Courtesy photo / Sci-Fi Valley Con attendees browse through artwork at a vendor table during the summer event in June.

History will be made next week when Sci-Fi Valley Con returns to the Blair County Convention Center for the second time this year.

The now biannual event attracts thousands of people to Blair County each year and boosts the local economy for several hotels, restaurants and other businesses, according to Casey Bassett, the convention’s promoter.

Based on previous years’ data and current preorder sales for the Nov. 8-10 event, Bassett said nearly 7,000 attendees are expected to enjoy a fun weekend of cosplaying, tabletop games, workshops, celebrity guest panels, nearly 300 exhibitors and more at the convention’s fall event.

Two-thirds of the customers who preordered tickets online so far — many of whom will be traveling from an hour or two away — will be attending Sci-Fi Valley Con for the first time, Bassett said, noting over one-third of the convention’s attendees return to the event every year.

“We’re always attracting new people to the area,” Bassett said.

This year’s convention features celebrity guests from “Hocus Pocus” and “Supernatural” and voice actors from “A Goofy Movie” and “Sonic the Hedgehog.” The celebrity lineup consists of Mark Sheppard, Emily Swallow, Ruth Connell, DJ Qualls, Rick Worthy, Vinessa Shaw, Omri Katz, Jason Marsden, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Bradley Pierce, Dave B. Mitchell and Bill Farmer.

Bassett said the more celebrity guests the event is able to bring in, the larger the crowds typically are throughout the event, which was mostly a vendor show in its early years because Bassett didn’t have the money, resources or contacts to attract celebrity guests, he said.

“We’re going to start stepping up the event and bringing in higher-caliber guests,” Bassett said, noting the convention already has celebrity guests lined up for both of its 2025 shows who will be announced at this year’s fall event.

Bassett, who used to organize the Momento Con convention at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, said connections he’s made through that event has opened doors for Sci-Fi Valley Con to bring in more celebrity guests.

Sheppard had “such a great time” attending Momento Con in 2021 and 2023, he offered to attend Sci-Fi Valley Con in Altoona, Bassett said.

Always evolving

Bassett conceptualized the convention as “Sci-Fi in the Valley” in August 2011 and planned to hold the event in May 2012 at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown. He said Johnstown City Council members at the time wanted each vendor to obtain permits, “which was way too expensive,” so the event moved to Ebensburg in the inaugural year.

For its second year, the event moved to the Jaffa Shrine Center in Altoona. Bassett said the convention was at the Jaffa Shrine for a couple of years before it outgrew the spot and moved to the Blair County Convention Center, where it has been held every year since — except for 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bassett said Sci-Fi Valley Con has already booked dates with the convention center through 2030. The event will be held in June and October next year and every year until then, unless more dates are booked, he said.

“For years, I didn’t really know if we would have the ability to have such a big event in Altoona,” Bassett said, noting Sci-Fi Valley Con has already surpassed what the convention center is able to hold.

“That parking lot and the parking garage fills up real quick,” he said, adding the convention started a shuttle service to transport attendees to the convention from the Altoona Curve baseball stadium parking garage. The service will be available nonstop from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday only, Bassett said.

Economic boost

Tom Schilling, the Blair County Convention Center’s president and executive chef, said Sci-Fi Valley Con is one of the center’s biggest events every year.

“It’s good for the local economy,” Schilling said of the convention, noting several businesses requested an event list from the venue to know when large groups of people will be in the area “because they get hit pretty hard,” he said.

At the convention center, Schilling said all of the cafe’s food — except for the French fries — is made fresh.

For Sci-Fi Valley Con, Schilling said the cafe easily goes through more than 400 pounds of French fries over the weekend. “I couldn’t do fresh-cut fries to keep up,” he said.

Saturday is typically the busiest day of the convention, Schilling said, noting there’s usually a “continuous” line of people waiting to place their food order from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Day two on Saturday, Nov. 9, is going to be “super, super busy” for hotels, like the nearby Courtyard by Marriott Altoona, not only because of Sci-Fi Valley Con but because of people booking rooms to attend Penn State’s white-out game against the Washington Huskies, said Lydia Berry, the hotel’s sales administrator.

Berry said the hotel sells out all of its 105 rooms because of Sci-Fi Valley Con “almost every time” the convention is held.

“We usually sell out months in advance,” she said, adding other hotels in the area experience a similar situation. “If they’re not sold out, they’re basically sold out. (Sci-Fi Valley Con) does bring a lot of out-of-town business to the area in general.”

‘Best-kept secret’

Bassett said he thinks attendees enjoy the convention because “everything is low-key.” Several people who attended the convention’s event in June told the Mirror they enjoy Sci-Fi Valley Con for the same reason.

“I think that’s part of the popularity,” Bassett said. “I always think it’s like Pennsylvania’s best-kept secret.”

Bassett said the convention also has something for everyone to enjoy, including nearly 50 retro video game consoles lined up throughout the convention center for people to play.

In addition to board games, trivia tournaments, costume contests, an artist charity auction, celebrity autographs, photo-ops and question and answer panels, attendees can also expect to see a replica of the 1967 Chevy Impala that appeared in “Supernatural.”

To purchase tickets and view a complete schedule of events, visit www.scifivalleycon.com.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.