Norris Penrose Event Center — Host Venue For Colorado Cosmic Con
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Colorado Springs is about to get a lot nerdier this weekend. Colorado Cosmic Con sets up shop at the Norris Penrose Event Center, running 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, with a lineup of celebrity guests, about 90 vendors and tickets as cheap as $5.
Who’s Showing Up This Weekend
According to The Gazette, this weekend’s event will bring out a quintet of famous faces: Christopher Serrone, Katie Cassidy, Marti Matulis, Amanda Detmer and local celebrity Jason Montoya. Serrone is known for his role in the 1990 film Goodfellas, while Cassidy has appeared in the TV series Supernatural and the 2010 film A Nightmare on Elm Street. Matulis has a credit in the TV series The Mandalorian, and Detmer appeared in the 2001 film Saving Silverman. Montoya, a local celebrity and sketch card artist, founded Themis Comix and works with Upper Deck Entertainment, per the same report.
Tickets run $5 to $10, with a weekend pass priced between $10 and $15, the station’s report notes. That’s a far cry from the convention’s April edition, where the Gazette listed single-day prices starting at $20 for ages 8-15 and $35 for ages 16 and older — though that spring gathering was a separate event with its own vendor count and shouldn’t be confused with this weekend’s lower-priced show.
Vendors, Cosplay and the Collectibles Boom
About 90 vendors are expected to set up shop selling comic books, Pokémon cards, toys, collectibles and other bespoke items, including kitchenware emblazoned with superheroes, the outlet reports. Event organizer John Hernandez told the paper that cosplay is a big draw, with up to 30% of attendees participating in dressing as their favorite characters, and that anyone who just likes watching the costumes should come out and have fun.
Hernandez pointed to the broader pop-culture machine behind the hobby’s staying power. “Marvel movies have a big influence on comic cons. People are always looking for the next big character to collect,” he said, per the same account. He also described the scale of the secondary market for collectibles, noting, “There’s a big market for this kind of stuff. It’s compared to the stock market.” Hernandez added that comic books themselves can carry surprising value, with collectors constantly hunting for the next major character to chase.
A Growing Local Tradition
The Gazette reports Hernandez founded the event in 2017, though SoCo Insider has previously written that he launched the first Cosmic Con in a small hotel ballroom back in 2015 — an inconsistency that remains unresolved between the two accounts. The convention has clearly built momentum in the years since: at the April edition, Hernandez told the Gazette that attendance grew from about 900 people in the first year to nearly 2,000 the year before, with organizers that time hoping for at least 3,000. That spring show was billed as the convention’s third year and featured more than 100 vendors, figures distinct from this weekend’s lineup.
There’s also some fine print worth flagging for anyone mapping out their weekend. The Gazette lists the venue address as 1045 Lower Gold Camp Road, while the Norris Penrose Colorado Springs Event Center’s own event listing gives the address as 945 Lower Gold Camp Road. The venue’s listing also shows Saturday hours ending at 5 p.m., while the Gazette and the convention’s own website list Saturday hours running until 6 p.m. Either way, the event center sits in Colorado Springs, and fans eager for a weekend of comics, cosplay and celebrity selfies shouldn’t have much trouble finding it.
Colorado Springs/Pikes Peak Region-Fun & Entertainment
