
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Panel at Comic N’ Play 2018<\/a> – Photo by Cosplayers\/\/GR<\/a><\/p>\n
4) How much effort, time and money does it usually take to set up Comic N\u2019 Play? What is the usual preparation plan that you follow?<\/strong><\/h5>\n
For almost 20 years we’ve never stopped thinking about things we would like to incorporate or improve in our events and the end of each convention signifies also the beginning of preparations for the next one. That’s because Comic N’ Play is a product of our love for our hobbies and since we never give them up, our next concern is that we are constantly confronted with the desire to find ways, resources and people to  present our inspirations to the general public better.<\/p>\n