Published 1:42 pm Wednesday, July 29, 2026
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People stand over a game of Warhammer 40,000, which involves combatting armies of hand-painted miniatures through dice rolls.
(Dylan Follett/NNSL Photo)
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Sir Ptomas, the mascot of Ptarmicon, stands behind a tableful of board games and miniature figures.
(Dylan Follett/NNSL Photo)
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People compete in Super Smash Brothers Melee, a niche 25-year-old fighting game, at Ptarmicon’s videogame tent.
(Dylan Follett/NNSL Photo)
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Kalden Jones-Vogt, left, faces off against Chris Hotson during Ptarmicon’s tournament of the tabletop war game Warhammer 40,000.
(Dylan Follett/NNSL Photo)
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The winners of Ptarmicon’s three cosplay competition categories, beginner, advanced and group, pose alongside the competition’s organizers and judges.
(Dylan Follett/NNSL Photo)
Ptarmicon, which bills itself as “the world’s most northern gaming and popular culture convention,” held its best attended event yet on July 25-26.
The weekend convention, which hosts tournaments, booths and events for a variety of fan and gaming communities at the Multiplex, had over 1,000 attendees for the first time.
“It’s just been great. We’ve had so many people in through,” said Jessica Morris, president of Ptarmicon, during the convention’s second day.
Ptarmicon has been running for over a decade and offers a place for Yellowknifers to celebrate their out-of-the-mainstream interests or to explore new hobbies.
“Sometimes people are embarrassed of interests that they have,” said Morris. “And we really give people the confidence to come out and talk about it and meet other people with the same interests so they can make friends and get involved in more community-based things.
“It’s been really great that way,” she added. “We’ve just been an opening and welcoming place for anybody to learn about what type of nerd or geek they are.”
The convention was held in the Ed Jeske Arena at the Multiplex. It offered a variety of booths, tournaments and events, including a videogame tent that ran tournaments, a section for miniature war game Warhammer 40k, board and card games, and tabletop roleplaying games, such as Dungeons and Dragons.
There were also a number of presentations and performances throughout the event, including a cosplay for beginners, a K-pop dance show, a board game design lesson and more.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Tori Sloan about Ptarmicon. “Conventions are such a rarity, especially since Covid. And we need more opportunities for people to do fun things, like cosplay and promoting their artwork and general community stuff as well.
“It just gives us opportunities to meet each other and find common interests in our fandom culture, and I think that can bring a community together,” Sloan added.
Sloan placed as a runner-up in the group category of Ptarmicon’s cosplay contest, alongside Emmauh Salvador, and Vincent Embolo for their Walking Dead videogame cosplays.
Ptarmicon was sponsored by a number of local businesses and organizations. Admission for kids under 12 was free, sponsored by every Yellowknife MLA, other than Robert Hawkins. Tickets were $10 for everyone else. There was also a ‘Ptarmicon After Dark’ event on the night of July 25, which was for those 19 and over, and it had a bar.
Morris said that around 30 per cent of people who attend Ptarmicon aren’t involved in the subcultures at the convention, and it’s often people’s introduction into new hobbies and communities.
“It’s always really nice seeing that build, and once they get a taste of it there’s often a lot of interest,” she said. “And so, we kind of made a nerd for life. And that’s what we’re looking for, to share our passions with others.”
The summer convention is Ptarmicon’s flagship and namesake event, but representatives also organize two smaller, one-day conventions: Freezecon in the spring and Thawcon in the winter.
“Looking at how much support we have here today… we’re really excited [about the future],” said Morris. “Seeing all this, we’re hoping that next year people will remember that ‘oh yeah, we had so much fun last year,’ and then we’ll keep growing, and it’ll just keep going from there.”
Next year’s Ptarmicon is scheduled for July 24-25.
