Comic Con Africa 2025 in Johannesburg kicked to August due to other Nasrec event and renovations

by Thinus Ferreira

The South African organisers of this year's 2025 Comic Con in Johannesburg have been forced to move it from September to August due to the conference centre no longer being available and to "protect the interest of its fans and the event".

Comic Con Africa 2025 will no longer take place in September in Johannesburg but has now been pushed a month earlier with cosplayers who will don their finest from 28 to 31 August at the Johannesburg Expo Centre at Nasrec.

Comic Con Cape Town will still go ahead as planned from 1 to 4 May in the Mother City's Cape Town Convention Centre (CTICC).

The organisers now say the date and month change for the Johannesburg event is because of another event taking place at the venue in September. They are however unwilling to say what Red Hulk exactly kicked Com Comic Africa from September to August. 

South Africa is set to host the G20 summit in November and this specific convention centre happens to currently be busy with extensive renovations for whatever event is hiring the space during September and got Comic Con Africa 2025 kicked forward.

"This change is unavoidable due to a major international event taking place at the Johannesburg Expo Centre which will be announced in the media shortly," says Mogul Media who organises the South African Comic Cons. 

Carla Massmann, show director, says "Comic Con Africa's fans often plan months ahead of time to attend the con, and travel from all around South Africa to get there. Comic Con's incredible fans are the reason behind everything we do".

"We offer our sincerest apologies to them should this date change be an inconvenience.

"Our incredible fans have been the backbone of the festival since 2018. Whilst we are disappointed that we must change the dates of our 2025 festival, the Johannesburg Expo Centre is the perfect home for Comic Con Africa and so changing the venue was not an option."

"A festival of Comic Con Africa's complexity requires a large venue with multi-usage spaces that can accommodate all of the many aspects of the festival."

"And of course, when you have over 70 000 people in attendance, the size of the venue is of key importance. The Johannesburg Expo Centre has the capacity and the space we need to accommodate our high volume of fans."

"We are excited to see the results of the renovations, and we believe the upgrades will positively contribute to our fans’ experiences at Comic Con Africa in future editions.”

Comic Con Africa 2025 will still showcase and include gaming and eSports tournaments, cosplay, tabletop gaming, fandom merch, anime and manga, comics, trading card games, as well as film and series personalities, panel and Q&A sessions, screenings and interactive experiences.

Comic Con Africa 2026 is envisioned to again take place during September next year.

Comic Con Cape Town revived as a one-day pop-up event set for 2 October 2021.

by Thinus Ferreira

The organisers of Comic Con Cape Town, a planned parallel spin-off of Comic-Con Africa in Johannesburg with both events that went physically dormant because of the global Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, has revived the Cape Town get-together as a one-day pop-up event that will be held on 2 October 2021.

In June Reed Exhibitions Africa announced that it has set 22 September 2022 as the return date for Comic-Con Africa 2022 that will take place at a new venue, the Johannesburg Expo Centre.

The inaugural Comic Con Cape Town was again delayed in 2021 due to the continuing Covid-19 pandemic. 

"While a traditional Con is not possible in 2021, Comic Con Cape Town, in partnership with the City of Cape Town are excited to announce that they will be bringing a taste of Comic Con to the city this October," the organisers said in a statement released on Wednesday.

Comic Con Cape Town will be hosting a series of pop culture pop-up activities at different locations around the city for one day only on 2 October 2021.

According to the organisers fans can look forward to exploring pop-up activities like cosplay competitions for professionals, casuals and kids; the Comic Art Drink & Draw & Sketch-off competitions, pop culture quiz sessions, fandom meet-ups across the city, gaming and tabletop competitions and film watch parties.

"There will be a strong focus on connecting the geek and pop culture communities of Cape Town, with these pop-up activations at various locations with Covid-19 regulated capacities," the organisers say.

The Comic Con Cape Town pop-up around Cape Town will run alongside the renowned Cape Town International Animation Festival and the FAME Africa Week.

"We have been navigating the landscape of the pandemic with caution and creativity, and the pop-up activities during this one-day-only fan day gives us the opportunity to connect with the Cape Town Comic Con fans, while we wait for a full force festival," says Carla Massmann, show director.

