Jun 25 – Jun 27, 2026
Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W K…
Millions of subscribers, thousands of fans, several days in Anaheim — the moment the people on the other side of the screen become real. VidCon is where the parasocial relationship finds its physical address.
What it feels like to be there: VidCon operates on a different logic than most entertainment conventions. The celebrities here are creators who built their audience one subscriber at a time — the recognition runs both ways in a way it rarely does at traditional fan events. A creator who makes videos for 2 million subscribers genuinely knows the specific language and inside jokes of their audience, and the interactions in hallways and signing lines reflect that. The energy is different from comic conventions: less cosplay, more collaboration and mutual recognition between people who have been watching each other's content for years.
Is it worth it? VidCon is for people who consume content online and want to experience its creators in person, or for people building a creator career who want access to industry conversations that do not exist elsewhere. Community Track provides the fan-meeting experience. Creator Track has panels and workshops taught by people who figured out what you are still trying to figure out. Featured Creator panels are the highest-demand events and require early arrival.
What to know before you go: The Anaheim Convention Center is large, and VidCon fills all of it — reviewing the schedule the night before and planning your route through the building is essential, not optional. Lines form early for Featured Creator events; arrive 30-60 minutes ahead for the creators you most want to see. The Anaheim Resort Transit or a nearby hotel within walking distance are practical alternatives to convention center parking. Programming emphasis shifts between days, with Creator and Industry days having different energy from Community days.
VidCon sits on Falkor's Nation's Best list because it documents a cultural shift that happened faster than most institutions could track. The most-watched content on Earth in 2026 was made by individuals in their homes, not studios — and VidCon is where the people who made that happen gather to meet the communities that chose them. That is a historically unusual thing, and watching it in person is worth understanding even if you never attend.
2026 specifics: This is VidCon Anaheim 15th anniversary edition. The biggest new addition is a dedicated AI and Innovation Track -- the first VidCon to formally address AI tools as a creator discipline. For anyone building a content business in 2026, this track will be the most talked-about room at the convention. Honest split: Creator Pass holders consistently rate VidCon as worth it for education and networking. Community track holders are increasingly mixed -- the fan experience peaked around 2018-2019 as brand activations thinned. The value depends entirely on which track you buy. 55,000 attendees expected.
SOUL COMIX CON is a comics festival dedicated to celebrating Black creators, Black characters, and Black storytelling across the comics medium. Organized by DP COMIX and held at the Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center in Leimert Park, one of Los Angeles's most important African American cultural neighborhoods, SOUL COMIX CON brings together indie comics, superhero comics, and graphic novels by Black artists and writers.
Attendees can meet Black comic book creators in person, purchase original artwork and limited-edition prints directly from the artists who made them, and discover independent comics that are not available at any chain retailer. A cosplay party is included in the programming, with a focus on characters from Black-created and Black-led comics properties.
Family-friendly and all ages. Saturday June 27, 11am to 5pm. Free or low-cost admission. Leimert Park is accessible by Metro and is one of the city's premier destinations for Black art, culture, and community. SOUL COMIX CON represents the kind of niche community gathering that is the reason Falkor exists — a room full of people who care deeply about the same thing, assembled for one afternoon.
Jun 14, 2026
$4-$8
Shrine Auditorium, 665 W Jefferson…
The regulars know each other. That's the first thing you notice — the room has a history you walked into the middle of.
The LA Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention at the Shrine Auditorium is the longest-running monthly pop culture convention in Los Angeles. Dealer tables with original comic art, golden and silver age books, horror movie posters, vintage paperbacks, and the people who have been collecting these things long enough to know exactly what they have. You won't find it all in one trip. That's the point — you come back.
If you have a want list, bring it. The dealers here know their inventory and they will dig for you if they can. If you don't have a want list, you'll leave with one. The range is wide: a $3 box of beat-up Bronze Age books next to a signed original piece next to a box of 70s sci-fi paperbacks someone clearly loved and someone clearly moved on from. The people selling here have been here before. Most of the people buying have too.
Sunday morning is the least crowded session and the most relaxed. Dealers are dealing. Collectors are talking to collectors. If you are new to this, Sunday is the right entry point — no crowds, no rush, the floor laid out in front of you.
June 14, 2026 at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. Low admission. No corporate activation booths, no celebrity photo ops with 45-minute queues. Just the floor, the dealers, and the people who know why they're there.
Little Tokyo after dark is already a different city. Add an anime community that claims it on a Thursday night, and you have one of the few Los Angeles experiences that doesn't try to be Coachella. This is a neighborhood event run by people who actually live in the culture — not a convention, not a festival, not a sponsored activation. Just anime fans, good food, and Little Tokyo's block-by-block intimacy.
