The Witchbomb Party Continues
Witchbomb 2023 was the best convention I had ever been to, and I have been to a lot over the years. It also had the best single thing I have ever seen at a convention – Amalia Holm singing Redemption to Taylor Hickson. Video is available at:
Amalia Holm sings Redemption live at Witchbomb (youtube.com)
So, Witchbomb 2, held at the Renaissance Hotel Heathrow on August 9th to 11th, had a lot to live up to. It certainly didn’t disappoint.
No Motherland Fort Salem event would be complete without blue balloons and we had lots of them.
This is a generous fandom and there were lots of giveaways, including new pens
And bookmarks.
But there were friendship bracelets, postcards, stickers and a whole bag full of goodies from @Psycho4MFS. Thank you to everyone who gave so generously. The cast may have a lot to do with how a fandom develops, but it is the fans themselves who create such joyful spaces to be in.
Some months ago Amalia Holm announced her engagement and so Switches had the opportunity to sign a wedding card for her and Olof. This was organised by a fan who hired the designer, wrote the poem, got the cards printed and brought them to Witchbomb.
And we had a birthday card to sign for Eliot Laurence too. All this before the con actually started.
At the opening ceremony we had Kandyse McClure, Lyne Renee, Jessica Sutton, Amalia Holm and Taylor Hickson from Motherland Fort Salem and Kristina Tonteri-Young, Olivia Delcan and Lorena Andrea from Warrior Nun.
Then it was on to the Meet and Greet for Gold ticket holders, with the guests.
Saturday morning was the first of the photo sessions. Some of the photos that were taken were amazing, and some of those were shared online by the people buying the photo op. Some put the complete picture online, but others cropped themselves out of the shot. The biggest surprise of the morning was when one couple used their photo op to get engaged. Sadly, I didn’t get to witness this spectacular moment for myself.
But I will share these two moments from one of my photoshoots.
Starfury had changed the scheduling pattern for this year. Last year the autograph sessions took place for all guests after the panel talks, gold tickets on one day and regular tickets on another. This time they were split between sessions for Warrior Nun and sessions for Motherland. And there was more overlap between the Fan Meets and the panels. So, last year, I managed to go to Fan Meets, get the autographs and see all the Motherland panels. This year, I had to choose.
So, I missed the end of the Kandyse panel and the start of the Jess and Lyne panel.
Yes, this is Jess unwrapping a Babybel cheese. The question, was ‘if they could create a cult, what would it be a cult of?’ Lyne’s answer was ‘kindness’. After much thought, Jess said ‘cheese’. So, someone from the audience gave her a Babybel cheese, which she proceeded to eat.
And so to the autograph sessions and the evening cos party.
Continued in part 2, coming soon.
ReturntoFortSalem 