Remember that 2020 gaming and geek convention calendar we posted? As elsewhere in the world, COVID-19 has hit the South African event landscape hard, resulting in a wave of postponements and cancellations. These are the popular local gaming and pop culture gatherings affected so far.

It was inevitable! With many an event being postponed or flatout cancelled, it was only a matter of time before Comic Con Cape Town had to make a hard decision in the interest of public health and safety.

After a quiet start to 2020, the South African calendar of gaming, comic and pop culture events kicks into gear from March. There are currently over 10 conventions and expos countrywide where you can proudly wave your geek flag. It remains a period of extreme change for the small local scene, though, with even some event casualties.

Next year, Cape Town will see some competition arrive on the scene in the shape of a dedicated Comic Con from Reed Exhibitions and ReedPOP. Dubbed Comic Con Cape Town, it’ll officially kick off next year at the Cape Town Stadium from May 1 to May 3. Who’s on the guest list so far? None other than Comic Con Africa’s standout favourite celebrity Ricky “American Gods” Whittle, as well as comic book cover artist Mark Brooks for starters.

The Mother City is getting a second pop culture event, in the form of Comic Con Cape Town. That’s a big deal for the city, but one that has raised a few concerns in the local convention scene. Like most things in life, there’s more to the story and after we’d had a chat with FanCon’s Mahdi Abrahams yesterday, we grabbed Comic Con Africa’s portfolio director Elaine Crewe for a quick chat.

Comic Con Cape Town may be the shake up that the Western Cape convention scene needs, but the announced dates for the 2020 event had fans shocked. With a 1-3 May date for Comic Con Cape Town, many fans saw this announcement as a case of organiser ReedPOP muscling in on FanCon’s territory in a bid to crush the local competition.

One show a year may not be enough for Comic Con organisers ReedPop, as the weekend saw them announce that Cape Town will get its own version of the expo come 2020 at a date that puts them in direct competition with beloved annual event FanCon.