KILLEEN (August 15, 2012)--The third annual GeekFest, a celebration of all things gaming, fantasy, anime, technology, and science fiction, will be this Friday and Saturday at the Mayborn Planetarium and Space Theatre on the campus of Central Texas College.
Attractions include gaming tournaments for cash prizes, 50-plus vendors, more than 50 seminars and workshops, celebrity guest appearances, "humans vs. zombies" game, a 24-hour film competition, and costume, cake, and anime contests.
GeekFest opens to the public on Friday at 6 p.m.
There is no admission fee, but there is a charge for some activities, including the gaming tournament finals, planetarium shows, a screening of the 24-hour film competition winner, and others.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the Central Texas College student ambassador program, which was created in 2009 to assist the college with community outreach, recruitment, and retention.
Opening night will feature a LAN tournament, demos of Magic: the Gathering, Yugion, and karaoke.
Several gaming tournaments will also begin at 6 p.m. on Friday.
The traditional showing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" begins at 10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Friday's show will feature the Queerios live cast from Austin and Saturday's show will feature a live local cast.
Saturday's festivities begin at 8 a.m. with the Humans vs. Zombies competition and Quidditch for Kids.
GeekFest welcomes celebrities Peter Mayhew, who portrayed Chewbacca in the "Star Wars" movies, and Tim Taylor who appeared in "The Hunger Games" at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
Mayhew will be there until 5 p.m. and Taylor will be there until 8 p.m.
Saturday's agenda also includes numerous workshops, costume and anime contests, a cake contest, a silent auction, robotic demonstrations, film screenings, Magic and Munchkin tournaments, geocoaching, a Hunger Games training camp, and gaming tournament.
Some of the workshops and seminars include game design and publishing, writing, screenwriting, philosophy in anime, 2D/3D animation, and more.
GeekFest wristbands are now on sale at the Mayborn Planetarium during normal business hours. The wristbands entitle wearers admission to all "dome" activities including the films, gaming tournament finals, and other Planetarium featured shows.
