Cosplay royalty set for blockbuster POP BAM!
Published on 15 July 2025
Supervillain one day, fairy princess the next – welcome to the life of a cosplay afficionado.
With more than 100 authentic costumes between them, the biggest challenge for local cosplayers Karen Sinclair and Brooke Groizard is often deciding who they will become for the day.
For Lake Macquarie’s upcoming POP BAM! pop culture festival, they’ve settled on classic Disney Frozen princesses and perennial crowd favourites Anna and Elsa.
They’ll appear at the Saturday 26 July event at Rathmines Theatre and foreshore alongside dozens of other characters and creatures great and small from the Marvel Universe, DC, Star Wars, Ghostbusters and more.
“The most enjoyable part is learning new skills to create elevated cosplays,” Sinclair said.
“We have worked with sewing, wig styling, prop making and 3D printing. We love bringing elements of the characters and putting our own interpretations into them.”
“Being in cosplay is a little bit of performance, but with our own personalities.”
Sinclair said it could take anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours to get kitted out and made up for a cosplay appearance.
“We can become princesses very quickly since we have had lots of practice, but some of our other characters involving body makeup take much longer to get into,” she said.
Features of this year’s POP BAM!, hosted by The Pretty Amazing Jono, include:
- A cosplay panel discussion and parade
- Appearances by the 501st Legion of Star Wars cosplayers
- Sword-play and lightsaber demonstrations
- Manga, anime and drawing workshops
- A mobile video games truck
- Movie prop displays
- Lego exhibits
Australian actor Matt Doran, who appeared in both The Matrix and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, will chat onstage about his career and experiences with two of the biggest sci-fi movies of all time.
Lake Macquarie City Council Coordinator Lifelong Learning and Engagement Kirrily Anderson said a DMC DeLorean identical to the iconic time-travelling machine in the Back to the Future trilogy will also feature at this year’s event.
“POP BAM! delivers pop culture fun for fans of all ages,” she said.
“Pop culture not only captures our imagination and hooks us in – it shapes who we are as a society. We want to celebrate that and give everyone a chance to delve deeper into it, whether they’re hardcore cosplayers or just casual movie or comic book fans.”
Go to library.lakemac.com.au for more information and a full event program.