POW! Parade of Wonders draws thousands to downtown Calgary with creative costumes

Thousands of costumed Calgariansmarched through the heart of the city Friday morning to kick off the annual Calgary Expo, a celebration of comic books, entertainment and geek culture.

The POW! Parade of Wonders includes all sorts of participants in "full cosplay" that is, decked out head-to-toe in elaborate costumes of their favourite fictional characters.

• Watch CBC Calgary's live coverage from the parade:

Costumes can include "anything and everything," Calgary Expo spokesperson Lindsay Thomas, a.k.a. Emily Expo, said before the event.

"We're going to seeDeadpoolsand Wonder Women andHarry Potters,right through to really niche anime things," she said.

The route began at the corner of Eighth Street and Eighth Avenue S.W. and made its way eastward to Olympic Plaza for the Calgary Expo's opening ceremonies.

The2018 Calgary Exporuns Thursday through Sunday at Stampede Park.

Here are a few photo highlights from the parade:

A tiny Thor was among the participants

Chewbacca made an appearance

Is that Hugh Jackman? Hard to tell. Either way. It's Wolverine.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi and Lou Ferrigno, TV's original Hulk

Spiderman, doing what a spider can

A young Yoda also made an appearance

(All photos by Rachel Maclean / CBC)

More Calgary Expo coverage:

• Geek culture thrives online and off as 100K expected at Calgary Expo
• Creator says Deadpool character by far his most popular ahead of Calgary Expo appearance
• Sci-fi web Evolve: Year Zero series producer says gender, sexuality of characters not important
• Hulk returns to Calgary, pumped to meet expo fans
• Attention to detail critical for the serious cosplayers
• Calgary, Edmonton Expos less accessible after policy change, say fans with mobility concerns