SANDPOINT — First of all, Sandemonium is just plain fun.

Taking place today at the Sandpoint Library, the annual fandom convention offers an inclusive space for fans of "all things nerdy," as members fondly say. From anime and science fiction to fantasy and esports, the annual event brings together like-minded individuals for a wide range of events, featuring cosplay contests, table-top gaming, video games, panels and more.

Founded in 2015, Sandemonium began as a library event tied to the Teen Summer Reading Program before evolving into a full-fledged fandom convention celebrating everything from anime, comics, sci-fi and fantasy to tabletop gaming, video games, esports and cinema.

"First of all, we want people to know it exists," Michael Nickerson, event chairperson and board member of 7BCon, the nonprofit behind Sandemonium, said. "And it's fun to be a nerd."

It's a lot of fun, agreed another board member.

"It's so much fun to meet other nerds that share your passion for whatever makes you nerdy," she added.

This year, the event is being split into two events, the first on May 30 and then again on Oct. 24.

Sandemonium opens at the library at 10 a.m. and continues all day through 4 p.m. Among the events planned are mini-figure painting, board games, face painting, a D&D character creation panel, e-sports, and a special Friends of the Library book sale featuring fantasy and science fiction novels. There is no charge to attend the annual fandom event.

"It's a cool space to just be around people in your community that you might not otherwise get a chance to be around."

Board member Wesleigh Hammond said there is something special about the event, open to every fandom and "nerd" interest or activity.

"Any fandom or nerd-dom that's out there, if you want to find your community, you either have to go online or you have to go to a bigger city to find it," she said. "But with Sandemonium, it proves it's all pretty close to home."

Vanessa Nickerson has a early seat to fandom participants, who sometimes start as library visitors looking for a good book. Seated at the craft table in the Sandpoint Library foyer, she's able to answer questions and share the many fun activities taking place a short distance down the hallway.

"It starts with me asking, 'Do you want to make a dice bag,' to them asking what's happening," she added. "I can tell them all about it and a short time later, I see some of them going down the hall to check it out."

While bigger comic-cons and fandom events in larger cities may feature more panels or even celebrity guests, the local Sandemonium is more personable and fun, said board member Steve Hammond.

"You're getting together with people you're probably going to see around town," he said. "You're getting together with people who, instead of having driven six hours to get to a convention or take a flight, come from six blocks away and become these people that you can hang out with, who become friends."

Larger conventions feature more vendors, which can be fun for a bit but, as his son noted, that pales after about an hour or so. While a diverse number of panels are hit and miss depending on the topic.

"He told me he'd rather be at Sandemonium," Nickerson said. "There's just so much hustle and bustle and it's so impersonal."

Another board member said attending his first Sandemonium event was a revelation: Here were people who had the same interests, liked the same things and were just plain fun.

"It's people who meet other people who are like, 'Oh, I didn't know there was somebody else who was that into that sort of thing,' or sometimes, 'Oh, I've never heard of that, that sounds amazing,'" he said. "Now they've learned about a new thing that you know, and in theory, hopefully that's their new favorite hobby for the rest of their life."

The comments prompted a smile — and a memory — for Nickerson. A young teen came to the 2025 Sandemonium, dragging along her father and sister and determined to show them something that mattered to her.

"She was all like, 'I made them come … we're gonna do this every year from now on," Nickerson said. "She's like, 'I'm showing him this, I'm showing him that.' She was large and in charge, and so happy to be there with her family, and sharing that with her family. It was just amazing and incredible."

The board members said they have similar fond memories of their own, both as participants and as a group helping put on the event. Some said they discovered Sandemonium shortly after moving to the community, meeting people who would become some of their best friends.

Others said the event sparks endless creativity, and they are inspired by cosplayers' ingenuity, many of whom create their character's costume from the ground up, or the characters created in the plastic duck cosplay in 2025.

"I think for me," Steve Hammond said, "a lot of what I've done at Sandemonium has been focused around the tabletop gaming stuff and it's always fun to see people coming out of their shells there."

There's always a moment where someone new to tabletop games gets so lost in the moment that they almost forget they're playing a game, he said.

"Those moments are sheer joy," Hammond said. "(Sandemonium) is facilitating make-believe for adults and kids alike ... It's a gift. It's an absolute gift to see people have that kind of fun among strangers."

Whether people find one activity they like, or many, Michael Nickerson said he can guarantee they will also have fun.

"I tell people, just come as a, like, it's a lot of fun," he added. "Even if some of it's not your jam, you're going to find something there that you find fun … there's, there's something there for literally every nerd, and we're all nerds, whether you realize it or not."

Joy, adds Wesleigh Hammond, is infectious.

"Nerd joy is," agreed Nickerson.

For more information on Sandemonium, visit 7bcon.com.

    Vanessa Nickerson helps a young Sandemonium attendee with a craft project at the 2025 fandom event.
  

    Aurora Bearly concentrates as she paints a figurine Saturday at the 2025 Sandemonium, the community's annual fandom event.