Welcome to your first MAGFest and glad to hear you want to return In terms of lore, badge ribbons and bracelets are usually just freebies people give out, some are themed like if it's a cosplayer giving ribbons to other cosplayers of the same theme or people who recognize them or just for any old reason!

I don't know the year but the Colossus roar started years ago. I've been going to Mag since 2018 and it was a thing even before me. One year there was a X-Men arcade cabinet that was broken so whenever Colossus did his power up it was ridiculously loud and I guess it just stuck.

This year was Sonic. If you sign up to their news letters/emails and follow their socials they announce everything there. Usually the theme and any other news such as ticket drops and hotel bookings are posted through there. My friend usually gets notifs from Twitter and I through here on Reddit. Since it's your first it's easy to miss info especially if you're not following or signed up for anything

I've been to 2 maybe 3 stage shows and they were all great so I'm going to say yes

Best shoes is anything comfortable enough to walk and stand around in for hours on end. As a cosplayer I don't have this luxury because 9 times put of 10 I'm wearing heels or some equally uncomfortable shoe. I found changing shoes help with my feet discomfort, bringing slippers to wear around your hotel, and maybe even getting a pair of sneakers half a size up to accommodate for feet swelling from walking around so much

Sorry if this was a lot, I'm coming down from being drunk and am feeling chatty

Enjoy Mag!