Cosplayers Geek Out in their finest outfits for special weekend at The Rooms

There's something a little different happening at The Rooms this weekend.

The provincial art gallery is teaming up with Sci-fi on the Rock to host a three-day cosplay — short for "costume play" — event called Geek Out.  

Mae Dalton-Summers, an avid cosplayer, says part of the event's appeal lies in becoming someone else.

"In cosplay the idea is that you do kind of embody that character. You do try to take on some mannerisms, and try to bring the illusion one step forward," she said.

One minute she's Mae, and the next she's a Disney heroine.

"[You think] I am Sleeping Beauty and your hands change and your movements change and your voice goes higher … and you're just delighted and you smile for a few hours until your cheeks hurt," said Dalton-Summers.

Connecting with textiles exhibit

She said the idea for the weekend came when an employee at The Rooms, who also does cosplay, thought it would be a good fit with an ongoing exhibit at the gallery.

"They're doing a larger textiles display so they're doing Newfoundland costuming through the last 100 years, European costumes in the 1600s, and they thought a modern take on fashion would be to bring in cosplayers."

Kayla Burry, an archives technician at The Rooms, said cosplay and textiles aren't as different as people might think.

"It kind of relates to The Rooms in the way that it's a textile craft, just like any other craft in the province, and I find that it's a growing part of our culture as well," she said.

"It's grown to the point where the skills required are very high. People are growing more and more skilled at building these costumes. So it's not just buying a Halloween costume anymore. It's sourcing material. It's building and designing and it's creating all from scratch."

The event ends Sunday evening.