Ironfest Competitors

The SAN DIEGO COMIC CONVENTION (Comic-Con International) is a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation organized for charitable purposes and dedicated to creating the general public’s awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular art forms, including participation in and support of public presentations, conventions, exhibits, museums and other public outreach activities which celebrate the historic and ongoing contribution of comics to art and culture. Comic-Con International: Started as a one-day “minicon” in 1970. The success of the minicon led to the first full-fledged, three-day San Diego Comic-Con (called San Diego’s Golden State Comic-Con) at the U.S. Grant Hotel. Over 300 attendees packed into the hotel’s basement for that groundbreaking event, which featured a dealers’ room, programs and panels, film screenings, and more: essentially, the model for every comic book convention to follow. The show's main home in the 1970s was the El Cortez Hotel. In 1979, Comic-Con moved to the Convention and Performing Arts Center, staying there until 1991, when the San Diego Convention Center opened. With attendance topping 130,000 in recent years, the event has grown to include satellite locations, hotels, and outdoor parks. Programming events, games, anime, Independent Film Festival, and the Eisner Awards all take place outside of the Convention Center, creating a campus-type feel for the convention throughout downtown San Diego. WonderCon: Aspects of that show, including comics, movies, TV, animation, the Masquerade, and more. The event has grown in all aspects over the years: more attendees, more exhibitors, more programming, and more fun. WonderCon was started in 1987 in Oakland. Comic-Con International took over the show in 2002 moving it from Oakland to San Francisco in 2003. After 15 years as a Bay Area event, WonderCon was forced to move to Anaheim in 2012 (construction at the Moscone Center) and has been held in southern California since.

Dragon Con is the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the US. Taking place over ever Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia, Dragon Con is THE place to be for fans of all things pop culture.

Part science fair, part county fair, and part something entirely new, Maker Faire is an all-ages gathering of tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, science clubs, authors, artists, students, and commercial exhibitors. All of these “makers” come to Maker Faire to show what they have made and to share what they have learned. The launch of Maker Faire in the Bay Area in 2006 demonstrated the popularity of making and interest among legions of aspiring makers to participate in hands-on activities and learn new skills at the event. 200,000 people annually attend the two flagship Maker Faires in the Bay Area and New York, with an average of 44% of attendees first timers at the Bay Area event, and 61% in New York. In 2017, over 190 independently-produced “Mini Maker Faires” plus over 30 larger-scale Featured Maker Faires will have taken place around the world, including Tokyo, Rome, Shenzhen, Taipei, Seoul, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Detroit, San Diego, Milwaukee, and Kansas City. Maker Faire is primarily designed to be forward-looking, showcasing makers who are exploring new forms and new technologies. But it’s not just for the novel in technical fields; Maker Faire features innovation and experimentation across the spectrum of science, engineering, art, performance and craft. Maker Faire is a gathering of fascinating, curious people who enjoy learning and who love sharing what they can do. It’s a venue for makers to show examples of their work and interact with others about it. Many makers say they have no other place to share what they do. DIY (Do-It-Yourself) is often invisible in our communities, taking place in shops, garages and on kitchen tables. It’s typically out of the spotlight of traditional art or science or craft events. Maker Faire makes visible these projects and ideas that we don’t encounter every day.