"It allows for us to stay true to Comic Con's spirit, which is to bring people of all fandoms and interests together and facilitate friendship and connection, all whilst celebrating the love of all things pop culture."

Alderman JP Smith, mayoral committee member for safety and security, says "Cape Town is Africa's premier film and media destination, and the city is fast becoming recognised as the continent's game development hub with more than half of South Africa's game development studios based in the Mother City".

"Combine that up with an enthusiastic geek scene, Cape Town is the perfect city to bring the comic book culture alive."

"For the City, we believe providing support to film and media events such as Comic Con enables the creative sector to grow and the industries can work towards recovery post the pandemic."

ALSO READ: Reed Exhibitions Africa sets September 2022 as the return date for Comic Con Africa 2022 that will return for a 4-day event to the new venue of the Johannesburg Expo Centre.

Reed Exhibitions Africa sets September 2022 as the return date for Comic Con Africa 2022 that will return for a 4-day event to the new venue of the Johannesburg Expo Centre.

by Thinus Ferreira

Comic Con Africa plans to return in September 2022 and to a new venue - the Johannesburg Expo Centre - with its next 4-day live event in Johannesburg that will be its first since the global Covid-19 coronavirus derailed plans for a third edition in South Africa last year.

Reed Exhibitions Africa organised and held the first Comic Con Africa in 2018, followed by a second edition in 2019 after a third planned live event in 2020 had to be scuppered because of Covid.

"Waiting until 22 to 25 September 2022 is the safest option especially with the current third wave," says Reed Exhibitions.

"Returning in September 2022, also makes it possible for Comic Con Africa to come back in the expected full force – with bigger numbers, more activations and international talent," says Carla Massmann, Comic Con Africa show director.

Comic Con Africa 2022 is also moving to the Johannesburg Expo Centre that can accommodate 80 000 visitors with the showcase that will again have a food truck village and a beer garden.

"We have many new editions like StreetCon, TechCon and many more areas that Comic Con Africa are excited to be introducing in 2022, and the Johannesburg Expo Centre allows for us to safely introduce these new and exciting editions," says Carla Massmann.

"The Expo Centre is easy to access via all highways and is a mere 20 minutes from central points like Fourways, opening the show up to so many more visitors. It also offers ample parking and easy access points, making arrival at the show more efficient and streamlined."

"We miss the fans and we look forward to welcoming them back in September 2022 to a safe environment."

ALSO READ: Coronavirus: 'Devastating' as Comic-Con Africa 2020 is cancelled over Covid-19, Reed Exhibitions Africa putting together a virtual online 4-day meet-up.  

Coronavirus: 'Devastating' as Comic-Con Africa 2020 is cancelled over Covid-19, Reed Exhibitions Africa putting together a virtual online 4-day meet-up.

by Thinus Ferreira

The exhibitor Reed Exhibitions Africa has had no other choice but to now cancel the physical Comic-Con Africa 2020 because of the ongoing global Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic with cases still increasing in South Africa, but says that it is taking the event online with a 4-day virtual online meet-up between 24 and 27 September.

"It's something different but as always we are super excited to take on our next challenge and we cannot wait to blow our fans away with our 2020 plans," says the Comic Con Africa 2020 organisers, with ticket sales for Comic Con Africa 2020 that has now closed.

Anyone who had already bought tickets for Comic Con Africa 2020 can take a "roll-over" of existing tickets to 2021 with a guaranteed "price freeze" or can get a refund.

Ticketing partner Howler will communicate over the next few days outlining the various options and steps.

"As people, we have heavy hearts – but as organisers, we know that this is the only responsible way to ensure the safety of Comic Con fans, exhibitors, suppliers, and staff," says Carol Weaving, managing director of organisers Reed Exhibitions Africa.

"During a pandemic which is expected to peak in September, we simply cannot go ahead with hosting the many tens of thousands of fans who attend Comic Con Africa annually."

"Despite months of planning, diligent consideration of the state of the pandemic dictates that cancelling the 2020-edition of Comic Con Africa is the only way forward," she says.

On the originally planned dates of 24 to 27 September the organisers now plan to do a "virtual fan Con" through the internet with interactive content, including live chats, Q&As, panel discussions, the chance to virtually meet celebs, fan meet-ups, live draws, talks, gaming tournaments and streams,  artist panels, and special exhibitor deals.

