THE Chronicle’s resident paranormal expert Claire Barrand headed to Neath recently to attend one of the UK’s biggest gatherings of ghosthunters and experts Para-con Wales

This year one of the UK’s largest paranormal conventions was held last weekend at the Nidum Arts Centre Neath College and hosted by South Wales Ghost Watch.

Intrigued, I went along with my sister Linzi, to meet some of the most famous faces in the paranormal world.

Para-con is a large conference about the world of paranormal, where various speakers give talks about their area of expertise within the paranormal world.

Occupied in between talks by a plethora of stalls selling curious and beautiful crafts, tarot card readings and reiki practitioners offering treatments, we were amused all day long.

Founder Ian Lewis told me that he was sat in a bar reflecting on other Paracon events held around the globe in 2012, with his team members, Dai Llewellyn and Anthony Cherry when the immortal words were spoken.. “You never see anything like this in Wales!” and so the challenge was set!

Paranormal Investigators do not have the word “impossible” in their vocabulary, and once those embers were fuelled and a hotel function room booked for the following year, Paracon Wales was born!

This year was their fourth event and biggest ever, held over two days.

There was an impressive lineup of speakers including Andrea Perron who joined via Skype conference from her home in America, to share with us all her fascinating story which inspired hit movie The Conjuring, a 2013 supernatural horror film inspired by the true-life story of the Perron family, who suffered intense paranormal activity in the 1970s as spirits both friendly and sinister inhabited their Rhode Island farmhouse.

Rianne Rowlands gave a fascinating talk sharing her expertise on Cryptozoology - she had a collection of pictures and footage of the most recently discovered animals.

Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience involving the search for animals whose existence has not been proven due to lack of evidence.

The animals cryptozoologists studyare often referred to as cryptids. This includes living examples of animals that are otherwise considered extinct and animals whose existence lacks physical evidence but which appear in folklore, such as Bigfoot and Chupacabra in addition to wild animals dramatically outside their normal geographic ranges, such as phantom cats.

Shaman practitioner Anthony Cherry talked to enthralled audience about his experiences as a Shamanic practitioner in South Wales. His demonstration of chanting and drumming was captivating.

Shamanism is a practice that involves a practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness in order to perceive and interact with a spirit world and channel these transcendental energies into this world.

A shaman is a person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of benevolent and malevolent spirits.

TV celebrity psychic; Ally Key was another new guest speaker for Paracon 2016.

Ally is full time psychic medium and is a specialist within Paranormal Investigation, documentation and the Development of Paranormal Experimentation.

Highlighted as one of the top most progressive psychic mediums in the business, Ally provides positive spiritual guidance and is widely known for his expertise within the paranormal fieldand we were treated to a sneak preview of his new TV Series called “Help! I’m Being Haunted”.

For me however, the highlight of the weekend was to listen to and meet Barry Fitzgerald of Ghost Hunters International fame.

Barry has quite literally changed my perception of the supernatural, with his stories of Celtic Legends and folklore, something we here in Wales can relate to, especially around these areas.

Irish born Barry has over 20 years experience within the world of the supernatural in which he is known and has taken him to new levels of intrigue and mystery.

Appearing on all 56 episodes of Ghost Hunters International has explored a vast array of paranormal and supernatural phenomenon around the world.

This lead him to write many books, from ‘The Complete Approach’, ‘The Influence’, ‘My Home Is Haunted Now What?’, ‘In The Mist Of Gods’, ‘Banshee’, ‘Searching The Sídhe‘ and ‘Legend Seekers’.

Barry’s new line of research has taken him out of his comfort zone and into areas of Irish myth, legend and folklore. Barry says “Legend Seekers is a new filming project which will be a dramatically different delivery of the old stories, inspiring the youth from behind their games consoles and back into the countryside”.

A ghost hunt was organized for the Saturday night for the lucky prizewinners of a raffle, with Barry Fitzgerald and Ally Key in attendance at a local haunted theatre venue.

Paracon 2017 is already being planned, such was the success of this year’s weekend, and I for one will be booking my tickets! More information can be found by emailing [email protected] or visit their Facebook page.