The gathering rotates between Little Tokyo's best spots — restaurants, lounges, and venues that have their own identity outside of event night. The crowd is a mix of casual watchers and people who can quote chapter numbers. Both feel at home. Themed nights rotate through the seasonal anime calendar — currently tracking the summer 2026 lineup (Mushoku Tensei S3, Kagurabachi, Ghost in the Shell theatrical). Cosplay is optional but present. Vendor tables bring fan art prints, acrylic standees, and buttons from local creators. The format keeps things loose enough that you end up talking to strangers about seasonal lineups and leave with three new shows on your watchlist.
For the SoCal anime community that lives outside convention season — between AX in July and SDCC in summer — this is what the in-between looks like. It doesn't peak. It's just consistent. Thursday nights, Little Tokyo. That's the rarer thing.
Address: 327 E 2nd St, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Nearest metro: Little Tokyo/Arts District (A Line). Free street parking available after 8pm in most Little Tokyo lots.
May 22 – May 25, 2026
Paid - $75-$120
San Jose Convention Center, 150 W …
Unlike larger conventions, FanimeCon is entirely fan-run. No corporate booths dominating the floor. The panels, screenings, and programming are organized by volunteers who have been running this event for decades. That community ownership gives it an atmosphere that is hard to replicate. It feels less like a trade show and more like the largest anime club meetup in California.
FanimeCon has run every Memorial Day weekend since 1994 at the San Jose Convention Center, drawing 25,000–30,000 attendees over four days. The West Coast flagship.
Programming runs 24 hours across the weekend. The cosplay masquerade on Saturday is a full theatrical production. The gaming hall is one of the best at any convention — tournaments, free-play consoles, and retro arcades running through the night. The dealer room and artist alley are substantial, with indie creators outnumbering corporate licensors.
Bay Area, Sacramento, and Central Valley attendees make up the core, but it draws from across the West Coast. Four-day badges sell out. Single-day passes may be available at the door. If you have been to Anime Expo but not FanimeCon, the culture is meaningfully different.
May 22 – May 24, 2026
Handlery Hotel, 950 Hotel Cir N, S…
Anime Conji is San Diego's longest-running fan-organized anime convention, held annually at the Handlery Hotel in Mission Valley for a three-day weekend of anime, manga, gaming, cosplay, and the specific community that has kept this event running for over a decade as an independent, fan-operated alternative to the larger commercial conventions.
The convention's fan-run character gives Anime Conji a distinct personality: the programming decisions are made by people who attend because they genuinely love the material, the guest selection reflects real community enthusiasm rather than marketing considerations, and the convention floor has the energy of a community gathering rather than a marketplace.
Anime Conji features programming across multiple rooms covering series-specific panels, AMV (anime music video) competitions, voice actor guest Q&As and signings, a dealers room with merchandise from licensed and independent vendors, an artist alley with original work from regional creators, and a cosplay competition with detailed craftsmanship judging.
The Handlery Hotel is at 950 Hotel Cir N in Mission Valley, accessible from the I-8 at Hotel Circle. The Mission Valley Trolley stop connects to downtown San Diego. Convention badge holders receive discounted hotel rates at the Handlery when booking through the Anime Conji room block. Weekend and single-day badges available through the Anime Conji website.
The final season of The Boys is NOW AIRING on Prime Video. Episodes 1–2 dropped April 8, 2026 with new episodes weekly through the series finale on May 20. Billy Butcher and the Boys face off with Homelander for the last time. Creator Eric Kripke has called this the most shocking season yet. Why watch: One of the most subversive superhero stories ever told ends here — don't miss the finale event. Updated: April 7, 2026.
May 15 – May 17, 2026
Town and Country Resort, 500 Hotel…
SD Comic Fest is San Diego's answer to the San Diego Comic-Con overflow — a grassroots fan convention held in the spring that brings together the collector, creator, and fan communities that SDCC serves but in a more intimate, accessible format that specifically celebrates the print comics, vintage collecting, and creator culture that defined pre-corporate convention culture.
Comic Fest focuses deliberately on what made comics conventions exciting before they became entertainment industry marketing events: original art dealers, back issue sellers, independent comic book creators at tables selling and signing their work, panel discussions about comics history and craft, and a collecting community that considers itself custodians of an art form. Cosplay is present but not the focal point.
The vendor room at Comic Fest is a genuine market for original comic art pages, silver and bronze age books at fair prices, Golden Age finds, and small press publications from independent creators who wouldn't command a presence at SDCC's massive floor. This is where a collector who loves comics as objects — drawn pages, printed paper, the specific history of the medium — finds things they can't find anywhere else.
SD Comic Fest typically runs in late April or early May in San Diego at the Town and Country Resort or similar event venue. The convention is all-ages and admission is charged at the door, with weekend passes available. Check the SD Comic Fest website for the confirmed 2026 dates and venue closer to the event.
