"Super Bowl for Nerds" draws thousands to downtown Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS – Whether you're a fan of comics, movies, video games or something else, Twin Cities Con gave many a chance to unleash their inner nerd this weekend.

Twin Cities Con founder Ben Penrod hoped the event would draw in 10,000 people in its second year. Instead, it's likely he and the event accomplished that in just one day. 

"Really, our goal was to establish a fan convention in the Twin Cities that kind of rivals what they have in other cities," Penrod said Sunday morning. "For too long, the Twin Cities area didn't really have a convention like this."

Penrod, who has worked to found comic-con type conventions in Washington D.C. and Florida, has since moved full time to Minneapolis to focus his efforts on growing the convention in the Twin Cities.  

Throughout the weekend, fans of anime, comic books, movies and tabletop games have gathered to play, purchase and dress up. On Saturday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey visited the convention, proclaiming Nov 12 as "Middle Earth Day" alongside "Lord of the Rings" actors Elijah Wood and Sean Astin. 

"I think this could be a major fan convention in the national scale in the years to come," Penrod said. "There are other cities where you have 70, 80, 90,000 people at a convention every year. Other cities that are the same size as the Twin Cities area."

Penrod says he'll begin planning next year's convention in the coming months.

For fans of science fiction and more, the weekend served as a chance to gather amongst friends.

"I really hope to see this con just keep going, keep getting bigger," said Amanda Fineran, a member of "Star Wars" fan group 501st Legion. "It was so fun yesterday just to see how packed it was. I just hope it keeps growing because we love this kind of stuff."