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Fan Expo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

FAN EXPO is a group of fan conventions operated by FAN EXPO HQ, the world's largest comic con producer,[1] a unit of the Informa Connect division of Informa plc. The majority of its events are run under the FAN EXPO brand, which stems from its namesake, the Toronto-based FAN EXPO Canada.

History

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In 2013, Informa announced its acquisition of Hobby Star Marketing, organizer of FAN EXPO Canada—a Canadian comic and entertainment convention held annually at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.[2] In 2014, Informa acquired the Dallas Comic Con.[3] In 2015, Informa acquired MEGACON in Orlando.[4][5]

In August 2016, Informa acquired Boston Comic Con,[6] which was rebranded as FAN EXPO Boston in 2018.[7] In October 2017, Informa acquired the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo and Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo.[8][9] In March 2021, Informa acquired Denver Pop Culture Con, which was rebranded as FAN EXPO Denver.[10]

In August 2021, Informa acquired Wizard Entertainment's conventions; all of its remaining events for 2021 were cancelled, barring Wizard World Chicago (which was held in October 2021 as the final Wizard World-branded event). All six of its conventions in Chicago, Cleveland, New Orleans, St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Portland were rebranded as FAN EXPO beginning in 2022.[11][12][13]

Events

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Events Location Venue Attendance Upcoming Dates
FAN EXPO New Orleans New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center 30,000+ January 10-12, 2025
FAN EXPO Portland Portland, Oregon Oregon Convention Center 30,000+ January 24-26, 2025
MEGACON Orlando Orlando, Florida Orange County Convention Center 180,000+ February 6-9, 2025
FAN EXPO Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver Convention Centre 35,000+ February 21-23, 2025
Toronto Comicon Toronto, Ontario Metro Toronto Convention Centre 35,000+ March 14-16, 2025
FAN EXPO Cleveland Cleveland, Ohio Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland 25,000+ March 21-23, 2025
CALGARY EXPO Calgary, Alberta Stampede Park 100,000+ April 24-27, 2025
FAN EXPO Philadelphia Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Convention Center 50,000+ May 16-18, 2025
FAN EXPO Dallas Dallas, Texas Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center 65,000+ May 30-June 1, 2025
FAN EXPO Denver Denver, Colorado Colorado Convention Center 110,000+ July 3-6, 2025
FAN EXPO Boston Boston, Massachusetts Boston Convention & Exhibition Center 55,000+ August 8-10, 2025
FAN EXPO Chicago Rosemont, Illinois Donald E. Stephens Convention Center 75,000+ August 15-17, 2025
FAN EXPO Canada Toronto, Ontario Metro Toronto Convention Centre 135,000+ August 21-24, 2025
EDMONTON EXPO Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton Expo Centre 40,000+ September 20-22, 2024
Dallas FAN FESTIVAL Irving, Texas Irving Convention Center 15,000+ October 19-20, 2024
FAN EXPO San Francisco San Francisco, California Moscone Center West 35,000+ November 29-December 1, 2024

Former events

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References

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  1. ^ Salkowitz, Rob. "Fan Expo Acquires 6 Wizard World Events Including Chicago, Building Global Fan Con Juggernaut". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  2. ^ "Informa Acquires Fan Expo Canada". Archived from the original on 2014-08-07. Retrieved 2014-07-28.
  3. ^ Wilonsky, Robert (February 13, 2014). "British-Swiss company buys Dallas Comic Con on eve of move to Dallas Convention Center". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
  4. ^ "Dallas Comic Con Gets a New Owner and Home". Dallas Observer. 18 February 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  5. ^ Dineen, Caitlin (7 April 2015). "Orlando's MegaCon sold to Informa". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on 8 April 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  6. ^ "Boston Comic Con, Officially Sold To Informa As Part Of FanExpo". Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movie, TV News. 2016-08-14. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
  7. ^ "BOSTON COMIC CON NOW FAN EXPO BOSTON? |". www.starwarsautographcollection.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-16. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
  8. ^ "Big News Super-Fans!". Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. Informa Canada, Inc. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Calgary, Edmonton Expos less accessible after policy change, say fans with mobility concerns". CBC News. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  10. ^ "Denver Pop Culture Con Changes its Name to FAN EXPO Denver". 303 Magazine. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Fan Expo Takes Over Six Wizard World Conventions". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  12. ^ Chris Arrant (2021-08-10). "Wizard World closes its convention business, selling all cons off to Fan Expo". gamesradar. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  13. ^ Terror, Jude (2021-08-10). "Wizard World No More? Fan Expo Takes Over Wizard World's Conventions". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  14. ^ Melnychuk, Mark (2019-05-02). "How two men saved Saskatchewan's geek conventions". Regina Leader-Post. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  15. ^ "Calgary, Edmonton Expos less accessible after policy change, say fans with mobility concerns". CBC News. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
  16. ^ Arrant, Chris (19 April 2023). "Fan Expo St. Louis quietly canceled after nine-year run". Popverse. Retrieved 19 April 2023.