Meet celebs at this week’s FifoCon, with video games, board games and cosplay

In its first year, the FifoCon convention will bring video gamers, board game enthusiasts, and more together for panels, exhibitions, contests and celebrity guests. The event, which runs Thursday through Sunday at the Belle of Baton Rouge Casino atrium, offers locals the opportunity to meet the makers of games, costumes, masks, film, props and high-tech wizardry.

“It’s all about discovering something that you’re interested in,” says FifoCon founder André Chapoy.

CFX, the internationally known Baton Rouge manufacturer of masks and props for movies and TV, is among FifoCon’s sponsors and exhibitors.

The convention takes its names from the “fifolet,” the glowing, orb-shaped being in Cajun folklore that flies over the swamps. The fifolet is the Cajun version of the will-o’-the-wisps and jack-o’-lanterns found in British and European folklore.

FifocCon begins with a mixer Thursday at 6 p.m. in the atrium for those with special passes. The main convention hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $30 for one-days passes, $45 for weekend passes, $150 for VIP passes and $300 for patron passes.

This year’s celebrity guests include Adrian Paul, the star of TV’s Highlander. Paul’s more than 30 movie credits include Highlander: Endgame, Highlander: The Source, Last Rites and Masque of the Red Death.

Paul will host his workshop, The Sword Experience, 7:30 a.m.-noon Saturday at the Old State Capitol. The workshop includes sword-play training and safety tips for fans, film and stage performers, martial artists and re-enactment societies and role-playing groups. A FifoCon pass plus an additional ticket are required for admittance.

FifoCon special guest Mark Meer is best known for his many multiple voice performances for the Mass Effect video game trilogy. His roles include Commander Shepard, Mass Effect’s lead character, and voices for the Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire and Dragon Age games.

Another special guest, Roland Paris, is a professional artist and comic-book inker who has worked on titles such as Amazing Spider-Man, Dark X-Men: The Confession, Uncanny X-Force, Iron Man: Fatal Frontier and Black Panther.

FifoCon’s guests will be on the convention floor 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday. They’ll also attend convention events and 10/31 Consortium’s Baton Rouge Halloween Parade.

FifoCon is part of 10/31 Consortium’s second annual Fifolet Halloween Festival, a four-day series of events running through Sunday. Activities include the Baton Rouge Halloween Parade, 2 p.m. Saturday in downtown Baton Rouge, children’s Halloween events at the Knock Knock Children’s Museum and a midnight performance of The Rocky Horror Show Saturday at Theatre Baton Rouge.

Read our story here for more info on the parade and Fifolet’s Zombie Pub Crawl.