Denver Pop Culture Con has sold its convention business to Fan Expo HQ, officials announced Tuesday, with a potential return for the event slated for late 2021.
The annual convention, which drew an average of 100,000 total attendees over three days prior to the pandemic shutdowns, hopes to return in late 2021 if health and safety mandates allow, according to a post on the event’s . If not, it’s planning an April 2022 event.
Fan Expo was founded in Canada and runs conventions in Orlando, Fla., Dallas and other markets. While the company did not disclose terms of the deal, the addition of Denver strengthens its position in a market filled with volunteer-run conventions and independent events such as the , as well as major commercial shows from Wizard World, GalaxyCon and others.
None of these shows are as large as San Diego Comic-Con or New York Comic Con, , but the combined attendance with Denver allows Fan Expo to claim itself as the “largest comic con producer in North America.”
“Fan Expo Denver will be everything you’ve come to know and love from : same celebration and same awesome celebration of fandom,” wrote Adam Kulberg, interim executive director of Pop Culture Classroom, the Denver nonprofit that formerly produced the event.
Pop Culture Classroom will continue to serve as the newly renamed Denver Fan Expo’s featured charity, Kulberg said. But without the financial burden and organizational challenges of a massive convention, Pop Culture Classroom will double down on its educational programs and community outreach. The nonprofit also plans to continue running its Kids’ Lab Gaming & Teen Lounge at upcoming conventions, among other programs.
The 2020 and spring 2021 Denver Pop Culture Cons, formerly known as Denver Comic Con, due to the state using the Colorado Convention Center as a backup hospital, among other restrictions.
