Supanova Melbourne – 22-23 April 2023 – the celebrities include Karl Urban, Temuera Morrison and Stephen Amell

Melbourne has hosted Supanova every year at the Melbourne Showgrounds on its west side. Interestingly Supanova Melbourne has never been cancelled for any year, including during lockdown periods. But this year, there was a real return of all the vendors.

You can get to the Melbourne Showgrounds easiest by either tram or car. If you come by tram, you can take tram 57 from Flinders Street Station. Otherwise, you can drive into one of its entrances along Langs Road or Leonard Crescent and pay $20 for car parking. (It can get quite crowded getting a car park by driving if you come early.)

It’s best to purchase a ticket to the event before arriving as it makes entering easier. If you want to get an autograph or photograph with a celebrity, it’s also best to purchase the ticket online otherwise it’s usually quite daunting to purchase a ticket with crowds of people at the convention. By printing the tickets, it’s easy for the organisers to just scan your tickets at the entrance.

The exhibition itself consists of many warehouses, one for creators and another for vendors. It’s at these warehouses that you can purchase stuff, sometimes at a bargain! There is another hall which hosts guests panels and competitions across the two days.

Throughout the day, there are even panels and screenings you can watch as part of your ticket in each of the warehouses and theatres. You can even take-part in cosplay or just immerse yourself in a crowd of like-minded people. A lot of people don’t mind being photographed, but it’s etiquette to ask before taking photos.

A great experience with friends and family

I purchased an opportunity to get a photo with Karl Urban. He was pretty cool. The process to get a photo is pretty streamlined. I purchased and printed my ticket from the online website. 5 minutes before the designated time, I queued up and once the scheduled time passed the queue started moving very quickly. When it was my time to get a photo, it was barely 30 seconds to say hello and pose. You collect your physical photo as you walk out. All in all, it feels quite surreal. But at least you leave with proof that you met a celebrity.

It’s best to bring your own food, because the food trucks offer some pretty standard, overpriced junk food. For instance, there were vendors selling chips at either $8 or $12 or burgers and chips for $18.

This is also another year in which Crunchyroll/Madman didn’t make an appearance.

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