"We work hard all year to bring our fans the best in pop culture entertainment and content. By taking Comic Con Africa  online we know that we will never be able to offer quite the same experience as connecting and engaging at the actual show, but we also don’t want to stop bringing our fans the fun and entertainment in 2020," says Carol Weaving.

Carla Massmann, portfolio director for Comic Con says "Covid-19 won’t stop the dedicated fandoms and communities that Comic Con Africa engages with, so by offering an online Con experience we can still not only keep our communities together, but connect more fans and grow to ensure that our 2021 show is the biggest yet".

The organisers say they will return in 2021 with a physical Comic Con Africa 2021 event together with partners.

In an online announcement discussion on YouTube on Tuesday, Carol Weaving called the decision to halt the physical event "devastating, certainly for our fans, for us, and for the entire community, but safety first".

"There's been an indefinite ban on public gatherings and I think everybody's aware of it, everybody's heard about it. With that in mind we expect that to go on through the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2020, so in reality, would we even be allowed to run Comic Con Africa 2020? Probably not."

"It's really that issue - the Disaster Act - but it's coupled with the fact that we've got to look at safety first. We still don't know where we are, we expect to see the height of the pandemic towards the 3rd and 4th quarter. It would be irresponsible of us to run a Con under those circumstances."

"So it's very sad. We're very disappointed and we apologise to everyone but I'm sure everybody realises that this is in the best interest of everybody concerned," said Carol Weaving.

"We just don't know where we're going to be, come September, October. Based on that, there's so much planning that goes into running a Comic Con like this, so much work, it's a big team behind-the-scenes. We really didn't want to cancel it, but now we have to and it's the right thing to do."

She said "we couldn't wait any longer before we told our fans exactly what the state-of-play was."

"Obviously it's affected me and my company and other people we know.

With the decision to do a virtual 4-day meet-up Reed Exhibitions Africa will retool and start to announce international and local personalities who will form part of the new programme.

Already announced on Tuesday was the international watercolour and traditional comic book artist Tony Moy who will form part of the virtual event.

TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. 2019's muted 2nd Comic Con Africa: How the Reed Exhibitions Africa organisers and South Africa's TV biz again failed to do any real local sci-fi-fantasy show-and-tell showcase.

2019's just-concluded second Comic Con Africa in Johannesburg once again displayed a disappointing lack by the organisers Reed Exhibitions Africa and ReedPOP to try and involve South Africa's TV and film industry - and locally available TV channels - in any real or meaningful way to give their science fiction and fantasy content a platform through panels or screenings.

While more parking and better spacing were improvements following the move from Kyalami in 2018 to Gallagher Estate in 2019, Comic Con Africa 2019 was mostly characterised by come-look-see cosplayers milling about while gamers stared at screens and some people played board games.

Oh, and don't forget the replica of an old sitcom celebrating its 25th anniversary. That was there too! That was there too!

While Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa), M-Net through M-Net Movies, and Fox Networks Group Africa (FNG Africa) had a sliver of a presence at Comic Con Africa 2019 through some marketing activations like a Friends couch replica, zombies and who-really-knows-what else, only Fox managed to issue a media advisory that it would have a presence at the fan convention and what its involvement would entail.

No-one else bothered.

The lethargic and lukewarm "we're there but don't care" attitude from Viacom Africa, M-Net and Fox was matched by the Comic Con Africa organisers and this year's PR agency (switched from last year but without telling a lot of the relevant media) who didn't appear to either want media coverage or involvement, or appeared to want to put effort behind telling the press how or why it would matter to attend.

Missing in action at this year's second Comic Con Africa in South Africa were video streaming services Netflix South Africa, and MultiChoice's Showmax who at least had a semblance of a presence in 2018 at Kyalami with a Disenchantment jumping castle and a Doctor Who activation and pop-corn machine.

Once again several of the organiser-promised (yet faded) overseas talent on the already small list of fly-in stars who were billed to make an appearance at Comic Con 2019 cancelled - some at the last minute. Talk about amateurish and unprofessional.

