Geeks in Manila! Get Set For AsiaPop Comicon (17-20 Sep 2015)!

Some months back, Red Dot Diva broke the news about a brand new pop-culture convention that is set to wow Manila pop-culture fans in a big way. (Read the article in this link.)

Well, AsiaPop Comicon Manila (APCC Manila) has now set their dates! The pop extravaganza is set to happen from 17 to 20 September 2015 at the World Trade Center Metro Manila.

The announced dates may not be feasible for Red Dot Island folks who will already have invested money and time at STGCC on 11 to 12 September, but this news should make Pinoy fans very very happy indeed!

APCC Manila aims to be more than just a comic convention. It will also have shades of what some other more TV/ movie-centric convention organizers are doing, by combining entertainment with comics, gaming, toys, cosplay and more.

Other than the usual convention fare like panels, product launches, portfolio reviews and cosplay, appearances by TV/ movie celebrities as well as exclusive screenings have been hinted. Who these famous people are have not been announced yet. Red Dot Diva thinks the organizers, Universal Events and Entertainment, must be holding some big secrets in that area. She can't wait for the convention guest reveal!

Asia Pop Comic Con 2015 - Another Convention Is Set to Kick-off in Manila

South-East Asia seems to be the hot spot that comic-convention organizers are targetting recently. The convention market is getting rapidly saturated in North America, with a burgeoning number of conventions held stateside in the last couple of years. There are all these various Wizard World Cons, Comikaze's, Walker Stalker cons, Creation Cons and several others, held in different cities around the continent.

Red Dot Diva has noticed that the spillover appears to have also hit Australasia and the U.K. Over in Australia, different editions of Oz Comic-Con are now held regularly in the various major cities throughout the year. Even in small Red Dot Island, there were several anime-cosplay type fests almost every other month last yea. Not forgetting also, that there was GameStart 2014, which saw the return of a gaming convention in the island after a 5-year absence. In addition, exhibitions company Reed-Pop kicked off the Indonesia Toy Games and Comic Convention in Jakarta not too long ago in November 2014.

So, with the Philippines being one of the largest English-speaking countries in the region, and the homebase of a notable list of well-known comic book artists, it is not a big surprise that another player would be keen to tap into the sizeable and active fanbase there.

Set to kick off in Manila sometime this year (September, it seems?) is Asia Pop Comic Con, run by a Dubai company called the Al Ahli Holding Group (AAHG). These are the same folks who own Comicave located in Dubai Outlet Mall, which they claim to be "the largest comics and collectibles superstore". After all, it does have a jaw-gaping store space of over 17,000 square foot of geeky goodness.