From Oct. 18 to 20, nerds, geeks and all kinds of fanboys will take on the Knoxville Convention Center at Fanboy Expo 2.0.

Every year since 2012, Fanboy Expo has brought nerds of all kinds together in Knoxville. While the event was originally only once a year, it has grown enough that it is able to hold multiple events a year, hence the “2.0.”

One of the main draws for comic book conventions such as Fanboy Expo is cosplay. Cosplay is basically professional costume-making; fans recreate their favorite characters from pop culture and become them for a few hours or even days.

Grayson Peters, director of operations at Howl FX, a cosplay prop-making company, has been attending Fanboy Expo for years.

“Fanboy is a great convention that brings in a lot of attention from the Knoxville community. The cosplay community in this area cares so much about this con,” Peters said. “We love taking (Howl FX) to Fanboy in order to branch out our business to other cosplayers and fans.”

Cosplay is not the only thing that brings people to Fanboy Expo; the convention also features a large panel of celebrity guests. Fanboy Expo gives fans the opportunity to meet their idols, grab a picture and snag an autograph.

Dylan Olson, a prop maker at Howl FX and avid cosplayer, shares Peters’s love for the convention. Fanboy Expo has given him the opportunity to meet some of his personal heroes.

“At Fanboy Expo 2018, I was able to meet the cast of ‘Hellboy,’ which was a dream come true,” Olson said. “I was also able to meet the original Michael Meyers, Nick Castle, this summer. Fanboy is great for meeting actors and artists you wouldn’t find at any other convention.”

Fanboy Expo 2.0 will feature a large panel of celebrity guests, including Keith David, Susan Egan, Nick Stahl and Carmen Bicondova. Fanboy Expo is unique in that it constantly tries to bring together actors from certain projects in order to have reunions. This year, the convention will feature reunions for “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “The Addams Family,” “Scream” and “She’s All That.”

One thing that brings conventions such as Fanboy Expo together are vendor halls. In between panels with celebrities and photos with cosplayers, guests are given the opportunity to buy all kinds of different nerdy merchandise. There is really no telling what one can find at the vendor hall at Fanboy Expo; anything from knick-knacks to full on movie props might await you.

Olson is not only a cosplayer and a prop maker but has also worked as a vendor four times at Fanboy Expo.

“Working as a vendor is a really good time,” Olson said. “You get to interact with a lot of people and make connections with them. Every time I work at Fanboy it only gets better and better.”

Fanboy Expo 2.0 will be held from Oct. 18-20 at the Knoxville Convention Center. Tickets for the event can be found here.