This summer, the Lethbridge Entertainment and Collector Expo returns June 20-22 to the Agri-food Hub and Trade Centre.
Don’t miss cosplayers, vendors, gaming, voice actors, artists, celebrity guests, meet and greets and photo ops. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Organizer Brendan Barclay says last year’s attendance hit just under 5,000 people. “Our goal is to achieve more than that this year.”
This year, one of the highlights is the celebrity guest list has doubled from last year, according to Barclay. “There’s a lot of amazing guests coming.”
There will also be a stage for Q and A sessions with celebrity guests, light saber and author talks and cosplay panels.
There’s also gaming on-tap throughout the weekend, adds Barclay. “We’ve got VR driving, retro video games people can play, and Lethbridge Polytechnic Esports is going to be there to show what esports is about and letting people see it and try it out.”
Celebrity guests in 2025 include RJ Mitte and Luis Moncada from Breaking Bad, Married with Children’s “Bud Bundy” David Faustino, Matthew G. Taylor from Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Ray Hurd from One Piece, Donald Duck voice actor Sam Kwasman, animator Ron Lamarre from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) and Jordan Prentice from Howard the Duck.
Prentice is a Canadian actor known for In Bruges and as the “Giant Bag of Weed” in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.
Entertainment expos, Prentice notes, are a win-win environment, “which is not normal, in terms of how the rest of the world works.”
What’s “special” about these type of events is fans want to meet you, get your autograph and photo and spend some time with you.
“The people invited to be there are happy to be there and the people coming to these events are equal or if not happier to have an opportunity to speak to people they find something cool about. So, the energy and atmosphere is good. I don’t think that’s a very common thing these days,” says Prentice.
“In my experience, you also get people who maybe don’t socialize that well or who are shy or it just might be one of the few times they get out to something so crowded. It’s an exciting opportunity. This event gives them an opportunity to get something they really want,” adds Prentice. “I’ve become even more interested in interacting with this person because I feel like accidently, I’m doing something cool for someone that may not always have that opportunity.”
Prentice says he doesn’t know where else you can find that many people in one spot who are pleased to be there – both guests and attendees. “And who knows the rules and how it’s all supposed to work out.”
Prentice says he’s excited about coming to Lethbridge and likes to go places he’s never been before. “As actors, writers and different types of talent that appear at these events, we all have stories. Those stories happen because we go to places and do things. Travelling to Lethbridge I may end up with a story to tell.”
But, what do fans want to know about Prentice when they meet him in-person?
“I’ve got nerd in me too. Nerds take their interests really seriously. You’d be surprised of how interested someone could be in something you’d think anybody would have thought of,” Prentice says.
According to Prentice, he’s pretty much the last talent that did Howard the Duck or had anything to do with the duck. “The duck was puppeteer’d and was played by a stunt person and another actor.”
“I’m going to guess that’s probably going to be of interest to people because they have an opportunity to ask me,” Prentice explains. Or maybe fans might be interested in the underground film Silent but Deadly he was in with Jason Mewes. “I’ve got a lot of stories because it’s fun to shoot a horror movie.”
There’s also different actors Prentice has had a chance to work with over the years, “people might want to know what they’re like. I’m always open to sharing how I feel about that.”
For more information about the event visit online at lethentertainmentexpo.ca.
