Thousands of pop-culture fans descended on downtown Dallas over the weekend, many of them looking considerably less like themselves than usual.
FAN EXPO Dallas returned to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Sept. 11-13, bringing together fans of comics, science fiction, fantasy, horror, anime, gaming and other corners of popular culture. The annual convention is billed by organizers as the largest sci-fi, horror, anime and gaming event in Texas and draws tens of thousands of attendees.
For many of them, dressing the part is a major piece of the experience.
Cosplay, short for “costume play,” ranges from relatively simple recreations of familiar characters to elaborate, handmade costumes that can require months of design and construction. Throughout the weekend in Dallas, characters from comic books, movies, television, anime and video games filled the convention center as fans posed for photographs, compared costumes and found others who shared their particular fandoms.
The convention also put some of that craftsmanship on display through cosplay showcases, a makerspace where experienced cosplayers discussed techniques and construction, and the Masters of Cosplay Lone Star Qualifier. Competitors in the qualifier were required to have made or significantly altered at least half of their costumes, with entrants competing for cash and a trip to MEGACON Orlando.
Costumes were only part of the three-day event. FAN EXPO Dallas featured celebrity appearances, panels, autograph and photo sessions, artists, vendors and other programming. This year's guest lineup included Nicolas Cage, making his first FAN EXPO appearance, along with a reunion of several cast members from The Lord of the Rings films, including Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd and Karl Urban.
But away from the celebrity stages and autograph lines, the convention floor offered its own spectacle. KETR's photos from FAN EXPO Dallas capture some of the fans who turned the weekend into an opportunity to step inside a favorite fictional world, at least for a little while.
Scroll through the gallery for some of the cosplayers spotted at FAN EXPO Dallas 2026.