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Fandom Fest is returning in-person this year complete with free books, giveaways and prizes, as well as live performances and meet-and-greets with characters.

Lee County Library System Programming and Community Outreach Manager Melissa Baker said this year Fandom Fest will return to the festival grounds at Fort Myers Regional Library as an outdoor festival for all ages.

Fandom Fest will be held from 12-4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 11, at the Fort Myers Regional Library, 2450 First St., Fort Myers.

Last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Fandom Fest went fully virtual with a month-long celebration with every week highlighting a different theme, such as Harry Potter and Stars Wars.

Baker said the event began as a small scale teen event, Comic Fest, and has since expanded and grown eventually rebranding into Fandom Fest.

“We wanted it to be more than super heroes and comics,” Baker said. “We are trying to make it appeal to pop culture and geek culture.”

A teaser was launched Nov. 29 with a reading challenge featuring Fandom Bingo, which can be picked up at any of the Lee County library branch until Dec. 11 — the last day to turn in the bingo sheet. The bingo game includes little prompts such as having a lightsaber duo, or talking like Yoda.

There are also missions and challenges that can be found through the ReadSquare app for Fandom Fest. Individuals can create a free account using the app, or enroll in the Fandom Fest if an account was already created.

Baker said participants will receive points for every minute they read, as well as completing missions. Bingo can also be played digitally.

Fandom Fest prize baskets will be given to winners of the challenges, as well as season passes to Bush Gardens, Tampa Bay.

“We are excited to be able to offer that this year,” Baker said.

Prizes can also be won the day of the festival by participating in the Fandom Fest passport. The passport includes a guide to the event with a complete schedule of events, as well as a map that includes boxes to be checked off. With the check of 20 activities, the individual will be entered to win the grand prize with more tickets to Bush Gardens.

In addition, prizes will be given to the winners of the costume contest with the top costume winning Bush Gardens tickets for the youngsters and Universal Studios tickets for the teen and adult winner.

Registration for the costume contest is from 12-2 p.m. Baker said the judging starts at staggered increments with the presentation of finalists at 3 p.m. for the crowd to vote on the top three.

The times for contestants to report to the registration booth include birth to age 5 at 2 p.m.; 6 to 11 years old at 2:15 p.m., 12 to 17 years old at 2:30 p.m. and adults 18 and older at 2:45 p.m.

If that is not enough, the library mobile outreach van will have a prize wheel for attendees to win fun Fandom Fest swag.

Character meet-and-greets will be held, with the addition of Santa Claus and the North Pole to entice the younger crowd from 12 to 3 p.m.

“It’s the perfect time of the year. Santa will be there for the littles,” she said.

Fathom Fest will also feature character favorites for anime, princesses and heroes. Anime Sailor Moon will make an appearance at noon, Ciel and Sebastian at 1 p.m. and Levi at 2 p.m. Anna and Elsa will make an appearance for the princesses at noon, followed by Moana at 1 p.m. and Belle at 2 p.m. The heroes meet-and-greet will include Capt. Jack Sparrow at noon, Chewbacca and Princess Leia at 1 p.m. and Star-Lord at 2 p.m.

“There will be a good mix of everything. We want to bring all the people together at the library and show off some of the resources we have,” Baker said of the digital resources for eBooks and movies. “One of the resources is Hoopla. They are known for their expansive comic collection. They can get access to it for free.”

Other entertainment includes Tampa Taiko at noon. Baker said the big booms of the drums will kick off the event.

K-Pop Dancing with Residence will teach attendees how to dance, along with a performance at 1 p.m. The festival headliner, dj-Jo, will take the stage at 2 p.m. for his concert of fresh EDM remixes of anime music.

Crafts will also be available throughout the outdoor plaza, along with bounce houses, rock climbing, axe throwing with Chuck it Axes, virtual reality, tech zones and Cosplay Makerspace.

Baker said a face painter, who specializes in scars but who is also flexible and can adapt to the different age requests, will also be at the festival.

“This is truly a free event. The only thing you have to pay for is food and vendors. A fun way for the community to get together and celebrate all the things they are into,” she said. “I challenge anyone to come and not have a good time. We certainly put everything we can think of that is fun into this event.”

For more information, visit www.leelibrary.net/fandomfest.

“It’s a loud, fun day at the library,” Baker said.