Fan Expo
Fan Expo is a group of fan conventions operated by Fan Expo HQ, a unit of the Informa Connect division of Informa plc. Most of its events are run under the Fan Expo brand, which stems from its namesake, the Toronto-based Fan Expo Canada.
History
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.[1] In 2014, Informa acquired the Dallas Comic Con.[2] In 2015, Informa acquired MegaCon in Orlando.[3][4]
In August 2016, Informa acquired Boston Comic Con,[5] which was rebranded as Fan Expo Boston in 2018.[6] In October 2017, Informa acquired the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo and Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo.[7][8] In March 2021, Informa acquired Denver Pop Culture Con, which was rebranded as Fan Expo Denver.[9]
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.[10][11][12] Fan expo was held in Vancouver in February 2023 and attracted many anime fans. Voice actors and others from anime productions were in attendance, and there were long lines of people waiting to get autographs. The event was very crowded with visitors.
Events
Events held as part of the Fan Expo family include:
- Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo
- Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo
- Fan Expo Boston
- Fan Expo Canada (Toronto)
- Fan Expo Chicago
- Fan Expo Cleveland
- Fan Expo Dallas
- Dallas Fan Festival
- Fan Expo Denver
- Fan Expo New Orleans
- Fan Expo San Francisco
- Fan Expo St. Louis
- Fan Expo Philadelphia
- Fan Expo Portland
- Fan Expo Vancouver[13]
- MegaCon
Former events
See also
References
- ^ "Informa Acquires Fan Expo Canada". Archived from the original on 2014-08-07. Retrieved 2014-07-28.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "BOSTON COMIC CON NOW FAN EXPO BOSTON? |". www.starwarsautographcollection.com. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
- ^ "Big News Super-Fans!". Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. Informa Canada, Inc. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
- ^ "Calgary, Edmonton Expos less accessible after policy change, say fans with mobility concerns". CBC News. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
- ^ "Denver Pop Culture Con Changes its Name to FAN EXPO Denver". 303 Magazine. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
- ^ "Fan Expo Takes Over Six Wizard World Conventions". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
- ^ Chris Arrant (2021-08-10). "Wizard World closes its convention business, selling all cons off to Fan Expo". gamesradar. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Everything you need to check out at FAN EXPO Vancouver 2022 | Listed". dailyhive.com. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
- ^ Melnychuk, Mark (2019-05-02). "How two men saved Saskatchewan's geek conventions". Regina Leader-Post. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
- ^ "Calgary, Edmonton Expos less accessible after policy change, say fans with mobility concerns". CBC News. Retrieved 2018-05-03.