By Amalia Kortright / For the Reporter

The third-annual FalCon will be held at the University of Montevallo at Comer Hall from Oct. 15-16. FalCon is a 2-day anime and gaming convention that is hosted by members of the Sister City Commission of Montevallo.

“We have guests who are interested in the all things pertaining to anime, fantasy and gaming,” said marketing director Katy Johnson. “This is going to be great for Montevallo, because we don’t have any other conventions in this area. I think that it will bring people in this area who are interested in these things together. Because we have so much going on at this convention, there’s something for everybody, and we want to continue expanding to find people who love what they love.”

The convention will feature two Super Smash Brothers tournaments, each tournament has a $500 pot. There will also be scavenger hunts, interactive events, and a raffle. Professional artists, voice actors and photographers host panels and classes related to anime or video games.

A cosplay competition will be held, where attendees have the opportunity to design and wear a costume modeled after a video game, fantasy or anime character. A skit contest, which will be hosted by Johnson, will allow guests to perform short scripts. The winners of both competitions will receive prizes.

According to Johnson, this year’s convention has a role playing theme.

“We’re going to have lots of interactive events,” said Johnson. “We want to create an atmosphere at the convention where you feel you’re actually in a role playing game. There’s a lot going on at all times.”

FalCon was originally started in 2014 by students at the University of Montevallo as a way to celebrate the city’s ties to their sister city Echizen, Japan by promoting their country’s entertainment forms. The convention is named for the University of Montevallo’s mascot, the Falcons, despite having no official affiliation with the university.

Registration opens at 10 a.m. on Saturday.  Tickets cost $15 for only one day and $20 for both days.

“We’ve put a lot of work into FalCon because it’s what we love, and we hope that you’ll love it to,” said Johnson.