City of Monroe, LA

Come Geek Out at the RiverMarket for Geeks Along the River

Get your geek on at Geeks Along the River at the Origin Bank RiverMarket in Downtown Monroe on November 18 from 10am to 4pm! This is the only event catered to all forms of geeks in Northeast Louisiana, and it is family and dog friendly! With free admission and numerous activities to enjoy, this is the perfect way to spend Saturday.

Caroline Smalling, the Program Coordinator for the Downtown RiverMarket, had this to say about the event, “Geeks Along the River brings people who enjoy or want to learn about all sorts of things like gaming, anime, cosplay, and more all to one place to meet each other, shop with local vendors, and participate in tournaments and competitions. I'm excited to see how the community comes together again for the second annual event to have fun and enjoy the Downtown RiverMarket.”

Schedule of Events:

11:30am
• Pet Cosplay Contest hosted by SOS Pets. To enter your pet in the contest, there is a $5 entry fee. All the proceeds from the pet cosplay contest will benefit SOS Pets of Ouachita. Prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place are courtesy of Petsense and Paws-N-Claws Grooming & Boarding.

12:00pm - 4:00pm
• Magic the Gathering tournament hosted by Geeked Out Gaming.
• Super Smash Bros. tournament hosted by Warhawk Gaming in the Gamebox of NELA. Prizes courtesy of Tespa.
• Pokémon TCG and VCG tournaments.
• Tabletop gaming demos with local gaming companies and enthusiasts.

3:00pm
• Cosplay contest. There is a $5 entry to enter the cosplay contest. All the proceeds will benefit SOS Pets of Ouachita. The categories for the cosplay contest will be Original and Pokemon, and the divisions for the two categories are adult (18+), teen (12-17), and child (0-11). The judges for the contest are Allen Spurlock, Winter Black, and Audrey Trisler. The prizes for the winners are courtesy of The Chapel, GameStop, Printed Ink, and more.

Geeks Along the River will also feature Pokecon. Pokecon is the host of the VCG and TCG tournaments. Visit this portion of the event for all sorts of Pokemon themed vendors and activities. Special vendors for Geeks Along the River will be selling items such as toys, costumes, comic books, playing cards, collectibles, decals, and more; they will be on site all day selling their specialty items.

Special vendors include Tortured Earth, Aced Out Designs, Geeked Out Gaming, 2510 Creative, Mad/Hatter Productions, Alvar & Hurrik, Salt & Lit, S2 Creations, Blushies, Garden District Quilts, Dagorhir Battle, and many more!

Shopping will be available from 10am to 4pm. Handmade and healthy products such as woodcrafts, jewelry, art, clothing, essential oils, beard care, food, and more will be sold at the market as well. Come to the market and shop local to support local!

To find out more information and keep up to date on Geeks on the River, follow our Facebook page Downtown RiverMarket or go to Downtownrivermarket.com

Also participating in the event are nonprofit organizations Arco/Sassy Kats and LSU Ag.

Parking will be available behind Riverscape, at the sheriff's annex, and street side. Bike racks are available as well for all the bicycle riders who would like to attend the event.

Thanks to the Geeks Along the River 2017 committee: Caroline Smalling, Benjamin Martin, Amanda “Sora” Liberty, Kelsi Hicks, Nathan Tremaine, and Brandon Arender.

Sponsors for Geeks Along the River 2017: The Chapel, Petsense, Paws-N-Claws Grooming & Boarding,Geeked Out Gaming, Origin Bank, Monroe Civic Center, Spherion Staffing, Choice Brands, Downtown Monroe Alliance, City of Monroe, Monroe-West Monroe CVB, Bear’s Towing, The Kirksey Agency, Dusty & Co, Sanican, Protection 1, Woodforest National Bank, Comcast Spotlight, Assurance Financial, Laminin, Spinal Health Center, Tubbs by Grubbs, The News-Star, Delta Style Magazine, Vaco, Thrifty Nickel, Holistic Chamber of Commerce, Ouachita Green, Spa Bella, M&K House, and Arrow Public Art.

Thanks to the new RiverMarket Advisory Council: Brooke Foy of Arrow Public Art, Hope Anderson of Health with Hope, Kristin Lambrecht of Holistic Chamber of Commerce, Liz Knope Lee of Spa Bella, Sarah Lee of M&K House and Stuart Hodnett of Ouachita Green. This committee is seeking handmade and healthy vendors.