So after a fun filled day at Kirklees Light Railway on Saturday; Sunday was expected to be just as exciting as we had tickets for the Game of Thrones convention at The Printworks, Manchester. I had bought tickets as soon as they were released as both myself and Rob are huge fans of the show and with guests such as Ian McElhinney (Barristan Selmy), Richard Brake (The Night King) and Ross O’Hennessy (Lord of Bones) it wasn’t something we wanted to miss out on.
It was our first time going to a convention like this so we didn’t really know what to expect, would it be child friendly? would it be over crowded?
On entering we could see that The Printworks had been transformed into The Seven Kingdom with a huge dragon’s head, market stalls selling show merchandise and cosplay characters walking around. We handed our tickets over and was given lanyards with our passes and a wristband to ensure we could enter the various areas of the convention. We were also directed to a timetable of events for the day.
Autograph and photograph sessions / Meet the stars
Stars of the show who attended..
- Ser Barristan Selmy – Ian McElhinney. A 40 year veteran of the Kingsguard and Lord Commander before his dismissal by, the most hated King Joffrey. After saving Daenerys Targaryen from an assassination attempt he become her closest confidante and adviser.
- The Night King – Richard Brake. The supreme leader of the Wights, who has an army of 100,s of thousands, including one very awesome dragon.
- Ser Meryn Trant – Ian Beattie
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The Lord of Bones – Ross O’Hennessy. The Lord of Bones was a notorious leader among the Wildlings and an infamous, fearsome raider.
- Lancel Lannister – Eugene Simon
- White Walker – Ross Mullan
- Randyll Tarley – James Faulkner
- Pyat Pree – Ian Hanmore
- Trystane Martell – Toby Sebastian
- Myrcella Baratheon – Aimee Richardson
- Mace Tyrell – Roger Ashton-Griffiths
- Seramory Lorch – Fintan McKeown
- Bowen Marsh – Michael Condron
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The Waif’s Disguise – Margaret Jackman
We were very lucky as we managed to get autographs of both Ross O’Hennessy and Richard Brake who were both great guys to meet, and as we were ready to leave the convention we caught sight of both Ian McElhinney and Ian Beattie loitering around so we took this opportunity to get a quick photograph with them too.
DiagCon themed Market Street with traders
- There was lots of merchandise on offer, replica dragons eggs, cosplay weapons and table wear to just name a few.
Q&A panels from cast and crew from the show
- These were extremely busy but we were lucky enough to see the Q&A session with Ross O’Hennessy which was great.
Pit Fighting
Sit on the Iron Throne
- Here you could have your photograph taken whilst you sit on the Iron Throne. This was extremely popular with visitors but it was well worth the 30 minute wait.
Art of Throne
- Here you could see the work that is involved behind the scenes of the show with special effects and make-up artist
Game of Thrones inspired cosplay
- walking around the Printworks were Knights dressed in armour, characters from the show and ‘direwolves’.
Special food and drinks offers in many venues
The event was certainly family friendly, my three little ones although never having watched the show (for obvious reasons) really enjoyed seeing people dressed up, having their photo taken on the Iron Throne and petting the ‘Direwolves’, and although it was very busy the complex wasn’t overcrowded which made the experience so much more enjoyable.
The Printworks is to hold a Harry Potter Fan Convention next month, we have our tickets and are hoping that it will be as good as the Game of Thrones.
