WhitCAF 2023 shatters attendance records!

Wow! Pow! Does Whitby love all things cosplay, comics, and fandom fun. This year’s Whitby Comic Arts Festival shattered attendance records with well over five hundred people visiting the Central Library. Kids flocked to Star Wars Storytime while the Superhero craft room was buzzing with excited creative energy. 

A fan favourite was the Cosplay Green Screen! It was a chance to channel a fan’s inner marvel character, villain, or Pokémon. You’ve never seen so many capes! Families poured into the afternoon session called "Create Your Own Hero or Villain" where everyone shared stories about their favourite characters.  Crayons and coloured pencils were in demand as kids tried their hand at comic strips!

The Beginners Guide to Cosplay was also a massive hit with celebrity guests Shampoo Boots and Sailor Serenity stealing the show. Beginners received a crash course in this popular trend involving dressing up and acting like a favourite character from pop culture. 

Cos Play.

As for the comic scavenger hunt, an enthusiastic 10-year-old proudly showed his dad the completed tracker declaring “I nailed it!”.

A big shout-out to all our amazing vendors and partners who made this year one for the record books. We can’t wait for next year!

Interested in taking part in 2024?  Send us an email at outreach@whitbylibrary.ca and we'd be happy to answer your questions. 


2023 Special Guests

J torres.

J. Torres is a Filipino Canadian comic book writer whose credits include Teen Titans Go, Batman: Knightwatch, and Adventure Comics for the DC Kids channel on YouTube. His award-winning graphic novels for younger readers include Brobots, How to Spot a Sasquatch, Lola: A Ghost Story, Planet Hockey, and Stealing Home. He’s also written comics for the Archies, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Black Panther, Degrassi, Rick & Morty, Simpsons, X-Men, and many more.


Collins.

Dan Collins has written for Archie Comics and contributed to Chapterhouse’s 2019 Free Comic Book Day Captain Canuck issue. Other notable works with Chapterhouse include the all-ages Captain Canuck comic, Canuck Adventures as well as The Canadian Sentinel, an Alt Right Nazi-punching character he created that is published in the True Patriot Presents anthology series. When he’s not writing comics, he’s talking about comics on the Hey Kids Comics Radio Show available on iTunes and Google Play.


Pfeiffer.

Elisabeth Pfeiffer is currently working on her PhD in comics studies and has her masters in English Literature/Public texts (comics studies) from Trent University, where her thesis was on Bitch Planet (2014). She will be teaching the new “Deconstructing Superheroes” course for the Faculty of Liberal Studies at Durham College beginning this fall.


Sirenity.

Known for her portrayal of magical girls, Sailor Sirenity is a local competitive cosplayer who won Best in Show (Artisan) at Niagara Falls Comic Con 2022 and competed at Fan Expo 2023.


Shampoo.

Shampoo Boots is an Artisan level cosplayer who has been recognized for her award-winning workmanship. She enjoys the challenge of turning a 2D character into a wearable garment and learning and executing new techniques with each costume build.