Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo

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Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo
Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo Logo.jpg
StatusActive
Genre Comic, pop culture
Venue Stampede Park
Location(s) Calgary, Alberta
Country Canada
Inaugurated2006
Attendance95,000 in 2017 [1]
Organized by Informa Canada
Website www.calgaryexpo.com

The Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo (commonly shortened to Calgary Expo) is an annual comic and pop culture convention taking place in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The show originally began in 2006 as a comic book convention, before moving on in 2009 to include actors from television shows and movies. Starting in 2006, the convention has quickly become the second largest convention in Canada. [2] The convention originally began in the BMO Centre before expanding in 2013 across the whole Stampede Park, and in 2014 additionally creating an extra tent for panels.

Calgary City in Alberta, Canada

Calgary is a city in the Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated at the confluence of the Bow River and the Elbow River in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, about 80 km (50 mi) east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. The city anchors the south end of what Statistics Canada defines as the "Calgary–Edmonton Corridor".

Alberta Province of Canada

Alberta is a western province of Canada. With an estimated population of 4,067,175 as of 2016 census, it is Canada's fourth most populous province and the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces. Its area is about 660,000 square kilometres (250,000 sq mi). Alberta and its neighbour Saskatchewan were districts of the Northwest Territories until they were established as provinces on September 1, 1905. The premier has been Rachel Notley since May 2015.

Canada Country in North America

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States is the world's longest bi-national land border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra. Consequently, its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, many near the southern border. Canada's climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.

Contents

The convention became famous for having reunited the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation for the shows 25th anniversary in 2012, and two years later, reuniting nearly the entire cast of Aliens. In addition, a cosplay parade, which begins at Eau Claire, and finishes at Olympic Plaza, which began in 2013 with over 400 participants, and continued in 2014 with 690.

<i>Star Trek: The Next Generation</i> US-American science fiction television series from 1987–1994

Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry. It originally aired from September 28, 1987 to May 23, 1994 on syndication, spanning 178 episodes over the course of seven seasons. The third series in the Star Trek franchise, it is the second sequel to Star Trek: The Original Series. Set in the 24th century, when Earth is part of a United Federation of Planets, it follows the adventures of a Starfleet starship, the USS Enterprise-D, in its exploration of the Milky Way galaxy.

<i>Aliens</i> (film) 1986 American science-fiction action horror film by James Cameron

Aliens is a 1986 American science fiction action horror film written and directed by James Cameron, produced by Gale Anne Hurd and starring Sigourney Weaver. It is the sequel to the 1979 film Alien and the second installment in the Alien franchise. The film follows Weaver's character Ellen Ripley as she returns to the moon where her crew encountered the hostile Alien creature, this time accompanied by a unit of space marines. Additional roles are played by Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein, William Hope, Al Matthews, and Bill Paxton.

Cosplay type of performance art

Cosplay, a portmanteau of the words costume play, is a performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, and a broader use of the term "cosplay" applies to any costumed role-playing in venues apart from the stage. Any entity that lends itself to dramatic interpretation may be taken up as a subject and it is not unusual to see genders switched. Favorite sources include anime, cartoons, comic books, manga, live-action films, television series, and video games.

On October 16, 2017, it was announced that the Calgary and Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expos had "partnered" with Fan Expo Canada. [3] The convention is now owned by Informa Canada, Inc. and operates as a unit of its "Fan Expo HQ" division. [4]

Fan Expo Canada is an annual speculative fiction fan convention held in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded as the Canadian National Comic Book Expo in 1995 by Hobby Star Marketing Inc. It includes distinctly branded sections, including GX and SFX, and formerly CNAnime. It is a four-day event typically held the weekend before Labour Day during the summer at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) and is now owned by Informa.

Informa multinational publishing and conference company

Informa plc is a multinational events and publishing company with its head office and registered office in London. It has offices in 43 countries and around 11,000 employees. It owns numerous brands including CRC Press, Datamonitor, Fan Expo, Institute for International Research, Lloyd's List, Penton, Routledge, Taylor & Francis, and UBM.

Ming-Na Wen and Brett Dalton at the 2015 Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. Ming-na Wen Brett Dalton Calgary 2015.jpg
Ming-Na Wen and Brett Dalton at the 2015 Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo.

Programming

Doctor Who cosplayers pose with Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi during the 2014 Calgary Expo opening ceremony on Friday 25 April. Whovians with Nenshi.jpg
Doctor Who cosplayers pose with Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi during the 2014 Calgary Expo opening ceremony on Friday 25 April.

The convention offers an extensive range of panels that take place in locations throughout the park. In addition to the exhibitors' hall taking place in BMO halls A-C, and celebrity autograph sessions taking place in D and E, multiple conference rooms throughout the BMO such as the Palomino room host smaller panels. Bigger names will often also have their panels in the Stampede Corral, and some also taking place in the Boyce Theatre. In addition to the regular panels which last 45 minutes, 2012 and 2014 included special, extended panels often labeled as "EXPOsed", which typically last from an hour to two hours long. These have ranged from concert-type panels to discussion panels.

