Celebrate all things sci-fi and pop culture at Chambersburg GeekFest

It's cool to be a geek in 2019, and now there is a local festival to celebrate. 

Nerdvana Outpost, a nirvana for nerds in downtown Chambersburg, will host its first GeekFest this 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday outside the store off North Main Street. Anywhere from 50 through a few hundred people are expected to attend, if the Facebook event invite is any indication, according Logan Peters, marketing manager for the store. 

Highlights will include a cosplay contest, a Harry Potter house sorting ceremony, and a Funko POP! pop swap, where collectors of Funko POP!-branded pop culture figurines and other merchandise can trade with one another. 

While admission to the event and activities are free, attendees are encouraged to bring their wallets as some vendors will have things for sale at the event. Vendors include the Central PA Heroes Coalition, Central PA Ghostbusters, ShaHuskies, FrankenStitching, Whimsical Werks, Made2Be Crafts, Sam Dalious, Harrisburg Comic & Pop Con, Don Dodson Designs, Kim P. & Friends and more. 

There will also be plenty to do for kids and families, such as a bouncehouse and face painting. 

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Kristen Laidig, co-owner of Nerdvana Outpost said she hopes the festival will become an annual event. 

"I would love for this to become a geek-themed town-wide festival where all of the stores and restaurants can get involved.”

The festival helps to mark Nerdvana Outpost's first anniversary, Peters said. 

Kristen and Tony Laidig opened the "nerdy paradise full of pop-culture collectibles and gifts" last May at 47 N. Main St., Suite D. Located off the borough-owned parking lot that leads to Chambers Fort Park, the shop features the largest Funko POP! selection in the region, vintage and collectible Star Wars figurines and playsets, Dungeons & Dragons figures, Warhammer, games and more, as well as an adults-only room full of "snarky gifts." 

It has been a successful year given the hype around superhero movies and other sci-fi culture, Peters said. Many customers come to Nerdvana looking for Marvel merchandise. "Stranger Things," a series on Netflix that propelled terms like "the upside-down" and "Demogorgon" into the English lexicon (although the latter originated in the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons), is also a popular attraction at the store, as is anime. 

The Laidigs last fall added an arcade of vintage, restored games.