THOUSANDS of people descended down on Colchester to take part in the pop culture and cosplay invasion aiming to raise money for charity.
The Invasion of Colchester took place on Saturday and welcomed iconic superheroes, ghostbusters, princesses, dinosaurs and all sorts of TV and film characters.
I was one of the thousands who attended and I thought it was a brilliant day out to both enjoy 'nerding out' as well as raising money for charity.
There were car displays, with one of the police cars from Zombieland: Double Tap which was my personal favourite, with hundreds of characters and prop pieces.
Groups of people in costumes and visitors just enjoying the day were spread throughout the city centre - from Colchester Castle to Red Lion Walk.
I loved seeing all the talented people dressed up in custom costumes and the excited fans pointing and smiling at their favourite characters.
The event raises money for St Helena Hospice, Colchester and Ipswich Hospitals Charity, and Mid and North East Essex Mind.
An Invasion Colchester spokesman said: "Thank you to all of our wonderful sponsors, charities and associates for their incredible efforts to help us put the event on and to help us raise as much money for charity as possible.
"Thank you to each and every volunteer, performer and customer who gave up their time for the day to hang out with us, spread some joy and help us collect the all-important donations.
"And thank you to all of you who came along to enjoy Invasion Colchester, got dressed up, dropped some coins or notes into our buckets, and tapped you cards and phones on our donation machines. You will all have helped someone when they needed it!"
Spokesman Penny Norris said: “Invasion is always such a brilliant event to be a part of and it was such a joy to see our community come together in this way.
"The event was extremely well attended and the community came out in force to support us. We are very grateful for the phenomenal ongoing support of the Invasion Colchester team.
"The generous donations will provide the extras that go above and beyond what the NHS can provide, and which make such a difference to health and healing across our hospitals.”
The amount of money raised for the charities will be announced on September 27.
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