NEW ORLEANS, La. (WWL-TV) – The New Orleans Convention Center gets ready to welcome thousands of fans at this year’s Wizard World. People of all ages are invited to enjoy the three-day event.

For the past seven years, the event has brought pop culture to life.

“This is like a cornucopia of all fandoms: you’re getting horror, fantasy, sci-fi, comic books,” said vendor Jerry Pesce. “I mean when one thinks of Comic Con, a lot of people just think comic books, but this is just one of the many things and I’m a fan of all that so it all works out.”

The event, which tours the nation, is the first show of 2017. And where better to start than the Crescent City?

“Oh! It’s wonderful it feels like coming home,” said owner of the Delorean Time Machine, Terry Holler. “We’ve been here for maybe the last seven years and it just feels good to come in off the I-10, seeing New Orleans waiting for us.”

Wizard World has it all: figurines and comic books as well as a real life replica of the famous ‘Back to the Future’ time machine.

“When my husband and I started dating we asked each other what our favorite things were and that was Back to the Future,” said Holler. “When we married we bought a 1982 Delorean in 2001, turned it into a time machine ourselves, so all the time machine parts are hand-built by us. We’ve been driving it and fundraising and raising awareness for the Parkinson’s Foundation for the past 16-17 years.”

However, one of the biggest highlights for many is meeting the stars.

“It’s great to connect with the fans and also there are a lot of celebrities who take part in this,” said Pesce.

“We have Stephen Amell from ‘Arrow,’ we have Michael Rooker from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ and Nichelle Nichols from ‘Star Trek,'” said spokesperson Jerry Milani.

As people welcome some of their favorite celebrities like Christopher Lloyd and Lou Ferrigno, officials say there’s one person who was supposed to headline this event who will be here in spirit.

“Obviously we’re very saddened by Carrie Fisher not being with us. It’ll be felt by everyone here,” said Milani. “We will have an area where fans can go and sign a board, just kind of remembering her in their own way. We’ll also have some panels, commemorative panels.”

The Force will be felt at the Convention Center this weekend.

“This is a wonderful event, a super show,” said Holler. “Get your geek on, get your non-geek on whatever you want. Just bring it on and lets have a good time.”

And with tens of thousands expected, offiicals say this could be the best year yet.

For tickets and more information, go here.