Comic-Con style event named after the Jarrow March is coming to South Tyneside

A Comic-Con style event, which takes naming inspiration from the Jarrow March, is coming to Jarrow Focus, on Cambrian Street, this Sunday (October 6).

Crusade-Con is the brainchild of Graham Brabbs, who founded the event in March 2023 after noticing there was a gap for Comic-Con style events in South Tyneside.

As he prepares to host Crusade-Con IV in Jarrow, Graham has given the Shields Gazette an insight into what visitors can expect from this weekend’s event.

He said: “We have a good mix of traders who will selling things like comics, collectibles, retro gaming items and more.

“We have some retro gaming consoles that are available to play free of charge.

“There will also be some costumers/cosplayers around, with the Tyne Tees Ghostbusters and possibly the North East Legion (Star Wars) attending.

“We have advertised three competitions, one of which will be a Mario Kart 8 tournament on the Nintendo Switch but this will depend on the numbers competing.

“Then the other two will be the cosplay competitions for the under 16 and adult categories - with prizes to be won across all three.

“Basically it's a fun day out that helps to support both the local community and small local businesses.”

Graham’s previous Crusade-Con events have been a hit with visitors due it’s low-cost entrance fee in comparison to similar events and the family-friendly atmosphere that it creates.

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Crusade-Con IV will also be raising money for The Red Bench Project, Bede’s Helping Hands Food Bank and Our Milo in the hopes of getting them some extra funding and exposure.

Graham added: “Honestly, I wish we could do more for them.

“We ran a raffle with some epic prizes in March but I found myself being disappointed with the total of around £170 raised which was in turn split between the three.

“I know having spoken to Wayne (Red Bench Project), Tracy (Bede’s Helping Hands Food Bank) and Steve (Our Milo) that anything that's raised is more than they had at the start of the day.

“We run two events a year but are only able to run raffles once a year due to having to request businesses to give us free stuff so it's not viable at the moment to do raffle after raffle.

“It's shame but I can only put up so much stuff myself so I'm happy to be able to use this as a platform to get these three awesome charities even just a small amount of extra exposure.”

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Crusade-Con IV will run from 11am until 4pm on Sunday, October 6 - with tickets costing £3 per adult and £2 per child under the age of 16.

Family tickets (two adults and two under 16s) are available from just £8 and children aged four and under can enter for free.

You can find out more information about Crusade-Con IV by visiting: https://www.facebook.com/events/2634135756745346/.

Tickets for the event can be purchased at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/crusade-con-iv-tickets-884067909917 or there is the option to pay on the door at the event.