By Krysten Griffin

The Hoover Public Library is hosting its 2^nd Annual SciFi Fantasy Fest Oct. 21-23. The Fest will be held Friday, Oct. 21 from 7-11 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 22 from 8 a.m.-11 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 23 from 12-6 p.m. Activities will be held in both the library and Hoover Senior Center.

The library is partnering this year with the Alabama Phoenix Festival (APF), Alabama’s premier science fiction and fantasy convention founded in 2010. We are excited to use their combined resources to bring you artisans, creators, actors, writers and an assortment of gifted individuals from around the Southeast.

This year’s event will kick off Friday night at 7 p.m. at the library with tabletop gaming, programs in the Library Theatre, movie showings, breakout rooms, discussion panels and more. To make room for more amazing panels and presentations, Saturday events will be held at both the library and the Hoover Senior Center.

Saturday, the fun will start with Saturday Morning Cartoons in the Library Theatre and the day will feature discussion panels on pop culture and various geeky topics like Star Wars, Star Trek, comic books and graphic novels, costuming and cosplay, fables and fairy tales, gaming and more.

There will also be several different workshops and demonstrations held throughout the library. The tabletop game room will be open all day Saturday with special gaming tournaments scheduled throughout the day.

Door prizes will be awarded in the tabletop room and themed prizes will be awarded for the gaming tournaments, as well as the cosplay contest, which will be held Saturday evening. The event will also have movie showings and photo opportunities. Sunday will wrap things up with more movies and discussion panels.

Excelsior Games and Comics, Magic City Lego Users Group, the Alabama Ghostbusters, and local artisans and authors will be featured at the festival.

Parking will be available at the library, the Hoover Senior Center, City Hall, the Howard Lake House and across the street in one designated area of the Centre at Riverchase parking lot. Shuttles will run between these locations to bring patrons to the library and the Hoover Senior Center.

To keep up with the latest information about the Fest, go to our Facebook page at Facebook.com/hplscifi or call the Fiction Department at 444-7820.

Krysten Griffin is a librarian in the Hoover Public Library’s Fiction Department.