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This article was published on Tuesday, 27 June, 2017. The information contained within may be out of date or inaccurate. News articles and media releases older than 60 days are archived for future reference.

"NERDMANIA 2017" returns to Shepparton - Regional Victoria’s biggest pop culture

CLICK HERE to join the Nerdmania Facebook event.

NerdMania, the brainchild of one of the Word and Mouth Youth Committee, the WAM Army, is back and poising to smash into Shepparton. Word and Mouth will make it all happen again, and tickets are already on sale. Aimed at young people, but open to all ages, and even more so for families this year, the event promises to be one of Word and Mouth’s biggest events yet.

“This is our third year, and we have become regional Victoria’s biggest pop culture event” said Jim Gow, Project Manager at Word and Mouth. “We are trying to bring something for everyone this year as we slowly build this event bigger and better each year. Essentially there is going to be something there for collectors, gamers, comic fans, anime fans and much more. The event continues to attract an incredible amount of interest in a very short time.” “We continue to engage young people by putting on a range of events for young people to do in Greater Shepparton. We too often hear that there is nothing to do in the area for young people and we are constantly looking to change that, especially when it comes to putting on new and dynamic events that we haven’t tried before.”

Most of the pop culture expos such as metro-based SupaNova or Oz Comic-Con see up to 20,000 people per day and NerdMania offers a taste of some of those bigger events without the anxiety of going to Melbourne to see it. At just $15 per adult and sliding scale for younger people, or a family ticket for $35, it is cheap in comparison to its bigger brothers and sisters. Word and Mouth are also partnering with local businesses including GUF, formerly Cyber Bunker, in order to appeal to the gaming community on the day, as well as inviting ‘come and try’ sessions with the electronic gaming, card and board games. “We’re pretty excited to be a part of it” said GUF owner/ manager, Mathew Davis. “We are hoping to meet some new people, show them what we do best, and that’s gaming.”

“We continue to grow this event slowly, building solid foundations of a regular event that would bring people to Shepparton for this type of thing annually, and bringing with it a lot of money and tourism.” This year even more partnerships have been formed, and this year sees the emergence of a “Little Heroes” zone, with a focus on the under 10’s, and particularly under 5 year olds, all with the help of specialists, Enchanted Rainbow. “We want this to be a family event, and need there to be something attractive for everyone in that family on the day; from teens to “Little Heroes” to parents.” Said Mr. Gow.

The tickets for this event are available through EventBrite, or at the door on the day. There will be several vendors there from Melbourne, Yarrawonga, Bendigo and the like, selling collectables from popular culture, as well as many other goods, as well as up to five food trucks to feed the masses. Every Word and Mouth event is fully supervised, and is a drug, alcohol and smoke free event.

This event starts at 10am and finishes at 5pm, and will be held at the Multipurpose Pavilion at the Shepparton Showgrounds on the 22^nd of July. Children under the age of 5 will be allowed in for free, however must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

Word and Mouth is now a proud part of the Greater Shepparton City Council.