Excalibur Con, Duluth’s growing pop culture and gaming convention, expanded across the city side of the convention center this weekend, with more vendors, artists and events than ever before.
Organizers said this year’s ExcaliburCon included expanded tabletop gaming, tournaments for games like Magic, Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh!, and a larger pop culture area with celebrity guests from K-Pop Demon Hunters, Amazing Digital Circus, X-Men 97, Star Wars the Clone Wars, Twin Peaks and WWE. The local wrestling promotion DPW also brought in talent, and the event featured its first tattoo pavilion with local body artists.
“We’ve grown and expanded. So the tabletop gaming has expanded. We’ve got all the standbys that we’ve had. Warhammer, Kings of War, role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons and things like that. The open board games but the TCG area has really expanded,” the organizer, Stephen Kaarbo, said.
The convention’s community area also grew, hosting cosplay contests, non-profits, and other conventions running events. Organizers highlighted the involvement of local heroes, artists and regional cosplayers.
“We have our first featured author this year. So really expanding all of those niche areas of our fandoms, so to speak,” Kaarbo said.
A major highlight was the world premiere of the local Keith Hopkins movie, Man Has A Mania, at Marcus Theater, with actor Barkad Abdi attending for a Q&A and meet-and-greet.
RELATED:FIRST TRY! Teeb Con’s massive success – WDIO.com
Reflecting on the event’s growth from a front yard gathering of 80 people to thousands at the deck, Kaarbo said, “The Northland has such a great community. People come together for this stuff. So the number of volunteers that even have volunteered like within the last week has been kind of an exponential growth.”
Excalibur Con also supports local charities, including the Minnesota Masonic Children’s Clinic for Communication Disorders in Duluth, providing speech therapy at no cost to families. “Last year, we were able to donate just slightly below $10,000 to the clinic. We’re hoping to break that mark this year and give them a little bit more,” Kaarbo said.
Other initiatives include the mnswca.org mental wellness scholarship for practitioners in Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, and the new Excalibur Youth Fund to support school clubs with supplies and re
“We really think this initiative could have far-reaching effects throughout the Northland. So the nerd event, the Excalibur Fund is fun. And just for everybody to know, the money that comes in isn’t going in my pocket or isn’t going into a company’s pocket. It’s quite literally going right back into the Northland communities,” Stephen said.
Local artists and vendors said the convention’s growth has created new opportunities. “It’s exciting. I’m really proud to be a part of it because again, so much of my life has been spent up here, and to see kind of the two big parts of my life come together is really cool,” Dave Wheeler said.
Artist Travis Bentley said, “Having something that’s here, you’re going to get people from this area in like a two, three hour bubble that now have a place where they can congregate.”
Dylan Jacobson, who has been with ExcaliburCon since its start, said, “I think this is actually a really great show for first-time artists. For artists getting into Comic-Cons, it can be difficult picking where to start because shows can be expensive, shows can be far away. So if you’re up in this North Woods region, I think it’s a really good spot to start.”
Looking ahead, organizers confirmed Excalibur Con will return to the DECC in 2027 with plans to expand further, including more space, additional wrestling events and new entertainment options.
“We want to expand some of the gaming opportunities as well. So we’re going to see how things go with all the TCGs this year,” the organizer said.
Organizers encouraged anyone interested in volunteering or getting involved to reach out. “If people want to get involved, they can just contact me directly or contact us through the website info at mnswca.org, and myself or one of our board members will connect and see how people in the community can join us in building Excalibur Con 2027,” the organizer said.
The event wrapped up with organizers and artists crediting the Northland’s supportive community for making Excalibur Con possible and looking forward to continued growth in the years ahead.