Star Trek captain William Shatner was a good addition to Comic Con 2019 and did show up, and he was and will always be a proper A-lister draw and highlight.

However, D-lister drawcards from over-and-done series like The Vampire Diaries and others were once again foisted onto South African Comic Con-go-ers who had to pay for expensive tickets, expensive food and drinks, for the "privilege" to mostly get access to look at other visitors' costumes.

It's worrying that Reed Exhibitions Africa and ReedPOP, as well as TV channels and channel suppliers still don't care about doing actual screenings and panels about TV shows, especially ones filmed and produced in South Africa.

Is it too much to ask or too difficult for M-Net (DStv 101) to have organised a panel discussion and a screening of the first episode of its new drama series Trackers, filmed in Cape Town, and starting in October? Why couldn't some of the cast and crew be at Comic Con Africa 2019?

Attendees at Comic Con Africa 2019 would literally have shown up just for this if M-Net did a "panel session" where it just showed trailers and talked about its upcoming science fiction and fantasy-related programming on the M-Net and M-Net City (DStv 115) channel for the next few months that it acquired like HBO's His Dark Materials British fantasy series.

But again - a complete lack of vision or wanting to on M-Net side.

Is there literally nothing remotely done in terms of a snippet, rough trailer or 2-minutes of footage that Netflix South Africa and Pearl Thusi could or wanted to show off at a Comic Con Africa 2019 panel to tease the in-production Queen Sono spy drama series? Ridiculous.

And what about NBCUniversal's Vagrant Queen science fiction show made for SYFY and adapted from The Vault Comics book that is still filming in Cape Town and which will be shown on NBCUniversal International Networks' Universal TV (DStv 117)?

Is one day off over a weekend too much for some cast members, some crew, and someone to press play on a teaser trailer for Vagrant Queen to give to Comic Con Africa?

It's utterly mindboggling that Disney Africa and FNG Africa couldn't bother to do at the very least a screening of the first episode of the upcoming War of the Worlds live-action science fiction drama series (and then maybe even a panel session) of its second-ever commissioned series by Fox Networks Group Europe & Africa for the region.

Why did WarnerMedia do absolutely nothing at Comic Con Africa 2019 around its Batman 80th anniversary and Batman film festival on TNT (DStv 137), instead choosing to do a light show on The Leonardo building in Sandton? Doing something like this at Comic Con Africa would have been much more in-theme.

Google South Africa and YouTube South Africa couldn't bother to do a panel about Origin and maybe showing the first episode of its YouTube Original spaceship-set series that was filmed in Cape Town) to make some noise for it, and Showmax - that literally just added the Spanish dramedy Los Espookys - was hauntingly absent.

Why not show the first episode as people are strapped into beds?

Huge, unrealised and once-again wasted potential existed and exists for both Reed Exhibitions Africa and ReedPOP, as well as TV channels in South Africa, to build an event like Comic Con Africa into something special with panels and screenings for the press and fans around current and upcoming shows.

Sadly, no-one bothers and nobody cares. There doesn't seem to be any willingness, initiative, cooperation, vision or the drive that you find from true fans of genre content.

The result is that Comic Con Africa 2019 in its second year was once again filled with people forced to pay astronomical prices to basically come see cosplayers wandering the hallways like its an end-of-the-month Teletubbies-appearing-in-the-food-court promotion, taking place at a 90s mall that's seen better days and is desperate to try and appear relevant to passer-by shoppers.

How difficult (apparently very!) is it for Comic Con Africa 2019 organisers to keep tabs on what's going on and coming soon to South Africa, to liaise with a pay-TV operator like MultiChoice or individual local and internationally supplied TV channels, and to create a few choice panels and screening around that?

For now, Africa Comic Con 2019 remains a very watered-down and disappointing version of what's done and provided in the United States.

When an orange replica of a couch from a 25-year old American sitcom as a nostalgia activation is one of the biggest TV "draws" to your 4-day event, then you're not relevant, you're not in-touch and you're lame and old.

Best to just sit down - or start putting in actual work to collaborate and to make something passé like Comic Con Africa what it can and should be.

Comic Con coming to Cape Town in 2020 with a bigger focus on TV, film and animation; Comic Con Cape Town 2020 set to take place in May at the same time as the Cape Town International Animation Festival.

