Victoria is the capital of British Columbia, Canada. You might have heard about it because of its quaint atmosphere, beautiful views or wonderful architecture. It is a well-known tourist mecca. What you might not know about this beautiful city is that it is a growing hot bed of all things nerd, geek and pop culture.
There are a few small conventions on the island. Curious Comics in Nanaimo holds a few a year, then there are also the Ultimate Hobby & Toy Fair, Tuskino Con and the Victoria Comic Book Expo in Victoria. For anything big, you must leave the island.
That looks to be changing with the latest announcement. The Capital City Comic Con is planned to be held March 16-18, 2018 in Victoria and unlike the last big comic convention flop in Victoria (IfCon), this one seems to be thinking ahead.
Team Effort
It is being put together by an impressive sounding team that consists of National Toy Museum of Canada, Downtown Victoria Business Association and Tourism Victoria.
The National Toy Museum of Canada sounds prestigious but upon further investigation it is a small. self-proclaimed ‘National’ museum owned by the same people as Cherry Bomb Toys. The museum is set in the ‘mezzanine area’ of Cherry Bomb Toys and is a not-for-profit organization that seems to have a large amount of antique and collector toy displays. Cherry Bomb Toys is a small retail store in downtown Victoria, BC that specializes in toys, primarily collectibles. Cherry Bomb Toys have been around for over a decade and are responsible for the twice-yearly Ultimate Hobby & Toy Fair. They have some experience, so we can only hope it translates through.
They are also hiring people with experience running and organizing large scale conventions and events.
I had the opportunity to speak with Eric Guerra, the project specialist, for Capital City Comic Con. Eric has experience with several larger conventions and is the one currently responding to press requests. The convention is still in the planning stages, so he couldn’t tell me a lot about it. I was, however, pleased to hear that they are already thinking ahead.
The Main Event
It will be a three-day event which they expect 20,000 people to attend. No single place in Victoria can comfortably accommodate that many people at once. The convention will be held at various locations throughout the downtown Victoria area. This means that most things should be within walking (or pedicab) distance.
The primary location will be the Victoria Conference Centre with the Crystal Garden being the secondary. They hope to be able to close down a small section of downtown Victoria that can be used as a tertiary location. It sounds as if they want to include the whole city in this event (think micro-mini DragonCon).
When Eric was asked about the comic portion of the convention, he stated they will be extending invitations to local and American publishers, writers and artists. However. at this point they don’t know who will respond. They have also been reaching out to celebrity guests, but there will be no announcements until the new year.
There isn’t much to go on at this point, but we have high hopes for the convention. We wish them the best, because Victoria wants this. I will be keeping my ears open and hope to keep you all updated on this one.
Be sure to follow Capital City Comic Con Online!
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