Rhode Island Comic Con | |
---|---|
Status | Active |
Genre | Comics |
Venue | Rhode Island Convention Center [1] Amica Mutual Pavilion [2] Omni Providence Hotel [3] |
Location(s) | Providence, Rhode Island |
Country | United States |
Inaugurated | 2012 [4] |
Attendance | 81,000 in 2016 [5] |
Organized by | Altered Reality Entertainment LLC [1] |
Website | www |
Rhode Island Comic Con (RICC) is a three-day comic convention held during November at the Rhode Island Convention Center, Amica Mutual Pavilion, and Omni Providence Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island. [1] [2] [3] The convention was Rhode Island's first Comic Con. [4] Organizers also run Terror Con, a horror convention at the same location, [5] and starting in 2023, the Rhode Island Anime Con was held at the same location as well. [6]
The convention typically offers artists, celebrity guests, cars, comic book authors, a costume contest, gaming, kids-con, professional wrestlers, vendors, video game tournaments, and voice artists. [1] [4] [7] [8] In 2013, the convention also hosted several wedding ceremonies. [8] The 2018 event brought an estimated $4.2 million to the area's economy. [9]
Rhode Island Comic Con held its first event in 2012 at the Rhode Island Convention Center and took two years to prepare. [4] A Halloween party was held on Friday before the convention in 2014. [1]
The convention expanded to the Dunkin' Donuts Center, increasing to three days, ticket scanning to accurately know attendance figures, and increased vendor food supply. [2] [10] Jorge Elorza, the mayor of Providence, participated in the Comic Con's opening ceremony. [11] Saturday's ticket sales for Rhode Island Comic Con stopped at 10:30 a.m. [12] Friday and Saturday tickets sold out for the 2016 convention. [13] "Rhode Warrior", the convention's comic book, launched at the 2016 event. [14] [15] RICC added ballroom space (Narragansett Ballrooms) in the Omni Providence Hotel. [3] [5] [16]
RICC also added the Geekfest film festival and a Gene Simmons concert at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium. [17] [16] The convention used the Omni Providence Hotel for almost all panel content in 2018. [18] An additional entrance was also added to the convention to reduce wait times. [19] Rhode Island Comic Con celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2022.
The Amica Mutual Pavilion is an indoor arena located in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. It was built in 1972, as a home court for the Providence College Friars men's basketball program, due to the high demand for tickets to their games in Alumni Hall, as well as for a home arena for the then–Providence Reds, who played in the nearly 50-year-old Rhode Island Auditorium. Current tenants include the Providence Bruins ice hockey team, of the American Hockey League (AHL) and the Providence College Friars men's basketball team, of the Big East Conference. The center is operated by the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority, which also operates the Rhode Island Convention Center and Veterans Memorial Auditorium.
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The Rhode Island Convention Center is an exposition center in downtown Providence, RI. Opened in 1993, it is the largest convention center in Rhode Island, with about 130,000 square feet (12,000 m2) of exhibition space, including a 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2) exhibit hall. It is connected by skybridges to the Amica Mutual Pavilion, and the adjacent Omni Hotels Omni Providence Hotel. The ground level features a main exhibition hall with 100,000 square feet, and the upper level has a ballroom and meeting halls. The building has a five-story glass front with a large space outside the meeting rooms and exhibit halls where visitors can gather and mingle. The center is operated by the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority, which also operates the Amica Mutual Pavilion and Veterans Memorial Auditorium.
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