Rozanne and Paul de Wild dressed up at the 2022 Armageddon Expo. Photo / Kohika Creative
Rozanne and Paul de Wild dressed up at the 2022 Armageddon Expo. Photo / Kohika Creative
Around 10,000 dedicated fans are expected to turn up to Tauranga’s seventh Armageddon Expo this weekend.
Among those attending are Rozanne and Paul de Wild, who say the “fun, lively” event “completely turned our lives around” by sparking their love for dressing up.
The Welcome Bay couple attended their first expo in 2012 and have been going ever since. They developed a passion for cosplay, which led them to organise the annual Costumiers Fantasy Masquerade Ball in Rotorua.
“We went along to one in Auckland because our youngest had been going for several years. We thought we would be responsible parents and find out what it was our child was going to,” Rozanne said.
“We didn’t know what we were going to back in 2012. It’s turned our house inside out and created a community event. Just one day going along to an event has completely turned our lives around.”
Her message to those that had not attended before was: “You just don’t know what will happen if you don’t go along.”
Today Paul would be “trialling” a Thranduil costume, from Lord of the Rings, which he planned to wear to this year’s ball in July, she said. The couple had already spent months on the creation.
Rozanne said she had not yet decided what to wear but would pull something from her “vast wardrobe” of handmade costumes.
Each year a highlight was seeing the effort and intricate detail that had gone into the costumes. “It’s a labour of love.”
This year the annual Tauranga Armageddon Expo will feature virtual guests. Photo / NZME
Armageddon chief executive and owner William (Bill) Geradts told the Bay of Plenty Times around 10,000 fans were expected to attend the Tauranga event.
There was “a lot of excitement” around the attendance of British actor Jamie Campbell Bower, who had appeared in Stranger Things, Sweeney Todd, Harry Potter and the Twilight saga.
“He is a big draw to the expo this year that we are very excited to be hosting.”
New Zealand actress Amie Donald, who appeared in the 2022 horror M3GAN, would also be making an appearance on Saturday.
For the first time, there would be a K-Pop exhibition with a range of dance crews from across the country performing, he said.
“We have seen how much of our Armageddon community is passionate about it,” he said.
“It’s never been done before and we are hoping for an amazing turnout in support of them.”
Armageddon will also showcase pop-culture exhibitors with anime, collectables, toys, gaming, comic items and artwork up for sale.
