The Fortress is involved in over 50 activities a year. Some, like filming activities or fundraising, involve a few people. Others are much bigger and involve a large group. Here are some of these key events.
Comic-Cons
Since the beginning, comic-cons have been the largest gatherings for the Fortress. These huge annual events are where actors, authors, pop-culture artists, and cosplayers share their passion with the public.
The Imperial Fortress gets involved with an information booth, photo booth, conferences, and informations panels where we discuss our costumes and our mission.
The most important of these for us is undoubtedly the Montreal Comiccon which brought about 56 000 visitors in 2016. At the time, almost every member of the Fortress was on hand at some point.
Then comes the Quebec-City Comiccon, created in 2014, which brought about 10 000 visitors in 2016. In recent years, various cities (aside from major urban centres) have hosted their own conventions. In 2016, the Fortress participated in the first edition of the Shawicon (Shawinigan), the Saggeek (Saguenay), and at least two cosplay festivals in Trois-Rivières.
St-Patrick’s Day Parades
For the last few years, the Imperial Fortress also participated in the Hudson and Montreal St-Patrick’s Day parades. For the occasion, our members get creative with their costumes to better blend in with the nature of the event.
Hospital Visits
One of the most touching (and personal) activities we do are hospital visits. In 2016, the Fortress twice visited the Ste-Justine’s Children Hospital in Montreal.
With the help of the hospital volunteers, we visited the various departments where we can bring smiles to the kids and their families. When they see stormtroopers and other Star Wars characters (and droids) enter their room, we can hope to help them forget about their problems even if it’s just for a little while. In 2016, members of the 501st Legion, the Rebel Legion, and the Mandalorian Mercs visited the hospital.
Movie Theatres
When a new Star Wars movie is released, it is always a big event for us. We have been blessed with new movies in the last couple of years with The Force Awakens and Rogue One. For these releases, we are often invited by the movie theatres to promote the films and entertain the crowds.