WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Museum of Science Fiction, the world’s first comprehensive science fiction museum, and Awesome Con are inviting costumed superheroes to Washington, DC on April 18, 2014, in an attempt to break a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS® record. This attempt for the largest gathering of people dressed as comic book characters will happen at the U.S. Capitol Reflecting Pool at noon, just hours before the start of Awesome Con 2014 at the Washington Convention Center.
Many attendees at Awesome Con and other similar conventions dress in superhero-style costumes, a practice known as cosplay. To celebrate the start of Awesome Con, its organizers and the Museum of Science Fiction have come together to enlist cosplayers to help break the current GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS record.
“On April 19, 2011, World Joyland in China set the current GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS TITLE with 1,530 people dressed as comic book characters,” said Ben Penrod, Awesome Con co-founder. “I know we can break that record and mark Washington, DC as the capital city of cosplay.”
Supported by the Museum of Science Fiction, this GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS attempt comes as the museum draws closer to the opening of its preview location in early 2015.
“We’re very pleased to partner with Awesome Con on this event and their 2014 convention,” said Greg Viggiano, executive director of the Museum of Science Fiction. “We share a lot with Awesome Con, including our audience, but it’s our thematic ties of celebrating imagination and the magic of entertainment that truly unites and stimulates our fans. We look forward to seeing at least 1,531 costumed characters in front of the U.S. Capitol.”
An adjudicator from GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS will be on hand to count and qualify all costumed participants. The guidelines state that the characters must have first appeared in comic books, partial costumes will not be counted, and that costumes can’t be shared between two or more participants.
About Awesome Con
Awesome Con 2014 takes place at the Walter
E. Washington Convention Center in downtown Washington, DC, from April
18 to April 20. It’s a celebration of all things pop culture, with a
focus on comic books, science fiction, and fantasy. The 2014 event will
feature over 100 comic book creators, and dozens of celebrity guests,
including cast members from AMC’s Walking Dead, BBC’s Doctor Who,
fan-favorite TV shows Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Firefly, and many more.
Awesome Con is organized by Awesome Conventions LLC, and sponsored by
Third Eye Comics in Annapolis, Maryland. For more information about
Awesome Con, visit http://awesomecondc.com/media-kit-2014.
About the Museum of Science Fiction
The nonprofit Museum of
Science Fiction (MoSF) will be the world’s first comprehensive science
fiction museum, covering the history of the genre across the arts and
providing a narrative on its relationship to the real world. MoSF will
show how science fiction continually inspires individuals, influences
cultures and impacts societies. Also serving as an educational
opportunity to expand interest in the science, technology, engineering,
art and math (STEAM) areas, MoSF uses tools such as mobile applications
and wi-fi-enabled display objects to engage and entertain. For a full
press packet on the Museum of Science Fiction’s vision and other
information, visit www.museumofsciencefiction.org/presspacket.