Stampede Corral architectural structure

The Stampede Corral is a multi-purpose venue in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Located on the grounds of Stampede Park, the arena was completed in 1950 at a cost of C$1.25 million to replace Victoria Arena as the home of the Calgary Stampeders minor professional hockey club, which hosted their Western Hockey League games for years. The Corral was built and is still owned by the not-for-profit Calgary Exhibition & Stampede organization, which leases the underlying land at $1/year from the city of Calgary. Seating 6,475, plus standing room, it is still used for the annual Calgary Stampede, with a variety of entertainment events in each year's daily ENMAX Corral Show.

Controversy

2012 overselling incident

In 2012, the convention had gotten even bigger, with the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation having been announced, and ticket sales skyrocketing. On Saturday of 2012, the venue had reached past the maximum capacity, with an estimated attendance having been projected as 45,000. The venue had exceeded capacity, and at 13:00 the Fire Marshall was called; it was deemed safe for 100 people to be admitted every 15 minutes. Many people were turned away and not let into the venue. Despite this, Expo staff had issued a statement claiming the convention was not oversold, and they hadn't been charged because no violations took place. [5]

A week later, the organizers issued a refund plan for people who were not admitted. [6] In 2013, the organizers announced that to prevent a similar event from taking place, no onsite sales would take place.[ citation needed ]

Accessibility

In 2018, following the acquisition of Calgary Expo by Fan Expo/Informa, the convention was criticized by disability-rights advocates for removing a long-standing policy that allowed wheelchair users free access to VIP lanes to receive priority access to celebrity autograph and photo opportunities. The organizers stated that the revised policies were intended to provide balanced access for all attendees, were part of a goal to provide an "equal and accessible" experience for all attendees (as the result of the change was to make all attendees require a VIP pass for such access, regardless of disability), and that they were in compliance with relevant legislation. [4]

Other events

In 2012, the organizers of the Calgary Expo held an inaugural Edmonton edition of the event, the Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo, at the Edmonton Expo Centre. [7] The inaugural edition hosted 15,000; by 2016, attendance had grown to 40,000. The 2017 edition featured an appearance by William Shatner and a concert by Gene Simmons of Kiss. [8] [9]

In 2014, the organizers began an affiliation with the Saskatoon Entertainment Expo first held in 2013, which was re-branded as the Saskatoon Comic and Entertainment Expo. The affiliation ended in 2018 following the acquisition by Fan Expo, with the convention returning to the Saskatoon Entertainment Expo name.[ citation needed ]

In 2016, the convention began to hold the Calgary Expo Holiday Market at BMO Centre, with a focus on vendors and gift shopping. [10] [11]

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Otakuthon

Otakuthon is Quebec's largest anime convention promoting Japanese animation (anime), Japanese graphic novels (manga), related gaming and Japanese pop-culture. It is held annually for 3 days in downtown Montreal during a weekend in August. It is a non-profit, fan-run anime convention that was initiated by Concordia University's anime club, named Otaku Anime of Concordia University. The name "Otakuthon" is a portmanteau of the Japanese word "otaku" and "marathon". Otakuthon strives to be a bilingual event, having programming, the masquerade and the program book in both official languages. The first edition of Otakuthon was held in 2006 in mid-June, but later moved to early-mid August / late July from 2007 onward. This year's edition, Otakuthon 2018, will be held on August 3–5, 2018 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal. The convention is the 11th-largest anime convention in North America as of 2017.

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Big Apple Comic Con

The Big Apple Comic Con is a New York City comic book convention, the longest-running comic book/speculative fiction/pop culture convention in New York City. It was started by retailer Michael "Mike Carbo" Carbonaro in March 1996 in the basement of the St. Paul the Apostle Church. A location that a competing show promotor Sunrise Productions Scooty O'Donnell and Partner Richard Ritz Whom Held The New York Horror-Fi Con there on October 4, 1997. During its heyday from 2001–2008, the Big Apple Comic Con often featured multiple shows per year, with a large three-day "national" convention held in November, usually held at the Penn Plaza Pavilion. The show was owned by Wizard Entertainment from 2009 to 2013, but is now back in the hands of Carbonaro.

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Phoenix Fan Fusion

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References

  1. "Calgary Expo: Event attracts 95,000 over four days; numbers down but not disappointing, say organizers". Calgary Herald. 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
  2. "Calgary Comic & Entertainment breaks records with outstanding 9th convention in Calgary, Alberta". Gay Calgary. 29 April 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  3. "Big News Super-Fans!". Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. Informa Canada, Inc. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
  4. 1 2 "Calgary, Edmonton Expos less accessible after policy change, say fans with mobility concerns". CBC News. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
  5. McCoy, Heath (27 April 2012). "Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo 2012 blows past capacity, turns people away". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  6. McMurray, Jenna (2 May 2012). "Refund plan set for packed comic expo". Calgary Sun. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  7. Ramsay, Caley (28 September 2013). "Thousands drawn to Edmonton Expo for comic convention". Global News. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  8. "Edmonton Expo 2017: Rock and roleplaying amid endless merch". Edmonton Journal. 2017-09-19. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
  9. "Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo draws fans, celebrities". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
  10. "Calgary Expo brings a holiday market to Big Four this November". Calgary Herald. 2016-09-04. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
  11. "Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo: Nathan Fillion first guest announced for 2017". Global News. Retrieved 2018-05-03.