NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Nashville Fair has just wrapped for another year, but we wanted to send it off in style. This may not be what you immediately think of when you think of the Nashville Fair. However, it's about family and community just the same.
"The Cosplay Contest is getting ready to start!" a voice called into a microphone on Saturday. "You'll be able to watch!"
In a cosplay contest, you create the look of a character from comics, movies, video games, you name it.
Now, I'll admit. I'm a specific kind of movie fanatic, and also I'm old and stuff. I didn't know all the characters there. Then, I saw two guys walk in.
"I think we both like trying to get into character," said 14-year-old Journey Gibson, standing next to 16-year-old brother Jasper.
They were dressed as characters from Mega Man. Now, that came out in 1987. Nintendo. I knew all about this.
Journey was portraying Mega Man X. Jasper was game villain Vile.
"I just started when they were little," said their mom Melissa Gibson, sitting with husband Jonathan Gibson.
"Your mom pretty good with costumes?" I asked the boys.
"I'd say so," Journey answered.
This started with Halloween when Journey and Jasper were little.
"I just enjoyed doing costumes," Melissa said. "I always made it a family event."
"It's just become a tradition," Jonathan added.
When the boys got a little older, the family started coming to these cosplay contests.
"Who are you cosplaying?" asked a judge dressed as Beetlejuice as a Pokemon cosplayer walked up.
I have to say. Beetlejuice was a way nicer judge than I was expecting.
"These arm pieces are made out of plastic Easter eggs," Journey explained, showcasing the various parts of the costume.
"The lights in the back [of the helmet] are just LED keychain lights," Jasper added. "They shine through green straws."
"You have to think outside the box," Melissa said. "I just figure out how to make it actually work."
The artillery on the back of the Vile costume was made of toilet paper roles.
"My favorite thing is just meeting people that are like-minded, that have the same passion for creation that I do," said cosplayer Gray Seeberger, dressed as a custom character from Fallout.
"The first time we came here, it was like everybody knew everybody, even though we'd never been here before," Melissa said. "Everybody was a friend of everybody else."
So, I had to ask.
"What comes next?"
Melissa hesitated and smiled.
"I appreciate you trying to find out for me," Jonathan laughed. "Thank you."
You never know what you'll find at the Nashville Fair. Might even be a Mega Mom.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
September 11, 2001 is a day most associate with terror and tragedy. Austin Pollack shares a story from that day about hope and persistence: the effort to save a little girl’s life – with an organ donation. The problem? The young patient was in Houston, and her life-saving liver here in Nashville. With the grounding of all civilian aircraft, how could it be done? “Nobody ever said this isn’t possible.”
- Rhori Johnston
