Exploring SYFY Bartow 2024, Despite The Weather

SYFY Bartow, an annual event, is one of the biggest free conventions in the Southeast United States let alone in Florida.

On Saturday, February 17, SYFY Bartow 2024 kicked off. I originally planned to cover two events with the first one, which got postponed until April because of the rainy weather, a Black heritage festival to celebrate Black History Month. I saw that SYFY Bartow 2024 was still happening with reports that the nasty weather would remain in the north.

It did mess up my plans a little bit.

I was going to spend a few hours covering the heritage festival before I would take the bus to the neighboring city, which would save me money. I went “F — k it,” ordered a Lyft, and headed to SYFY Bartow. I missed roughly a half-hour of the event but it was okay. I arrived in time as the opening events kicked off.

SYFY Bartow has a different theme each year with last year’s event having the theme of Star Wars.

This year’s theme focused on time travel. One of the opening events featured a cosplayer dressed as the 13th Doctor, the one played by Jodie Whittaker in Doctor Who, who explained the concept of time travel, both plausible and implausible. It was educational, entertaining, and insightful.

After the presentation, I did a little more walking before I got some food as I hadn’t eaten earlier that morning. I was planning on getting food at the Black Heritage Festival which got moved to early April.

Damn you, stupid rain!!!

This time, I decided to swear off pizza (one of my favorite foods) because I didn’t want to feel bloated the entire day. I made that mistake last year by stuffing myself with pizza. I wanted to eat more food but I was stuffed but not in a sluggish kind of way.

I then started my day at SYFY Bartow 2024 by checking out the car show where all entries are entered into a competition with different categories. I had to take photos of many cars with bad@$$ paint jobs.

I came across Pikabellachu again, whom I have seen at previous events (Central Florida Comic-Con, Florida Polycon, and Bartow Con), and her Pikachu-themed Volkswagon Bug. Whenever I see the Bug, I always have to get pictures.

I was awed by the designs of the cars.

I saw multiple Ghostbusters, Jurassic Park, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D-inspired vehicles.

The car show competition had a special category for best anime-themed cars. I had to take the picture of the cars with anime themes.

There were cars with the themes of Darling in the Franxx, One Piece, Yuri on Ice, and others.

Even though it wasn’t in the car show competition, I saw the Mystery Machine from the Scooby Doo franchise.

With time travel being the main theme of SYFY Bartow 2024, I came across a replica of the famous Tardis from Doctor Who. I sadly didn’t get a picture of myself coming out of the Tardis but there’s always SYFY Bartow 2025 (where “villains” will be the main theme).

I saw a lot of great cosplay. I made sure to take as many pictures of Doctor Who cosplayers as I came across.

There was a lot of Back to the Future cosplay, too.

I met up with actor & designer Tim Proctor (The Walking Dead) and professional cosplayer Rick Stafford a.k.a the True Aquaman. We caught up a little bit before I went to do more exploring at SYFY Bartow 2024.

I originally met the two at Bartow Con’s inaugural event in October 2023. During a Q&A at Bartow Con 2023, I learned that Stafford studied Buddhism at one of the Vietnamese Buddhist temples in Orlando and temporarily became a monk.

I continued walking around the venue and saw a lightsaber demonstration by members of a Star Wars fan group called the Outer Rims Guild.

At the heart of downtown Bartow was a building that served as a library and history museum. I checked out the inside of the building as it gave me a chance to recharge my phone. I paid close attention to a section of the museum dedicated to Black History in Florida from slavery to the Reconstruction Era.

I was surprised to learn that Florida, which fought for the Confederacy, was a destination for those who ran away from enslavement. I also learned that many who escaped enslavement joined up with the Seminoles and became known as the Black Seminoles.

I attended a presentation two weeks before where Dr. Vincent Adejumo of the University of Florida (UF) gave an analysis of the massacre of Black Americans at Ocoee in 1920.

I left the building and continued walking around and I saw Bumblebee from the Transformers taking photos with children. I chose to be the last one in line and I made it into a video op where I performed a tornado roundhouse kick in front of Bumblebee.

Everybody else posed in front of Bumblebee and I did a fancy kick!

I didn’t have the chance to do as many Q&As as I wanted to because of the nasty weather. I did get a Q&A with members of a few Star Wars fan groups (besides the Outer Rims Guild) in attendance. The Q&A got me familiar with the 501st Legion, the Rebel Alliance, the Mandalorian Mercs, and the Saber Guild.

All four groups were formed from a love of Star Wars lore and an interest in charity work. The groups have this mantra of “Costuming — Charity — Community.” The groups, which are volunteer-based, give back to the community through costuming. Each member either makes or purchases their costumes for events.

When it comes to costuming, the rules for the 501st Legion and the Rebel Alliance require costumes to be made to movie specs. In the case of members of the Mandalorian Mercs or the Saber Guild, you have more freedom to express yourself as long as it stays true to the Star Wars lore.

The 501st Legion and the Rebel Alliance have been around for 25 years.

The Mandalorian Mercs and the Saber Guild have been around for 16 years.

Most of the groups, if not all, are global.

The Rebel Legion has 46 chapters in the United States, the 501st Legion has almost 80 chapters (which are called Garrisons) across the world, and the Saber Guild has 34 chapters (which are called Temples) across the United States.

The largest chapter of the Rebel Legion resides in Florida. The largest U.S. Garrison of the 501st Legion resides in Florida and the largest on a global level is in Germany. The largest Temple of the Saber Guild resides in New York City.

All of the groups attend events for exposure, recruitment, and community outreach. The most important reason for them all is to spread the love of Star Wars.

I asked the members of the groups about the importance of DEI (Diversity, Equality, and Inclusiveness) initiations as today’s school students are tomorrow’s creatives. They explained that DEI is important because this is the structure on which those groups are built. Diversity is important in pop culture, especially since the Star Wars universe was built on it from the beginning.

After the Q&A, I continued walking around.

Because of the tornado kick, I did in front of Bumblebee, with the addition of being an Asian dude with long hair, I received the nickname “Liu Kang” at the event. One person asked to take a video of me doing any kind of kick which I obliged.

As SYFY Bartow 2024 was winding down, I got to see the cosplay competition along with a talent show.

Everybody was packing up to go home and it meant it was time for me to head back home, too. I made it home just in time as the weather got rainier around where I live. It was time to relax and prepare for the next day, an agenda full of Lunar New Year events.

I sadly missed the opportunity to meet actor Jack O’Halloran, hosted by the people of Bartow Con, who starred as one of the villains in Superman III.

I look forward to SYFY Bartow 2025.