If you have a sweet tooth, you may have drooled over assistant editor Michael Juliano’s slideshow of photos from the first LA Cookie Con and Sweets Show, depicting Alice in Wonderland-esque displays of sugar-coated candy, cookies and cakes. Michael and I attended Sunday’s convention not knowing what to expect, and only a vague idea of what might be waiting for us inside the Pasadena Convention Center; namely, plenty of cookie samples to go around.
Judging by the size of the crowd, that’s what every other ticket holder expected as well. We arrived at 10am to find a massive line of people curling around the block, squinting at the entrance in near 80-degree heat. In the media/VIP line, the complaining was almost as insufferable as the heat. “What exactly does a VIP pass get us if we have to wait in line with everyone else?” a woman behind us said. To her credit, we were confused as well. What was the difference between a $20 general admission ticket and a $50 VIP one? Inside, throngs of cookie lovers pressed up against booths selling not just desserts, but also baking utensils, frosting, baby bibs and, inexplicably, LED signs. A VIP “lounge” consisted of a mildly cordoned-off area that was apparently supposed to hold, among other things, a cheese plate that never materialized. The crowds were oppressive. The samples were fantastic, but you had to actively ask for one while frantic vendors scrambled to accommodate hungry attendees. What exactly were we attending, again?
Food festivals are a mainstay in LA. The LA Food & Wine Festival, The Taste, LA Street Food Fest, Sriracha Festival and, one could argue, the night markets that are gaining in popularity, are all well-attended events that draw huge crowds every year. Most of the time, buying a ticket to one of these festivals ensures that you’ll have access to unlimited food and drink samples. Sure, you may have to wait in the Churro Borough line for 45 minutes as I did last year, but you’ve already paid for it. You’re there. You’re in. What else are you going to do?
But at a convention, your ticket gets you access—and sometimes that's all you get. Abandon all hope, ye who enter an expo hall, of accomplishing anything that remotely meets your expectations. Supercute girl-cat fans faced two-hour lines just to get into the gift shop at Hello Kitty Con. Even at a (theoretically) industry-only event like E3, closed-door demos and lines plugged with giddy gamers make any actual hands-on time with video games a test in endurance. It's easy to get excited over a Con revolving around something you love—trust us, we saw the word "cookie" and went apeshit. But so did everyone else, and that's part of the problem. The next time "Ice Cream Con" or "'90s Hip Hop Con" or please, dear God, "The Twilight Zone Con" comes through town, read the fine print. Is it worth splurging on a VIP ticket (which should come with, at minimum, early access), or will you get mostly the same experience with a GA ticket? Are you willing to wait three hours to get in? Do you really, really love baking, or are you just excited about the samples? Because we know a little place where you can get free samples. It's called Costco, and the only thing you need to wait for is a parking spot.