Events News South Africa

Everything to expect at Comic Con Africa 2022!

After a three-year break in uniting together to celebrate pop culture, Comic Con Africa is back with a force to bring all kinds of people under a single banner: have fun with your loved ones and celebrate your passions.

As the biggest pop culture festival on the continent, Comic Con Africa has a lot of exciting - old and new - exhibitions, celebrity talent, games, cosplay, art and more to look forward to.

Celebrity guest talent

As one of the more exciting announcements, Comic Con Africa has four celebrity talents coming to celebrate with us in September. They are:

Selwyn Ward, actor in Power Rangers Megaforce, Power Rangers in Space, Power Rangers Ninja Steel and Power Rangers Turbo
Tati Gabrielle, actress in Uncharted, You, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and The 100
Ross Butler, actor in Riverdale and 13 Reasons Why
Jamie Campbell Bower, actor in Stranger Things, The Twilight Saga and Harry Potter

Gaming

As we all know, gaming is a pretty big part of Comic Con. This year is no different - with the gaming hub of the event being one of the biggest and the Telkom VS Gaming Tournament finals in multiple titles taking place at the event itself as in previous years. You can see the tournament schedule here.

More than that, though, there will be a high school and primary school esports tournament with more than 16 schools participating. A first for many, this is an important step for esports - and it’s all happening at Comic Con Africa.

This year’s show also plays host to the Dorito’s Crunch Cup powered by Comic Con Africa, where fans can enter to play a different title each day ranging from Fortnite, Street Fighter, Tekken and Fifa.

These free-to-play tournaments will have Doritos looking for those flaming hot moments and crowning a title champ daily with R4,000 in prize money.

The RedBull Campus Clutch Valorant tournament kicked off in August and the finals of this will be hosted at the show. Comic Con Africa headline sponsor KFC will also be hosting KFC AF Gaming challenges from their activation space with finals being hosted daily on the main stage.

StreamerCon

As part of the larger festival, StreamerCon will offer festival-goers the opportunity to see what it takes to be a streamer - and has some activations where you can try it out for yourself.

Geared towards celebrating digital creators, platform innovators and their fans all in one place, StreamerCon aims to bring together everything that is a part of creating, watching and promoting video content. More than that, StreamerCon will be the hub for creators to expand their reach, collaborations to spark, and aspiring content creators to be guided by industry veterans.

This show will host local streamers like Rusty Pie Lover, BumFluffSki and Spyro.

StreetCon

As a new addition to Comic Con Africa, StreetCon brings together urban and pop culture.

StreetCon will be a platform for local and upcoming street brands; the best in SA talent with live graffiti and sketch battles; the first-ever street artist alley; special activations; a food truck village; tattoo alley and more.

You can also expect exclusive gear drops, art activations, graffiti battles and arcade zones.

KidsCon

For kids, by kids - what does that mean? Comic Con Africa has assembled a panel of children between the ages of nine and 11 to help them build a festival that is what kids want.

The board of little experts has curated exciting things like a massive nerf zone, a candyland-type aisle and kids gaming tournaments.

Something from the sponsors

This year, the partners of Comic Con Africa are bringing some exciting things for audiences to try out.

KFC will be making an exclusive menu for the festival, which includes items like the hero burger and the cake is a lie burger. There will also be a load of food challenges to participate in.

Luno Global will have a lounge, with a Marvel-inspired theme drawing from the Mirrorverse where festival-goers can have a unique experience with the brand. They will also be giving away a ticket to Comic Con Africa - you can follow them here for more information.

Everything in between

Comic Con Africa is currently 98% full with three major halls dedicated to the celebration of all things pop culture.

Cosplay guests and competitions will be there, of course, with international cosplaying artists attending the festival and the winner of the Cosplay Championships going to represent South Africa at the Cosplay Central Crown Championships in London. And - don’t fret - there will also be a casual cosplay competition and festival-goers can enter at the event. Judges and guests can be seen here.

International cosplayers include Taryn Cosplay (Italy), Elizabeth Rage (USA), Leon Chiro (Italy)

The Tabletop Gaming and Roleplaying Game Zones are going to be packed with action. Weekend tournaments such as the To Ride Tournament will bring out the competitive streak in players and supporters alike. Both new and established players will have opportunities to join in the free play of games such as Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh, X-Wing, Magic the Gathering and more.

PAVL is a new apocalypse-themed event, AKA the Post-Apocalyptic Victorian Live Action Roleplaying experience, and is open to all visitors.

The Artst Alley is where fans can meet and chat with the artists and writers who bring us the stories of the superheroes and villains we love. To date, 15 international and local comic illustrators and writers have confirmed their appearances at the Con. The Cricut Spotlight Stage will feature Live Draws and fascinating Q&As.

Also found in this area is Author Avenue showcasing captivating books from scifi to fantasy, and The Block exhibitors who design and produce clothing, prints and other merchandise inspired by the comics.

Local and international comic book artists include Andrew Lee Griffith (USA), Bill Masuku (Zimbabwe), Daniel Govar (USA), Jason Masters (South Africa), Karl Mostert (South Africa), Livio Ramondelli (USA), Sean Izaakse (South Africa), Steve Ellis (USA), Team Kwezi (South Africa), Tony Moy (USA), Zach Howard (USA), Tasia M S (South Africa), Stephane Roux (France).

Comic Con Africa is taking place from 22-25 September 2022 at the Johannesburg Expo Centre. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the website here.

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