Johannesburg, April 2019 - The 27th edition of the ICON Comic and Games Convention (ICON CGC), South Africa’s longest running and largest pop culture event, will be held at The Palace of Dreams, Emperors Palace, from the 20^th April – 22^nd April, 2019.

ICON 2019 takes geek culture into the mainstream as the event will be held in the Convention Centre at the Emperors Palace complex. This moves ensures that all the required space is available for all your loved gaming event as well as providing a separate space for exhibitor stalls. The move allows for the return of LARP Night, or Live Action Role Playing, so start planning now for a full weekend of gaming fun

As usual, the annual celebration of gaming, story-telling, role-playing gathering provides for a weekend jam packed of exciting events, panels, competitions and more including the World Cosplay Summit SA Championship, an art competition, incredible guest speakers, geek comedy night, an anime cinema running all weekend, competitive boardgame competitions, tabletop gaming and a LEGO Speed Build competition among other attractions.

World Cosplay Summit South African Regional Championships

ICON CGC, a staple on the South African pop culture calendar, has been at the forefront of hosting key pop culture names, events, competitions and the like since inception. In 2018 it introduced the first ever African leg of the World Cosplay Summit, and we’re happy to announce that it is returning in 2019. Teams will battle it out in hand crafted costumes, performing their own skits for the chance to represent South Africa at the WCS World Championships in Nagoya, Japan in August.

Art Competition

ICON 2019 brings all those creatives out there an art submission competition in conjunction with IDW Publishing’s premiere publication FULL BLEED. Produced quarterly, this comics and culture hardcover magazine celebrates the best in comics, fiction, non-fiction, interviews and more. Local comic book artists will have the chance to be highlighted in the Spring edition of FULL BLEED, with the competition winners having their art showcased in a five page spread focusing on South African artists.

Key Guests

As ardent ICON attendees will know, the convention hosts key international guests, authors, thought leaders and more from the world of pop culture.  The line-up this year includes among others:

Rob Salkowitz - consultant, futurist and media commentator on all things pop culture for Forbes, among others. Rob will be here to host panels on various topics including pop culture industry trends and his personal favourite comic title, "The Spirit" created by the legendary Will Eisner.

Caroline Vos - Cape Town based illustrator and designer. Caroline will be hosting panels on illustration and design work. If you’re familiar with the rAge mascot "Roxy", then you’ll know her work.

ICON extends its Corporate Social Responsibility

This year, ICON CGC will be adding the Peermont Children's Trust (PCT) to its list of charitable organisations which benefit greatly from the annual event. ICON will be donating books, comics and other reading material to the organisation’s annual library initiative.

All that remains is to take some time out for a weekend of gaming and pop culture fun with the best boardgaming and tabletop warfare, cosplay competitions, national tournaments, educational panels, international guests and more. And to ensure you don’t miss a thing, ICON CGC and Emperors Palace have put together some fantastic stay and play packages.

EVENT DETAILS:

VENUE:          Convention Centre at Emperors Palace

DATES:           Saturday April 20^th – Monday April 22^nd

TIMES:            Saturday, April 20: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Sunday, April 21: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Monday, April 22: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

TICKETING INFORMATION:

Tickets are on sale now and start at R125 for a one day pass. Weekend passes start at R250 and limited VIP tickets are available starting at R895. Discounted kids tickets available. Tickets are available from ICON CGC via TIXSA.

Visit the ICON FB page and click on the ICON Online Tickets tab, or visit the ICON CGC website to purchase tickets. Accommodation for single or double occupancy at the Metcourt Hotel at Emperors Palace with 2, 3, 4 or 5 night stay options can also be purchased via the ticketing gateway.

Follow ICON on Twitter and Facebook for all the latest ICON CGC news and updates.

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ISSUED ON BEHALF OF:
Les Allen - Director: ICON Comics and Games Convention