Wales_Comic_Con

Wales Comic Con

Wales Comic Con

Fan convention in the United Kingdom

This article is about the fan convention hosted in North Wales and Shropshire. For the event in Newport, see Comic Con Wales.

Wales Comic Con (WCC; dually-branded as Wales Comic Con: Telford Takeover from 2019–2023 and as Wales Comic Con: Homecoming since 2022) is an annual (formerly tri-annual) fan convention in the United Kingdom, held in Wrexham, North Wales in 2008–2018, and from 2022. From 2019 to 2023, the main event was held in Telford, England, due to demands for a larger venue than in Wrexham, although smaller events returned to Wrexham from 2022, alongside the ones held in Telford. In December 2023, the event organisers announced the convention would no longer be held in Telford, moving to another yet to-be-named venue.

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History and venue

Plas Coch Sports Centre, where the event was first held, although later events were spread out across Wrexham University's campus.

The event was founded in Wrexham, Wales in 2007, with the first convention held in 2008,[1] with around 100–150 visitors.[2] Started as an idea by Jaime Milner of North Wales-based events management company Mercury Promotions, it was first held as a one day a year event, until it was increased to two events a year and included some two-day events.[3][4][5]

The event first took place in 2008 at the Plas Coch Sports Centre on Wrexham Glyndŵr University's Plas Coch campus, with 100–150 people.[6][7] Although by 2013 the event later expanded to neighbouring buildings such as the William Aston Hall and Catrin Finch Centre,[8] until the event covered large parts of the university campus.[9][10] The event was locally awarded "Best Visitor Event" in the Wrexham Tourism Ambassador Awards.[3]

The December 2017 one-day event attracted 8,000 visitors.[11] The 2018 event was estimated to have 10,000 visitors.[2]

In 2019, the event was stated by Wrexham County Borough Council to bring in more than £1 million to the regional economy.[12][13]

Move to Telford (2019–2023)

Entrance to the Telford International Centre.

In May 2019, organisers announced that the convention would be moving to Telford's International Centre starting with the December 2019 convention, replacing Wrexham as the event's usual location due to demands for a larger venue.[14][15][16] The convention would be branded as "Wales Comic Con: Telford Takeover" from the December event in Telford. The move met opposition in Wales, with Plaid Cymru councillors branding it a "disgrace", and Wrexham County Borough Council stating it was "very disappointed". Aside capacity restrictions, the venue in Wrexham was said to have parking issues, with parking overflowing and impacting nearby side streets.[17][18][19] The venue attracts around 10,000 visitors, and the council described it to be bringing "exceptional economic benefits" to Wrexham. A councillor stated the move "emphasises the need for [...] better facilities [in Wrexham] [...] [and that] the Welsh Government and Wrexham Council should reflect on this failure". The same councillor also criticised the government's support for a centre (ICC Wales) in Newport and the lack of investment of an equivalent site in North Wales. Plaid Cymru MS Bethan Jenkins hoped a Welsh venue can be found for the event, but questioned that the event could not be called "Wales Comic Con" if held in England.[18]

At the first event in Telford in December 2019, the event's move was welcomed by visitors attending, with a trader stating "it had outgrown Wrexham".[20] Telford used to host a MCM Midlands Comic Con for over 10 years, until it was scrapped in November 2017.[21]

The event on 25–26 April 2020 was moved to August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.[22][23] It was later delayed again to 2021.[24]

Return to Wrexham (2022)

On 26 June 2022, it was announced that the convention would host a one-day event in Wrexham, working with the university, Wrexham County Borough Council and the Welsh Government to liaise the return. The August event would be hosted alongside the Telford April and December events.[5][25][26][27][28]

In July 2023, management of the convention confirmed the Wrexham event would return again and took place on 2–3 September 2023.[29]

Leaving Telford (2023)

In December 2023, the event's organisers announced that it will no longer be held at the International Centre in Telford. No replacement venue was yet announced at the time.[30]

Convention features

For the 2016 convention, the convention was set up as follows:[31]

Photographs and Autographs

Photograph sessions were held in either of the two main halls with a select few guests offering photographs on either day of the two-day event, costing £10–30 on the day. Autograph signing sessions were available in the main hall on both days, costing £10–25 for a signature each, and could be pre-ordered online as well as in-person.[31] In 2019, Rupert Grint charged £125 each either a signature or photo, higher than many other guests attending.[32]

Q&A panels

Q&A panels were held on both days from 11.20 am to 5pm, in either the William Aston Hall (the event's "Hall A") or the Nick Whitehead Suite ("Hall B") at the university, and were included as part of an entry ticket. Guests may talk about their shows and behind-the-scenes at these panels.[31]

Aftershow Party

An aftershow party was held at The Centenary Club bar near the Racecourse Ground next to the university in 2016.[31]

Gaming Zone

A gaming zone (or gaming arena) was set up to allow visitors to bring retro gaming consoles to share with other visitors, with some dating 2–3 decades old.[31] The zone also includes the latest gadgetry and games, and it described as "always packed".[13] In Wrexham, this zone was held in a "Gaming Tent" on some occasions.[10]

Cosplay

Cosplay is visible throughout the event, with parades, competitions and some photo opportunities available to those who participate in cosplay.[31] Including a "Best Craftmanship" award at later events.[33][34]

Cosplay Masquerade

A cosplay masquerade is held at some events, allowing visitors to have photographs taken with various cosplay artists and props portraying known cultural icons and franchises.[10]

Stalls

Stalls displaying various licensed and video game memorabilia and merchandise, as well as collectables and artwork were set up for viewing and sale.[13][35] Various video game, comic, art, action figure, photography, collectable, and gift traders participate in the event.[36]

Robot combat (Wrexham 2022)

For the 2022 Wrexham event, a robot combat event would take place at the convention, based on Robot Wars.[37]

Location, dates and notable guests

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See also

Notes

  1. Some guests listed may only attend one-day at the two-day events.
  2. Some sources used are limited archived webpages of the event's guest list, with many dates not aligned with the event day(s), leading to potential misses of last-minute cancellations/announcements of some guests.

References

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