An event is coming to Manchester next month for men and women to celebrate their love of My Little Pony and dress up as their favourite characters.

Hundreds of bronies - a term derived from brothers and ponies to describe grown up fans of My Little Pony - will gather at EventCity in Trafford for the two-day BUCK 2016 convention.

The event’s PR manager Graham Lord says the brony fandom started in 2010 when an internet chat group dedicated to cartoons watched the 'Friendship is Magic' pilot as a joke.

He said: “Then even more people started talking about it and watching it because it was unexpectedly a work of passion, rather than just a toy advert.”

The family convention - on April 9 and 10 - is an opportunity for bronies to meet up, enjoy some cosplay (costume play) and join in other activities and games.

Graham added: “The key factor in the show’s popularity exploding online was the fact that anyone who liked it clearly didn’t take themselves too seriously. If a guy said he watched the show, you knew you could immediately talk about colourful cute things without being worried about looking ‘uncool’.

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“There’s a huge number of people online who like anime and cartoons, but are just worried about being judged for it - and the brony fandom just completely tore down that wall.”

Manchester-based brony Sam, who didn’t want to share his surname, says there are two separate aspects of being a brony that appeal to him - ‘the show itself and the community that has built up around it’.

He said: “I’ve been a brony for around two years now. A friend of mine at university suggested I watch the show, so I watched season one, episode one. Then episodes two, three and four and before I knew it I had watched every episode.

“In terms of the show, it’s 22 minutes of colourful talking ponies battling monsters and making friends. At the most basic level, the stories are engaging and there is character development and progression through the seasons of the show - unlike a typical show aimed at younger children.

“There are jokes and references the production crew have included for the adults watching (for example the Big Lebowski, Star Wars and Tron).”

He added: “The community around the show is really what keeps me interested though. There are amazing creations from all sorts of talented people, including songs, art, animations, plushies and costumes.

“At a brony meet up you know that the people will be friendly, and you’ll have something in common with which to start a conversation. A brony convention is not quite like any other - the cosplays, the music and the people - even anime and comic conventions can’t compete in terms of the experience.”

Graham, who is based in North Dorset, said Manchester was picked because of its ‘excellent travel links’ for bronies coming from ‘every corner of the country’.

For tickets to the convention see buckevents.co.uk/buckcon .