One thing that the organisers of Comic Con Africa, and this month’s Comic Con Cape Town, do very well is freshen up the formula year on year. If you think that by attending one of these pop culture celebrations, you’ve ticked the “Been there done that” box, you’re mistaken. While there is a formula, and you’re sure to see familiar faces at these events, there is always something new to check out.

Here’s how the second-ever Comic Con Cape Town – in partnership with FanCon Comic Convention – is distinguishing itself when it kicks off at the Cape Town International Conventional Centre (CTICC 2) from 17 April to 1 May. You can get your tickets here – and don’t leave it too late as the first day of the con, Saturday, is already sold out, as are the multi-day passes.

For the record, single day tickets are R190 per person, and children under 5 attend for free.

1 – Comic Con Cape Town 2024 is five days long

For the first time ever in South Africa, with Comic Con Cape Town, a comic convention is running for a full five days. Presumably this is because of the inconvenient placement of April’s public holidays: 27 April’s Freedom Day falls on the Saturday, and Workers Day (1 May) is a Wednesday. Then again, after last year’s inaugural CCCT sold out all four days, perhaps the organisers didn’t want to disappoint locals who missed out the first time around.

2 – A five-day Comic Con Cape Town means a new format and show times

In trying to take advantage of the public holidays, so more people can attend, Comic Con Cape Town 2024 has ended up falling over two normal workdays – Monday 29 April and Tuesday 30 April.

The con organisers have a plan though. Monday and Tuesday are afternoon and evening sessions, starting and finishing later. While the weekend and public holiday Wednesday will take place at the traditional times of 9am to 6pm, Monday and Tuesday of Comic Con Cape Town 2024 are 11am to 8pm.

3 – Comic Con Cape Town 2024 has themed days

In another first for a Comic Con in South Africa, CCCT has two themed days. If you’ve been paying attention to the international guest announcements, you’ll notice that they’re pretty much all skipping Monday and Tuesday, appearing on Saturday, Sunday and, in most cases, the public holiday Wednesday.

Bumping up the things to do and see, though, Monday’s event is a Horror Day, packing in the likes of horror movie screenings, escape rooms and murder mystery experiences, themed panel discussions, quizzes, and make-up tutorials.

Meanwhile, Tuesday is more family orientated, restructured as the Cape’s Biggest Pyjama Party – in partnership with Ackermans. The emphasis is on comfort, with board games, quizzes, manis and pedi treatments, a dance party, and awards for both best slippers and character cosplays given a sleepwear reimagining.

4 – Comic Con Cape Town introduces speed networking for South African geeky types

Also taking place on the Monday and Tuesday of Comic Con Cape Town is a Geek Meet and Mingle on the Mezzanine Level. This one is only for over 18s, and you need to register here by Sunday, 14 April if you want to participate, but the speed networking event is an opportunity to meet new like-minded people, whether you’re into tabletop gaming, K-Pop, cosplay, content creation, anime, video games and various other pop culture interests.

5 – Comic Con Cape Town 2024 sees the arrival of KidsCon in Cape Town

If you attended Comic Con Cape Town last year with kids, especially younger children, you may have found a lack of things to do with them. The show organisers listened to attendees’ feedback and this year KidsCon is making its debut at CCCT. Essentially a con within a con, taking place in its own dedicated area, entry to KidsCon is included with your Comic Con Cape Town ticket.

With Toys “R” Us the primary sponsor of KidsCon at the 2024 Cape Town event, you can expect a focus on shopping, toy launches and collectibles. However, there are loads of other free activities on the menu for families, including board and card gaming, opportunities to play the likes of Minecraft and Fortnite, interactions with animated characters and mascots, and the casual kids’ cosplay competitions that take place every day – with first-come-first-serve free registration. Find the times for the kids’ cosplay contests here.

6 – Comic Con Cape Town 2024 is the new home of the World Cosplay Summit regional prelims

In addition to popular casual cosplay contests daily, Comic Con Cape Town 2024 is home to two prestigious cosplay competitions that can lead to winners travelling overseas to represent South Africa on the world stage. The first is the returning Comic Con Cape Town Cosplay Competition, run by GES, where the overall winner goes straight to the finals of the Comic Con Africa Cosplay Competition in Johannesburg during September. The Mother City finals take place on the Comic Con Cape Town Main Stage on Wednesday, 1 May.

The second big cosplay contest is a new opportunity: the 2024 World Cosplay Summit South African Preliminary Competition, presented by GeekXP Promotions. Taking place at CCCT for the very first time, the WCS prelims are a bit different to the traditional cosplay contest in that cosplayers enter as a duo and must perform a two-minute skit that originates from Japanese pop culture. The winning pair of this competition will earn a sponsored trip to Japan in August to participate in the World Cosplay Summit finals alongside cosplayers from over 30 countries. The CCCT on-stage finals are taking place on Sunday, 28 April, and mark a long-awaited return for the contest, which was last held in 2019 at ICON, pre-COVID.

For the record, both of Comic Con Cape Town’s serious cosplay competitions require pre-registration to enter.

7 – The 2024 Cape Town International Animation Festival (CTIAF) is still co-located with Comic Con Cape Town… with a caveat

Animation and pop culture conventions go hand in hand, so Comic Con Cape Town sharing space with the Cape Town International Animation Festival (CTIAF) is a no-brainer. However, whereas last year general access tickets to CCCT gave attendees an opportunity to sit on certain industry panels – participation in hands-on workshops required a separate ticket – this year CTIAF is its own two-day event in its own section (located in the Protea Meeting Pod) with separate ticket required.

Your R850 ticket for the 2024 Cape Town International Animation Festival (CTIAF) gives you access to the full programme of the festival, taking place over the weekend of 27 – 28 April, as well as entry to Comic Con Cape Town. Teas, breakfast and light lunches are included on top of all the discussions, workshops, tech presentations and screenings.

8 – Comic Con Cape Town 2024 has a fresh new guest line-up

Once in a while, a South African pop culture convention will bring back an international guest. At Comic Con Cape Town 2024, that’s the case for Chew comic creator John Layman, who last was in the Mother City at FanCon 2017; as well as Pokémon voice actor Veronica Taylor, who appeared in South Africa for the first time last year at Comic Con Africa 2023; and Italy’s Taryn Cosplay, who attended Comic Con Africa 2022.

Comic Con Cape Town 2024 has dozens of new celebrity guests and speakers as well. You can find the full list here, as well as secure paid meet-and-greet photo and autograph sessions (starting at R300) as well. Probably the two biggest drawcards for the weekend, though, are Guardians of the Galaxy star Sean Gunn, and South African-born actress Lesley-Ann Brandt, of Lucifer fame. On the comics front, there’s Dan Didio, Executive Editor, Editor-in-Chief, and Publisher of DC Comics from 2002 to 2020. Plus, South African One Piece fans are in a unique position to encounter almost every single local member of the cast, as Season One of the hit live-action Netflix adaptation was shot in the Western Cape.

Of course, Comic Con Cape Town isn’t just about celebrities and fun activities. On top of it all, and arguably the most enjoyable thing is the positive energy, excitement and big smiles at the con. Don’t miss out.