Comic-Con: HopCon vs. Heroes Brew
The fact that Comic-Con is hosted in San Diego means that congoers have the chance to experience some of the awesome things
This year marked HopCon 2.0, the second SDCC-timed festival put on by Wil Wheaton and San Diego’s Stone Brewery. Held on the Wednesday night right before Comic-Con’s official Thursday start date, at Stone’s Liberty Station location just outside of downtown, in
Stone World Bistro & Gardens at Liberty Station is a beautiful location, which shouldn’t surprise anyone who has been out to Stone Brewery’s main facility in Escondido, and it’s hard to beat the perfect evening weather that we experienced this year at the event. Tickets were about $60 each after the usual online fees, and included ten beer tastings, food, and of course some entertainment and the chance to mingle with the awesome hosts. But even if attendees didn’t get lucky enough to run into Aisha, Wil, or Drew, I think it was still great to mingle with so many like-minded people in general.
Not to mention the fact that, with Stone being part of the event, you know that the beer and food were first-class! HopCon was worth every penny, and though the highlight of my night was talking cosplay with Aisha Tyler (just a note: don’t tell her she could cosplay Lana! I didn’t, but apparently some people do, and straight from her mouth, it won’t ever happen), I also enjoyed myself immensely thanks to the general atmosphere and the tasty food and beverages offered.
On the other hand, when I attended
When 4 PM hit and the regular ticket holders were let into the festival, the lines built up pretty quickly, and unlike Wednesday, where it seemed most if not all of the HopCon attendees were also in town for SDCC, Heroes Brew was packed with locals. Nothing against San Diego locals, of course, except for the fact that it wasn’t the like-minded crowd that I loved so much about HopCon. As for the location, while it was nice that it was walking distance from the main convention areas, and while Embarcadero is a beautiful waterfront park, the fact that it was in the middle of the afternoon and didn’t offer much shade or seating was frustrating at best.
My verdict? Let’s just say that if I return to Comic-Con next year, I will not be attending Heroes Brew again, nor would I make it a suggestion of something to do during SDCC – not with so many other awesome activities and events going on, especially on the Saturday of the convention.
Author: Tara Lynne
Tara Lynne is an author, fandom and geek culture expert, and public speaker. She founded Ice & Fire Con, the first ever Game of Thrones convention in the US, and now runs its parent company Saga Event Planning.
-Read our before commenting.
Do not copy our content in whole to other websites. Linkbacks are encouraged.
Copyright © The Geekiary