The Multiple award-winning City of Cape Town has been home to many incredible creatives, change-makers, entrepreneurs, innovators, and artists, and now, the city will bring together the entire pop-culture community for a first-of-its-kind Comic Con, hosted in the Cape Town CBD, creating the region's largest pop-culture experience inspired by the best of what the Mother City has to offer.
Comic Con Cape Town will become the heartbeat of the city from 27 to 30 April 2023. Hosted by the City of Cape Town, in collaboration with FanCon, the festival is aimed at creating a cultural pulse, stimulating the local economy, encouraging a creative flair as well as captivating new and old pop-culture fans, at a destination recognized as ‘the Most innovative African City’ by various international agencies including the Countries Global Ranking of Startup Ecosystem 2020 and Moscow Agency of Innovations.
Hosted at the CTICC, one of South Africa’s premier conferencing and event venues, Comic Con Cape Town will be creating an engaging environment across all four days, featuring a line-up of international and local celebrities, including comic book artists, writers, and illustrators, as well as popular TV and movie stars. Showcasing a wide range of local exhibitors and vendors, fans are in for a treat as the Con will also feature the latest in pop-culture merchandise, gaming, comic books, collectibles, and stimulate local audiences through panel discussions, Cosplay competitions and loads of interactive experiences.
Contrary to popular belief, the show is not only for comic book fans and serious collectors, instead, it’s for those who love everything TV, movies, superheroes, games, animation, and so much more. Collocated at the festival will also be the Cape Town International Animation Festival, offering a dynamic programme featuring talks, workshops, screenings, as well as opportunity to engage with local animators who have worked on major international productions, as well as producers and story tellers from around the world, in a not-to-be-missed immersive experience.
As a city which has featured in Top 40 destinations for business tourism in the world, the City of Cape Town not only boasts being the first city outside of Europe to receive Blue Flag status for the high-quality water, incredible facilities, safety and cleanliness of its beaches by the Foundation for Enviromental Education, but research from the University of Pretoria has found that the city has the best transport system in the county, transforming the experience of residents and visitors, 25 000 of whom are expected to attend Comic Con Cape Town in 2023.
“As a team, we are excited to answer the call of local pop-culture fans, who are eagerly anticipating the show in April.’’, says Comic Con Cape Town’s Festival Director, Carla Massmann. “This is a self-expressive festival where visitors can experience the best in pop culture and enjoy an immersive experience into worlds of their choosing. We are creating a festival offering that is as dynamic as the city itself, and look forward to welcoming visitors from across the country and continent for four days of incredible fun”, Massmann added.
Visitors are encouraged to take the opportunity and enjoy the festival and all Cape Town has to offer, turning it into a long weekend to remember. Along with world-class venues like the CTICC, Cape Town boasts a wide range of award-winning accommodation facilities and restaurants, the largest art museum in Africa – the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art, the world-renowned wine-route, all in the city named the ‘World’s Leading Festival and Events Destination’ at the World Travel Awards in Lisbon, and more recently, 'Africa’s Leading City Destination’ for 2021 and 2022 at the World Travel Awards hosted in Nairobi, Kenya.