May 16 – May 17, 2026
$20-35
2000 E Convention Center Way, Onta…
Comic Con Revolution is a Southern California comic book convention celebrating comics, creators, and pop culture. The Ontario edition returns to the Ontario Convention Center for a two-day weekend event on May 16 and 17, 2026, bringing together comic book artists, writers, cosplayers, collectors, and fans of all ages.
Unlike larger conventions, Comic Con Revolution Ontario is built around direct creator access. The floor is designed so attendees can meet artists and writers face-to-face, commission original artwork, pick up independent titles alongside mainstream publishers, and browse a dense dealer room packed with back issues, figures, and collectibles. Cosplay is celebrated throughout the weekend.
Expect panel programming, artist alley, and vendor tables spread across both days. Saturday typically draws the bigger crowd; Sunday moves at a slower pace with more time to browse.
The Ontario Convention Center is located at 2000 E Convention Center Way, Ontario, CA 91764, accessible from the 10 and 60 freeways. Parking is available on-site. Tickets are sold through Showclix; weekend passes offer better value for attendees planning both days.
May 16, 2026
$12–$17
California Center for the Arts, Es…
California Center for the Arts, Escondido. May 16th, 2026. $12-$17. AniPop brings the anime pop-culture market to a performing arts venue in North County San Diego — one of the only events in the region specifically designed for the community between Los Angeles and the San Diego convention circuit.
The AniPop floor is built around independent artists and anime merchandise — handmade goods, fan art, imported items, limited-edition products that circulate at conventions and don't exist in stores. The artists who table here chose this event specifically, which means the energy of the dealer's room is different from a mall pop-up: these are people who care about the work and came to be in a room with people who care about it the same way.
$12-$17 for the day. The California Center for the Arts has the layout to handle this well — the performing arts complex gives the event room to breathe without feeling underpopulated. Escondido is thirty minutes from San Diego and an hour from Los Angeles, which puts it in reach for most of SoCal. anipop.us for tickets and the full vendor list. The artist alley is where the real discovery happens — slow down in that section. The piece you didn't know you were looking for is usually on the table you almost walked past.
May 1 – May 4, 2026
From $15
Nationwide theatrical release, Uni…
Marvel's team of antiheroes gets their moment: Bucky Barnes, Yelena Belova, Ghost, Taskmaster, Red Guardian, and the US Agent — assembled from the corners of the MCU that didn't get clean endings. Thunderbolts* opens May 2, 2026; the asterisk is in the title for a reason the marketing has been careful not to explain. The people who have tracked this cast across a dozen projects finally get the payoff.
Every participating comic shop in America gives away free comics today. No catch. Show up, take books. Publishers make their best issue available: Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, every indie label competing for your shelf space. For regular readers it's a holiday. For newcomers it's the best possible intro. Find your nearest shop at comicshoplocator.com.
Apr 26, 2026
From $20
Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W K…
Final day of WonderCon Anaheim. Prices in the dealer's room drop. The last-day energy is real — panels, autographs, and saying goodbye until Comic-Con.
Apr 25, 2026
From $30
Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W K…
Day 2 at WonderCon Anaheim. The panels get bigger, the artist alley lines get longer, and the cosplay gets more elaborate. The second day is always the best.
Apr 24, 2026
From $30
Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W K…
WonderCon fills the Anaheim Convention Center with comics, sci-fi, fantasy, film, and the cosplay community that doesn't need a San Diego hotel room to have the time of their lives. Panels from top creators, artist alley discoveries, and a dealer's floor that takes hours to properly explore.
Mar 27 – Mar 29, 2026
Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim…
Experience three days of nonstop pop culture action! From blockbuster panels and exclusive sneak peeks to cosplay competitions, celebrity meet-and-greets, and interactive gaming zones, WonderCon is a playground for comic, anime, and movie fans alike. Explore sprawling exhibitor halls, discover rare collectibles, and immerse yourself in the excitement and energy that only a premier fan convention can deliver.
Feb 28 – Mar 1, 2026
Adventist Health Arena, Stockton, …
Get ready for two days of pop culture immersion! StocktonCon Winter brings together cosplay enthusiasts, comic collectors, gamers, and anime fans for an unforgettable experience. Enjoy celebrity panels, interactive gaming zones, artist alleys bursting with unique creations, and epic cosplay competitions. From discovering rare collectibles to connecting with passionate fans, every moment is packed with excitement and fandom energy.
One day of nonstop pop culture energy! Dive into a universe of celebrity panels, epic cosplay competitions, exclusive merchandise hunts, and interactive experiences across comics, anime, gaming, and movies. Meet creators and influencers, capture photo ops with your favorite characters, and explore booths brimming with collectibles and surprises. From fandom networking to discovering hidden gems, Pasadena Comic Con is a full-throttle fan immersion where every moment is a memory in the making.
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