The franchise rights holders for Comic Con Africa will be testing the waters with a first Comic Con Cape Town that will take place in May 2020, with a bigger focus on TV series, films and animation.

While the second Comic Con Africa 2019 is set for September this year at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Johannesburg, nex year will see a Cape Town extension besides a possible Johannesburg one.

Since Cape Town is the film capital of South Africa, Comic Con Cape Town 2020 will have a stronger focus on films and series.

Reed Exhibitions Africa and ReedPOP announced that Comic Con Cape Town will take place from 1 to 3 May 2020 that will be slightly different and with its own line-up of talent.

"It is the natural next step to bring this format to the city of Cape Town," says the organisers. "While the style of this Comic Con will be slightly different to Comic Con Africa, we still expect the same level of entertainment focusing on our key pillars which include film, series, animation, cosplay, comic books and gaming," says Carol Weaving, managing director.

Comic Con Cape Town 2020 has formed a strategic partnership with the Cape Town International Animation Festival as the only dedicated animation festival in Africa.

From next year the Cape Town International Animation Festival will take place at the same time as Comic Con Cape Town.

"This partnership will ensure the longevity of both festivals by bringing together the fans into one venue at the same time. This partnership is aimed at creating a larger following for animation in Africa. As animation plays a big role in both films and series, this partnership is designed to grow the offering for those avid fans," says Carol Weaving.

"The success of Comic Con rests in the ability to create platforms that address the wants and needs of the fans. Partnerships like this simply make sense to bring together two formats in order to grow the level of interest and skills in the animation industry."

"We are proud of this association and hope to be able to grow both the Cape Town Animation Festival and Comic Con Cape Town through this partnership."

Comic Con Cape Town 2020 will include both local and international celebrities in the film and series industry as a main focus.

The organisers say that the dates for the event were researched in great detail.

"When looking for a venue to host Comic Con Cape Town the venue advised the organisers that FanCon would be taking place in June 2020 which meant that hosting Comic Con Cape Town right at the beginning of May over a public holiday would allow adequate time between both events and Reed Exhibitions and Reed Pop are more than happy to collaborate and co-promote any other pop culture event for the good of the industry."

Comic Con Africa will take place from 21 to 24 September 2019, at Gallagher Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

Comic Con Africa to return in 2019, adding a 4th day and moving to the Gallagher Convention Centre.

Comic Con Africa will return for a second edition in 2019 but is moving to the Gallagher Convention Centre and is adding a 4th day in September next year.

Attendance numbers were good for the first Comic Con Africa held in September at the Kyalami Race Track convention centre, but visitors complained about parking, the hot sun and a lack of shade, expensive food and drink prices, long walking distances between parking and the building and complaints about not knowing where to go and how to walk to get inside.

The organisers are now moving the event to the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand next year.

Comic Con Africa 2019 is also adding a 4th day, and will take place from 21 to 24 September and include the Heritage Day public holiday in order to accommodate more people.

The Gallagher Convention Centre has a capacity for 80 000 people, meaning double the number of visitors would be able to go to Comic Con Africa next year.

With Reed Exhibitions Africa and ReedPOP having more time to organise, there will also be hopefully less pull-outs from the promised international talent line-up like what happened this year.

Around 45 085 visitors attended Comic Con Africa 2018, with 212 exhibitors and almost 400 media. The organisers say Comic Con 2019 will include new features, celebrities and talent that will be announced in the months to come.

Tickets for Comic Con 2019 will go on sale from the end of November.

"We exceeded our own expectations in 2018 and you are going to see bigger and better in 2019," says Carol Weaving, the managing director of Reed Exhibitions Africa, responsible for organising Comic Con Africa.

"We have listened to our fans first, which means we needed to find a venue that is bigger, with more parking, more shade, easy access and the Gallagher Convention Centre fits this bill perfectly. We have also added a public holiday on 24 September to accommodate the crowds."

"We want to make sure that in 2019 we can offer this experience to many more people," she says.

"Our fans come first, and we have done extensive research on how to make 2019 even better. The 4-day festival and the new venue will all help us to make Comic Con Africa the go-to event of the year for all things pop culture related. Once again, this event will bring the very best of this world together in one place."