Timaru groups launch convention to celebrate booming hobby scene

Thursday, 24 July 2025

Two Timaru groups have launched a convention to foster a safe community for the region’s increasing number of hobbyists and board game enthusiasts.

Named WishCon, the event in late August is a trading cards, board games, and pop culture convention, organized by Mana and Meeples and The Shiny Squad.

“It’s a family-friendly event with competitions for things like trading card games and cosplay, along with board games, raffles, and local vendors,” Charlie Rawstorn from The Shiny Squad said.

“It’s more than just a convention, we want to bring the community together to celebrate creativity, gaming, and fandoms, while raising funds charity.”

Rawstorn said they wanted to create a safe space for people to share their hobbies, interests and express themselves.

“There’s not a lot of things like this in Timaru and we wanted to do something for all ages and create a safe environment for them,” she said.

Rawstron said interest in board games such as Dungeons and Dragons (DnD) and Catan, and trading card games like Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering, had been “booming” in Timaru.

“It’s definitely a growing community,” she said.

“People who have never had previous interest have been coming into the store wanting to buy Pokémon cards.

“DnD is getting big and some board games have been hard to get a hold of.”

To provide more access to board games, Mana and Meeples, run by Nikki and Phillip Brown, had also organised a board game night in the Timaru on Friday.

“Opening a board game cafe has been our dream for years but we never had the right timing,” Nikki Brown said.

“We moved to Timaru from Auckland in January and we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to open one.”

Brown said they were yet to settle on a permanent place but in the meantime will hold pop up board game events once a month, open to people of all ages.

“We want to share the passion we have for board games with everyone, and on Friday we will have about 60 different board games and not just the common ones.

“This is a free event for families and people to come together and learn a new board game or just play with their friends.”

Brown said they were blown away by the response to WishCon so far and expected a big turnout.

Rawstorn said the idea for WishCon was born when the two groups were brainstorming ideas for a fundraising event for charity, with ideas such as mystery bags and trading nights.

“The ideas kept evolving and we decided to turn this into a full-on convention and go all out,” she said.

Based on the success of the inaugural event, the two groups hoped to rent a bigger space for future events.

Rawstorn hoped the community enjoyed the convention, which would feature vendors travelling from as far as Auckland and Christchurch.

WishCon would be held at the Scottish Hall in Timaru on August 30 from 9.30am to 5pm.

Tickets cost $10 for adults, $5 for those aged 5-12 and $25 for two adults and two children.

All proceeds would go to charity.

Friday’s board game night was a free event and would be held at 224 Stafford St, from 6pm to 10pm.