A continuous stream of visitors came through the gates as the third day of Comic Con Africa kicked off. Tickets sold out ahead of the show, and over 20,000 visitors engaged with exhibitors, cosplayers and gamers at the Johannesburg Expo Centre.
On the show floor Marvel fans could step into Disney Plus’ mirror dimension inspired by Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The Netflix Stranger Things activation continued to pump, and cosplayers filled the aisles. SpongeBob Squarepants paid a visit to fans in the Link.
The Cricut Artist Alley Stage brought an all-African panel to give comic fans insight into the realities that African artists face in the industry. The likes of Kudwashe Rwizi, Tafadzwa Shumba, Charles Adesanmi, Bill Masuku, Gerald Basaka, Somto Aljuluchukwa, Moises Junior, and Daniel Oluwale joined the panel for a heartfelt discussion on the importance of empowering African creatives.
Internationally acclaimed Cosplay artist, Taryn Cosplay joined fans for the first time in the Pop Culture Hall for a Q&A session. The Cosplay artist engaged with the audience and answered questions about how he rose to fame. US actor Ross Butler attracted hundreds of fans as he appeared at the festival for the first time. The star chatted about his latest project Shazam 2, and his past projects with Netflix and Disney Channel.
Unplug Yourself hosted the tabletop gaming section of the festival, teaching fans to play board games, miniature games, trading card games, and much more. Fan favorites Pokémon, Magic The Gathering, and Yu-Gi-Oh! were on the tables. “I think what Unplug Yourself is doing at the festival is amazing. Their activation is super inclusive, and not just about magic players or board gamers but catered to the avid role player too,” said board game enthusiast and content creator Adhil Patel.
At StreetCon, urban influencers appeared on stage with Bathu SA to chat about how street culture influences pop culture, followed by the highly anticipated finale of Barber Wars.
The Røde Microphones’ StreamerCon stage in Hall 7 hosted panel discussions, content creation sessions and workshops on how fans can elevate their content. “Røde’s major focus is to bring studio quality equipment on the market at an affordable price. Being at Comic Con Africa, it’s been a great opportunity for us to connect with content creators of all forms, and we’ve had an amazing time meeting like-minded individuals”, says Cameron Nyce, Brand Manager.
At KidsCon, the Board of Little Experts, who helped plan the festival for the past few months along with the team, made their way to the KidsCon main stage to share what they’ve enjoyed the most at the Con so far, and give away tons of prizes to the kiddies and their parents in the audience, awarded by Bela Bela’s Warmbaths Forever Resort.
“We moved to the Johannesburg Expo Centre because we needed a bigger home for Comic Con Africa. The show offers over 256 hours of content across three halls and seven stages – there is so much to learn and experience at Comic Con Africa. It’s the coming together of so many diverse yet intersected communities and it is our goal to showcase these awesome fandoms that are the very heart of pop culture” said Show Director Carla Massmann.
