ABAC’s ThunderCon 2025 was brimming with pop culture, activity, but most of all: fun.
The event has noticeably grown over the years, with this year’s ThunderCon being at its highest potential yet.
What began in 2023 as four booths and four panels has expanded so large, it was hosted this year in Gressette Gymnasium and its surrounding buildings.
Gressette Gymnasium’s first floor was the main attraction. Lining the gym floor were booths that hosted the Dealers’ Den of merchandise manufacturers and the Artist’s Alley of illustrators and authors.
Students and faculty hosted booths as well.
“I wanted to be able to share my art with people face-to-face,” said Kloey Harrison, a senior writing and communication major who ran an art stand as “Kalioto_Kin.” “Having people come up to me and tell me how much they genuinely like my art just hits different.”
Gressette also housed four voice actors for attendees to meet and purchase autographs. The lineup included Brian Beacock, Katy Townsend, Jessica Rey, and Tiffany Grant.
On the second floor was live commentary from Kraken Pro Wrestling’s commentators, an area for competitive “Smash Ultimate” tournaments, and a V-Tuber meet-and-greet station.
Outside Gressette was the Itasha car show and, for the first time at ThunderCon, food vendors.
Although, the attractions went further than the gym.
For performance-related activities, Howard Auditorium held events like the Society of Creative Anachronism’s demonstration of medieval dueling and anime rapper Sam Sky’s concert.
Pop culture and art-related panels were held in Edwards Hall, like International Films in Pop Culture, Painting Characters with Watercolor, and some cosplay tutorials.
Roleplay-oriented events were held in Branch Hall, such as Dr. David Rhode’s miniature character painting session and his one-shot adventure of Citadel of Chaos.
However, like every convention, the cosplayers stole the show. Attendees at ThunderCon dressed as their favorite characters, sparking conversation everywhere they went.
Those that made their own cosplay were able to participate in the ThunderCon 2025 cosplay contest. Compared to 2024, there was fierce competition across all four of its categories: beginner, novice, journeyman, and master.
Contestants were judged by professional cosplayers Golden Spirit Cosplay, Fox Foot Crafts, Hallow Eve Cosplay, and Raenisa Elavaris. Afterward, a runway event was held in front of a large crowd in Howard Auditorium before the crowning ceremony of the first-place winners in each category.
However, regardless of if they won or lost, contestants saw the competition as an opportunity to converse with others who share their interests.
“Cosplaying shows your creative side,” says Zazzy Zebra, a contestant in the beginner’s category. “You get to meet like-minded people. Everyone’s so sweet at conventions!”
“What I think is amazing is finding other people that recognize your character, are interested in the same fandom, or cosplaying,” said Kayla Watson, a sophomore who won first place in the beginner’s category as a tech priest from “Warhammer 40,000.”
Overall, 2025’s ThunderCon had 601 people attend and 80 vendors compared to last year’s 322 attendees and 35 vendors.
Shawn Burnette, the event’s coordinator, said that “the hype did match the growth,” and only hopes that ThunderCon keeps growing in the future.