FACTS 2022
After a successful edition last year, we were curious to see what the 2022 edition of FACTS had in store for us. With certain health and safety measures being only a small dot in the rearview mirror, we expected a lot more people to attend the event. We were not mistaken, but even with a few congested areas dotted throughout the halls, we still very much enjoyed the event. Our past remarks about the layout still remain.
Once again, we found ourselves at Flanders Expo to visit one of the biggest conventions in Belgium. Right off the bat, it was clear that we would have our pick of the litter when it came to the overall dealers, as there was a fairly big variety when it came to the different types of merchandise being offered. There was a big offer in comic books, vintage toys, Pokémon (and other) cards, anime, general DVDs and Blu-rays, books, and quite a few homemade items. We very much enjoyed browsing through everything that was on offer, and for the most part, the convention offered a lot of quality goods (courtesy of the respective sellers). This year was also no exception when it came to the ridiculous amount of POP! figures being sold. We would perhaps love to see a few of these booths make room for a few other products in the future.
As celebrity guests lure in a bigger crowd for these types of conventions, we have to say that FACTS 2022 struggled with the same issue as last year. There were a few interesting guests, but overall, the lineup wasn’t extremely impressive. That being said, the guests did still add a lot of value to the convention, and the visitors that really wanted to see their favorite celebrity were still able to do so quite easily. The prices did vary a bit when it came to autographs and pictures, but for the most part, these prices were quite standard. The guests were in a separate hall, and this made it a lot easier to queue up to see your favorite star.
FACTS always has several dedicated halls for different activities, such as the hall for different communities, cosplay, the guests, or even for the main stage for the Q&A sessions. This was the same for this year’s edition, and this year there was also a very big hall almost solely dedicated to playing board games. This was a very fun hall to visit, even if you were unable to sit down and play yourself.
Sadly, there is also a bad part when it came to the 2022 edition of FACTS. The convention suffered from massive congestion issues in the main hall. This was due to two reasons: poorly placed decorations that made certain pathways extremely narrow and extremely poorly placed food stalls where people had to queue up in front of merchandise booths. The decorations were placed at certain points of the main hall, where they would either make it so that pathways would not run the entire length of the hall, or that they would actually just block important passageways. We found ourselves stuck in a few of these ‘pile-ups’ due to the poor placement of the (impressive) decorations. This was made even worse by the food stalls that were placed in between the merchandise booths. Due to this, there would be massive lines of people queueing up to get their food in the normal pathways. Add to that the people who were browsing the merchandise, and you have yourself a very unpleasant experience just trying to get from point A to point B. We also want to say that asking seven and a half Euros for a single hotdog is also a bit ridiculous.
Conclusion
FACTS 2022 was a great convention, but we noticed even more congestion than last year, and at times it became quite uncomfortable when being surrounded by a huge crowd of people, all being stuck in narrow pathways due to poorly placed decorations. This was made even worse by the food stands that would make the bigger pathways overcrowded as well. Layout sentiments aside, the convention did present us with quality merchandise, interesting guests, fun activities, and, of course, a lot of talented people in cosplay.
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