ODAS Park is set to host a day of fun next month, when, during the day, a comic con takes centre stage, followed by a live wrestling event.
Pop Culture Canada and Great Canadian Wrestling (GCW) will be in Orillia at The Roller Skating Place on Saturday, Aug. 12.
David Wyldstar, the senior event coordinator for Pop Culture Canada and the president of GCW, says the “traveling circus” like attraction has wanted to make a stop in Orillia since 2019.
“The pandemic came along, and the timing just never worked out,” he explained. “Finally, we got the green light this year, we got everything organized with ODAS Park, and I can’t tell you enough about how super excited we are about coming to Orillia.”
Wyldstar says there is a great pop culture and wrestling fan base in Orillia.
“We are seeing more and more collectors from Orillia travelling to different cities where we are putting on these events,” he said. “Our company policy has always been to bring the comic cons to the fans, so that was the main reason we wanted to bring it right into Orillia.”
GCW has been putting on shows for nearly two decades and has helped produce WWE stars such as AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, and Xavier Woods.
“We started in Oshawa and have been going strong all over Ontario,” Wyldstar explained. “GCW sort of became a training ground and springboard so to speak for up-and-coming talent.”
Wyldstar says GCW will be bringing a mix of talent to Orillia featuring wrestlers who are from all over Ontario.
“You don’t know who you are going to see there,” he said. “One of those guys might be the future WWE champion.”
The wrestling portion of the event begins at 6:30 p.m. For those who purchase tickets in advance, kids are $10, and adults are $15. Front-row seats are $25.
“We are a family business at the end of the day,” Wyldstar said. “We want people to have a good time and it’s hard to do that when you are broke.”
The comic con portion of the event goes from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tickets cost $5 for adults and it’s free for children 12 and under. Pop Culture Canada will also be collecting non-perishable food donations at the door for The Salvation Army Food Bank in exchange for raffle tickets.
“We have a huge assortment of Funko Pops and art prints from some of the artists that are going to be there to raffle off,” Wyldstar explained. “Just for helping your own community, you are going to be rewarded by potentially winning a nice prize.”
Attending the event to take pictures with fans and sign autographs will be WWE Hall of Famer Alundra Blayze. Also at the event will be the Jurassic Park Jeep, the Ecto 1 from Ghostbusters, and Deadpool Flex.
“We have some cosplayers who are going to be there, and kids can get their photo taken with Spider-Man,” Wyldstar said. “We are going to have Deadpool there in costume and we are encouraging fans to dress up in their costumes as well.”
Erin Abbott, the general manager of ODAS Park, says this is the first time the local agricultural society has hosted a comic con event.
“We were looking for new events that we could have to bring people in and give them a good time,” she explained. “We thought this is a really good fit especially it being at a very reasonable price for admission.”
Earlier this summer, ODAS Park hosted the Severn Ram Rodeo for the second time, it hosted the Ontario Cornhole Provincial Championships last weekend, and it will once again host the Severn Slaughterhouse Halloween attraction for 12 straight nights in October.
“As an agricultural society our mandate is agriculture awareness,” Abbott explained. “Anything we can do on that means, especially with the rodeo, are events that are key for us.”
With the Roller Skating Place and banquet hall on site, Abbott says they have the space to allow people from Orillia and surrounding communities to gather and enjoy public events.
“We just keep thinking of new things we can do with the space we have here,” she said. “We want to keep bringing the community together.”
Abbott says GWC already plans to return to Orillia in November.
“Every event that we have draws people from other communities,” she said. “It’s great exposure for us to bring new and different things here and we are definitely broadening what we do.”
