Around 35,000 people are expected to attend Bahrain Comic Con, the country’s much-anticipated pop culture event, which will kick off today at the Bahrain International Circuit.
The two-day convention opens at 1pm today and will continue until 11pm, and tomorrow from noon to 11pm.
Event organisers Dallah Promotions have promised that the fourth edition of the expo will be ‘bigger and better’ than ever.
It is being held under the patronage of Supreme Council for Youth and Sport first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
Cosplayers and gamers will take part in two cosplay competitions with a prize pool valued at BD1,130. Eight eSports tournaments are also set to be held with winners taking home prizes ranging from BD188 to BD754.
An impressive line-up of eight celebrities known for their acting roles in popular video games and television shows will conduct meet-and-greets, signings, and question-and-answer sessions for visitors.
Meanwhile, there will be booths throughout the BIC selling pop culture merchandise, comic books, and more, and artists from Bahrain and across the region will showcase their talents at the Artists’ Alley.
Celebrities set to take part include Cooper Andrews (The Walking Dead), Carolina Ravassa (Overwatch), Craig Fairbrass (Call of Duty), Alexander Ludwig (Vikings), Karen Fukuhara (The Boys), Ed Westwick (Gossip Girl) and Lochlyn Munro (Riverdale).
On both days, fans can take celebrities’ autographs from 2pm to 4pm and pose for photographs with them from 6pm to 8pm.
Question and answer sessions will begin at 4.30pm.
Rick and Morty artist David Angelo Roman, who was featured in last year’s Comic Con, will also make an appearance.
Two cosplay competitions will take place at BIC – a local one which will be open to all interested members of the public, and the Middle East Cosplay Summit (MECS) for the best cosplayers in the region.
Acclaimed judges from Kuwait, Türkiye and Moldova with decades worth of experience will determine the MENA cosplay champion out of participants from at least 21 countries.
Tournaments in the games Valorant, Fifa 2024, Overwatch 2, Street Fighter 6, Rocket League, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Mortal Kombat 1 and Tekken 7 will take place today and tomorrow.
Gamers can check in at the eSports desk between noon and 4.30pm, and the tournament starts at 5pm.
A number of video games, including locally-developed ones, will be launched today. Attendees will also be the first in the world to experience several, yet-unreleased video games from famous franchises. Board games and tabletop roleplaying will also be in the spotlight at the event.
“Last year, 30,000 people attended Bahrain Comic Con,” Dallah managing partner Salman Bukhari told the GDN.
“This year, we expect 35,000. Members of the disabled community will be granted free entrance if they have a disability card.”
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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