Fan Expo Denver | |
---|---|
Status | Active |
Genre | Popular Culture |
Venue | Colorado Convention Center |
Location(s) | Denver, Colorado |
Coordinates | 39°44′31″N104°59′46″W / 39.74194°N 104.99611°W |
Country | United States |
Inaugurated | June 15, 2012 |
Most recent | June 30, 2023 |
Next event | July 4, 2024 |
Attendance | 114,500 in 2016 [1] |
Organized by | Pop Culture Classroom (2012-2020) Fan Expo HQ/Informa Connect (2021-present) |
Website | fanexpodenver |
Fan Expo Denver (previously Denver Pop Culture Con and Denver Comic Con) is a speculative fiction fan convention held annually in Denver, Colorado, in the United States. The event is a celebration of comics, books, movies, TV, gaming, and other pop culture.
The non-profit organization, Pop Culture Classroom, founded the convention in 2012. [2] [3] After being acquired by Informa/Fan Expo in 2021, the convention was renamed Fan Expo Denver. [4] [5]
The inaugural convention was held June 15, 16, and 17 in 2012 with 27,700 people in attendance. [2] Founded as Denver Comic Con, the convention was created as a program for the educational organization, Pop Culture Classroom (formally Comic Book Classroom), and funded the nonprofit's year-round efforts. [6]
In 2015, attendance at the event exceeded 100,000, making it one of the largest fan conventions in the United States. [7]
In 2019, the convention's name was changed to Denver Pop Culture Con in response to the San Diego Comic-Con lawsuit. [8] [9]
Pop Culture Classroom organized and ran the convention from 2012 to 2019. The event was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [10]
In March 2021, Fan Expo HQ acquired the convention from Pop Culture Classroom and renamed the event Fan Expo Denver. [5] Pop Culture Classroom will remain a part of the event as its featured charity and by providing educational programs. [4]
The convention includes celebrity panels, seminars with professional creators, actors, and artists, workshops with comic book professionals, and the Reel Heroes Independent Filmmakers Series. Elements of the convention floor include celebrity autographs, large areas like "Artist Valley" and "Celebrity Summit", comic book dealers and collectibles merchants, as well as fan-based organizations like the 501st Legion. Cosplayers are featured during the annual Cosplay Classic (formerly known as the "DCC Cosplay Shindig"), the Opening Ceremonies with acts and other surprises, and associated events have included the Four Color Mixer and a genre-themed concert traditionally held at the Hard Rock Cafe Denver.
Among the distinct tracks of programming, for instance, the convention focused on comics and media featuring or produced by Colorado-area comics creators, women, minorities and the LGBTQ Community. [11] In 2014, the conventions's Comic Book Corral (CBC) and 8-Bit Lounge gave more than 9,000 students the chance to meet artists, create comic book-themed crafts, and get hands-on experience with everything from stop-motion animated shorts to professional makeup jobs.[ citation needed ] In 2015, the Pop Culture Classroom Kids' Laboratory (PCC Kids' Lab) continued building on this success. Along with the usual mix of artist discussions, arts activities and exhibits, the PCC Lab featured activities focused around S.T.E.A.M. subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) and pop culture topics beyond comic books. They also expanded the 8-Bit Lounge to connect even more artists, educators and professionals with students ages 12–19. [12]
Since the inaugural 2012 event, Breckenridge Brewery has collaborated with the convention to brew and sell a specialty beer, with the name chosen by a fan contest. [18] The 2012 beer, an American wheat ale, was named, "The Fantastic Pour." [19] The 2013 beer, a Belgian Wit brewed with Buddha's Hand fruit, was dubbed "The Caped Brewsader. [20] The 2014 beer, an amber ale, was named "Brews Wayne." [21] In 2015, "Hulk's Mash", a pale ale brewed with mosaic hops and mango puree, was debuted. "Snape-ricot", an Apricot American Lager, was voted 2016's beer name, in honor of the late Alan Rickman. [22]
Aurora Rise, a non-profit group founded to provide financial support to victims of the 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting, appeared at the 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 conventions. [23] In 2016, Denver Pridefest was partnered with the convention, and there was LGBT related content. [24]
In March 2013, the event was voted "Best Fan Convention" [25] by the editors of Westword, a local alternative press publication.
San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, since 1970. The event's official name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego, but is more commonly known as Comic-Con, the San Diego Comic-Con, or the abbreviation SDCC.
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The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. With an attendance of 200,000 in 2022, it is North America's most attended fan convention.
Toronto Comicon is an annual comic book and pop culture convention held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre since 2001. It is owned and operated by Informa's Fan Expo HQ.
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Fan Expo Dallas, previously known as Dallas Comic Con, is a three-day speculative fiction, fan convention held annually in the Dallas, Texas area. Larger in scale than the Dallas Fan Days events under the same management, Fan Expo Dallas focuses on comic book artists, writers, and publishers. These events usually also feature question and answer sessions, a large dealers room, and autograph-signing with a number of famous comic and media guests. The event is produced by Informa doing business as Fan Expo HQ.
Fan Expo is a group of fan conventions operated by Fan Expo HQ, a unit of the Informa Connect division of Informa plc. Most of its events are run under the Fan Expo brand, which stems from its namesake, the Toronto-based Fan Expo Canada.
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L.A. Comic Con is a three-day multi-genre convention held annually in downtown Los Angeles, California. L.A. Comic Con is one of the largest independent conventions in the United States and encompasses several categories, including comic, horror, sci-fi, anime, gaming, and pop culture, with a particular focus on the local Los Angeles community.
Pop Culture Classroom, is a nonprofit organization based in Denver, Colorado, that teaches literacy and the arts through alternative approaches to learning and character development. The organization creates educational programs for underserved youth, schools. and communities using comic books, graphic novels and related media to inspire passion for reading, art, and learning.
The Ottawa Comiccon is a fan convention with a focus on comics, sci-fi, horror, anime, and games. It is a spin-off of the Montreal Comiccon. It was launched in 2012. The event features comic books, toys, games, science-fiction, horror, anime, non-sport cards, and collectibles. It is held at the EY Centre convention center in Ottawa, taking place in May and lasting three days. The organizers of the Ottawa Comiccon primarily come from the Montreal Comiccon organization.
A comic book convention or comic con is a fan convention with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events hosted at convention centers, hotels, or college campuses. They feature a wide variety of activities and panels, with a larger number of attendees participating in cosplay than most other types of fan conventions. Comic book conventions are also used as a vehicle for industry, in which publishers, distributors, and retailers represent their comic-related releases. Comic book conventions may be considered derivatives of science-fiction conventions, which began in the late 1930s.
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