The Southwest Costumers Guild is a loose and informal educational society of persons interested in all facets of historical, cultural, science fiction, fantasy, and humor costume and cosplay. Members are often seen on stage and behind the scenes at Science Fiction Convention masquerades, historical reenactment events, street fairs and theatre. SWCG is central Arizona's chapter of the International Costume Guild.

Our Website is now hosted by Costume.org!

E-mail us at:  southwestcostumers@gmail.com.

Index
Newsletter
Costumers Calendar
SWCG Activities
Hints and other "How To" Articles

Randwulf's Smartphone Pouch - Free sewing pattern from SWCG VP Randall

Join the Southwest Costumers Guild

Recruiting and PR Materials:
"Renaissance Faire" Foldover Flyer
(Featuring a practical belt pouch pattern)
Quarter-Page Flyer
Bookmark
Poster/Flyer with Tear-Off Response Cards

SWCG Bylaws

 
SWCG members receive our newsletter, "Cactus Needles" by e-mail.
A few weeks after its initial publication, we post Cactus Needles to this website for all to enjoy.

Current Issue -  August/September 2026
Back Issues (All the way back to the Cactus Needles premiere in 1994)



Cactus Needles is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please print the newsletter and give it to your friends, but print the entire newsletter and don't make any changes or charge any money. Go to www.creativecommons.org to view the license. Individual articles and pictures belong to their authors. If you'd like to reprint an individual article or picture, please e-mail southwestcostumers@gmail.com for appropriate permission.

September 26, 2026, 1PM - SWCG Pancake Social*  at IHOP, 913 North Dobson Road in Mesa, AZ.  Have lunch, plan future activities, maybe go crawl some local Halloween and craft stores.

September 26-27, 2026 - Monster Mall at Glendale Civic Center, 5750 West Glenn Drive. Spooky, Goth, Alternative merchants.

September 26-27, 2026- Prescott Highland Games and Celtic Faire at Watson Lake Park, Prescott AZ.

The 20th Annual Prescott Highland Games & Celtic Faire is coming to Watson Lake Park!
Join us September 26–27 for a weekend filled with Celtic music, athletics, dancing, clans, food, Highland cows, family fun and more.
Come celebrate 20 years of Celtic spirit right here in Prescott!
September 26–27, 2026 Watson Lake Park | Prescott, Arizona All ages welcome!

October 2-4, 2026 - First Annual North Inch Renaissance Faire at Payson Golf Club, 1504 West Country Club Drive, Payson AZ. https://www.northinchrf.com/

October 2-4, 2026 - UwU Con anime convention at Mesa Convention Center. https://uwucon.com/

October 10, 2026 - Flagstaff CreepyCon at Little America Hotel. https://flagstaffcreepycon.com/#

October 16, 2026 - Phoenix Greek Festival at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral - Phoenix AZ, 1973 East Maryland Avenue, Phoenix.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1998802447734581/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22discovery_top_tab%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22bookmark%22%7D]%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D

October 17, 2026, 598PM  - Halloween Comic Fest at Glendale Civic Center, 5750 West Glenn Drive.

Due to an electrical fire that has temporarily closed the Velma Teague Library, this year’s event will be held at the Glendale Civic Center (5750 W. Glenn Drive). We would love for you and your group to be part of this spooktacular, all-ages Halloween celebration, presented in collaboration with Drawn to Comics (5801 W. Glendale Avenue), Downtown Glendale’s source for comic books, gaming, and collectibles.
Come for three hours or fifteen minutes—we appreciate any and all support! Last year’s event attracted nearly 800 participants! This year’s Civic Center venue provides plenty of indoor and outdoor space, so we are hoping to welcome even more vendors, artists, and cosplayers than in previous years! Halloween ComicFest gives attendees the opportunity to:

•    Choose from an assortment of free comics
•    Meet local comic book artists
•    Shop with a variety of vendors
•    Pose for photos with cosplayers
•    Enjoy fun games, crafts, and other activities

October 30, 2026 - DTPHX Hallows' Eve at Arizona Center, 455 North 3rd Street, Phoenix and multiple downtown Phoenix locations. https://dtphx.org/events/hallows-eve-in-dtphx

October 30-November 1, 2026 - Con Nichiwa at Doubletree Hilton Hotel Tucson Reid Park. https://www.con-nichiwa.com/

November 13-25, 2026 - TusCon 53 at Doubletree by Hilton Tucson Airport, 7051 South Tucson Boulevard, Tucson. Guests include author Rebeca Roanhorse, artist Galen Dara and musician Tim Griffin with toasmaster Linda Addison. https://tusconscificon.com/

November 13-15, 2026 - Anime Arizona at Phoenix Convention Center. https://www.animearizona.com/

December 12, 2026, 10-3 - LibCon West at the Glendale Public Library Main Branch, 5959 West Brown Street. This is a free, all-ages event about embracing fandom of all kinds! Meet talented authors and artists, enjoy cosplay, explore vendor booths, and dive into crafts and activities. It's a day filled with endless entertainment and boundless creativity! Look for the Southwest Costumers Guild meet and greet tent.

January 30, 2027, 10-3 - Tempe FanCon at the Tempe Public Library, SWC Rural Road and Southern Avenue, Tempe. Each year in January, the Tempe Public Library brings together fans from all over the valley for a celebration of all things cosplay, comics and pop culture for a fun and memorable experience. Fans can enjoy this free annual family event jam-packed with local artists & authors, costume contests, games & activities, photos ops with cosplayers, prizes, over 80 vendors and delicious food from local food trucks. Fans of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Anime, and more are invited to gather for the Tempe FanCon in costume for a celebration of pop culture. https://www.tempepubliclibrary.org/event-calendar/tempe-fancon  Look for the Southwest Costumers Guild meet and greet tent.

January 30, 2027 - PHX Met Con at Metro District, 9610 North Metro Parkway West, Phoenix. (Formerly known as Superhero Saturday) Presented by the Phoenix Police Sergeants and Lieutenants Association, this curated, family-friendly pop culture and community event brings together fans, families, cosplayers, artists, exhibitors, food trucks, first responders, local leaders, and community partners for a day rooted in creativity, connection, and impact.

February 6-April 4, 2027 (weekends plus Presidents Day) - Arizona Renaissance Festival, 12601 East Highway 60, Gold Canyon, Arizona. https://arizona.renfestinfo.com/

February 22-28, 2027 - End of Trail at Ben Avery Shooting Facility, NWC I-17 and Carefree Highway, north of Phoenix AZ. The Single-Action Shooting Society's annual tournament of cowboy action shooting. The event features a "Sutlers Row" with merchants to help build up your wild west/victorian/steampunk costumes. https://endoftrail.org/

CASFS Book & Media Social

Your Webmaster also organizes a monthly activity of the Central Arizona Speculative Fiction Society's (CASFS) Book and Media Social.  We get together once a month to talk about a pre-selected book, film or other media experience for a bit. After that, conversation can go anywhere. We meet at 7PM on the third Tuesday of every month at the Denny's restaurant at the northeast corner of 35th Avenue and Bethany Home Road in Phoenix. We run a Zoom meeting in parallel to the in-person one, so you can participate even if you can't get your corpus to Phoenix.

Check out the CASFS Book & Media Social Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1602983896683877, the AZ Fandom Facebook Group and the CASFS web page at http://casfs.org/book_social.html for directions to the meeting or the Zoom link or e-mail books@casfs.org

Upcoming:

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