Pop Culture Expo
The Pop Culture Expos are a series of biannual fan conventions in Massachusetts, United States. They were founded in 2014 by Gary Sohmers as an event for giving the next generation a chance to discover creative arts careers. Creative arts professionals who regularly attend the events include comic book artists/writers, puppeteers, mask makers, actors, voice actors and cartoonists.
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History
The first Pop Culture Expo made its debut at the Aleppo Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, Massachusetts on May 24-25, 2014. Prior to the second event, the name changed to Northeast Comic Con & Collectibles Extravaganza, but continued to be held at the Aleppo Shriners Auditorium until its relocation to Hanover, Massachusetts in March 2017.
Celebrity guests at the 2014 conventions included Pete Best, Billy West, Mark Goddard, Ernie Hudson, Marky Ramone, Nicholas Brendon, Butch Patrick, Bill Diamond, and Naomi Grossman. The guest of honor at the spring 2015 show was Adam West. A Christmas Story cast reunion featuring child actors Zack Ward, Scott Schwartz, Ian Petrella, and Yano Anaya were featured at the winter 2015 show, along with special MusicAL guest Andrew W.K.. James Tolkan, Micky Dolenz, Barry Bostwick, Dean Cain, and Sean Gunn were featured guests at the 2016 shows.
In March 2017, the show moved into a defunct J. C. Penney store in the Hanover Mall in Hanover, Massachusetts which had been empty for two years before being turned into the Hanover Mall Event Center, and was renamed Boston SouthCoast Comic Con & Collectibles Extravaganza. Adam West and Burt Ward from the 1960s Batman (TV series) were guests of honor at the March 2017 show, which turned out to be West’s last public appearance before he died in June 2017. An estimated 10,000 people attended the show. In July 2017, the show featured a cast reunion for Nickelodeon's The Adventures of Pete & Pete with actors Mike Maronna and Danny Tamberelli.
Event Dates and Locations
- May 24-25, 2014: Aleppo Shriners Auditorium
- December 6-7, 2014: Aleppo Shriners Auditorium
- June 20-21, 2015: Aleppo Shriners Auditorium
- December 5-6, 2015: Aleppo Shriners Auditorium
- June 18-19, 2016: Aleppo Shriners Auditorium
- December 3–4, 2016: Aleppo Shriners Auditorium
- March 4–5, 2017: Hanover Mall
- July 22–23, 2017: Hanover Mall
- December 9-10, 2017: Hanover Mall