On Jan. 28, 2023, LumaCon is going to be held at the Petaluma Community Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. LumaCon is a free comic convention for youth where literacy and creativity are celebrated by various members of the community all around Petaluma. 

LumaCon has been going on since 2015 when the librarians of Casa Grande High School, Petaluma High School, and the Petaluma Regional Library started the convention with support from members in the community. 

Petaluma youth can have a great time at the convention. It’s a place where students can show off their creative skills. At the convention, you can cosplay, enter the drabble competition, submit a piece of artwork, and there is also LARPing. 

LARPing, or live action role playing, is a popular activity at LumaCon. Participants can create props and costumes to get into character during the event. LARPing can bring people together over their admiration for acting out stories with their favorite fictional characters. 

“My favorite thing about LumaCon is an opportunity for youth artists to take a risk – to put themselves and their work out there for feedback. It’s an opportunity to push their comfort zone to get a small glimpse of what it could be like being a professional artist. They get to sit side-by-side with artists from the Schulz Museum, Marvel, DC Comics, Disney, Pixar and several award-winning artists from the area,” says Mr. Libecap, librarian at Casa Grande High School.

There are 2 contests at LumaCon: the logo contest and the drabble contest. The logo contest is where Petaluma youth send in entries for the LumaCon logo designs. The contest has closed for this year’s convention and the winner was Porfirio M. of Casa Grande.

Although the logo contest is closed, the drabble contest is still open for entries. A drabble is an original story that is as close to 100 words as possible. The drabbles are judged on creativity and originality. The winners will receive gift cards to Copperfield’s in $10, $25, and $50 in amount. The deadline for drabble entries is January 21st. 

Another part of LumaCon is the art on display. LumaCon youth artists sign up to have their art put on display during the hours of the event. Featured artists that have been invited will also have their artwork set up to view at the convention.

And of course, it can’t be a proper comic convention without cosplay. LumaCon encourages teens to dress up as their favorite comic book characters, book characters, movie characters and any other fictional characters they can think of! There will be a cosplay competition for ages 12-18 where the outfits will be judged on creativity, craftsmanship, and presentation. The winners will receive gift cards to local stores. 

LumaCon has a lot more activities planned throughout the time period and the event is open to give everyone who comes a great experience. LumaCon is an event where students can take a risk and express themselves through their creativity.