For a few years now I have made it my mission to attend as many geeky affairs as I possibly could (even to the detriment of my own health). With each passing year, I learn of new events where I can meet up with my fellow content creators and friends and am given a chance to ‘geek-out’.
I am happy to see that there is more attention on the anime community with each passing year and that we are slowly but surely becoming a voice to be heard in the geek community here in South Africa. Merchandise is becoming more readily available and accessible. I honestly can not express how happy that makes me. I have gone to some really obscure places trying to find manga, now I know of stores where I can get manga, safely. Also if the stores do not have what I want, I can just order it online on local websites.
I feel part of the reason for the increased awareness of the ‘otaku’ community is thanks to the events that we get to attend throughout the year. There are plenty of events, which unfortunately tend to overlap or overshadow one another. Which means you are forced to pick between one or the other. With that in mind, there are a few key events that I feel I need to attend. Below is a list of conventions that I will be planning to attend, as well as ones I know are happening and am unable to attend myself but I still want you to know about.
March
Japan Cultural Expo
- 6 ā 8 March 2020
- Brooklyn Mall
UCON
- 21 ā 22 March 2020
- UCT Jammie (Upper Campus South Stop)
April
The Rand Show, Rush & NAG Festival of Gaming
- 8 ā 13 April 2020
- Johannesburg Expo Centre
May
Comic-Con Cape Town
- 1 ā 3 May 2020
- Cape Town Stadium
June
FanCon
- 4 ā 5 July 2020
- Cape Town International Convention Centre
September
rAge Gaming Expo 2020
- 4 ā 6 September 2020
- Ticketpro Dome
Comic-Con Africa 2020
- 24 ā 27 September 2020
- Gallagher Convention Centre
Events that have yet to release their dates:
- GeekFest
- ICON Comics and Games Convention
For now, I aim to attend 7 of the 9 events listed above. However, I will be posting information on every event listed closer to each event and then for the ones I do manage to attend, I shall post on the event itself.
For my fellow SA fans and those able to travel and attend these events, I hope to see you there!
I love that you have set this goal! This should be a trend to post our goals for cons we want to attend. It’s easier to meet other folks that way. I hope you have fun and buy lots of merch!