COLUMBIA, S.C. (August 8, 2023) – The Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center is proud to work with Soda City Comic Con for its eighth consecutive year. Pop culture fans of all stripes can join in on the fun August 19 – 20. 

This year’s schedule features appearances by film and television guests Sean Astin, Summer Glau, Vanessa Angel, Michael Biehn, Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, Lex Luger and Matt & Reby Hardy, as well as prominent voice and anime actors Brittney Karbowski, Luci Christian, Ian Sinclair, Justin Cook and Monica Rial. You can catch them for panel discussions and meet and greets throughout the weekend. Other activities include cosplay contests, an arcade and pinball tournament, shopping from vendors and more. The schedule of events can be found here. 

“This event spawned from our love of pop culture,” said Donald Brock, managing member of Soda City Comic Con, LLC and owner of Columbia Comics. “We have traveled across the country attending events and the prevailing thought was always, ‘Why not Columbia?’ We felt that this market was prime for an event such as ours and we tailored it such that it would be an experience we would want to bring to our families.”

Putting these sentiments into action, Soda City Comic Con was founded in 2015. Last year’s event drew in more than 8,500 attendees, which is a 350% growth since its inaugural year. Previous special guest appearances have included Michael Rooker, Kathy Najimy, Mike Colter and Ray Park, just to name a few. Participation from these guests have added clout to the event and paved the way for increasingly recognizable lineups year after year. 

Soda City Comic Con is the CMCC’s largest recurring event. The first installment of Soda City Comic Con coincided with the historic 1,000-year flood and not only did it still manage to draw in more than 2,000 attendees, but it also established the successful foundation upon which the subsequent years could flourish. Having started with using just the building’s Exhibit Hall space, the event has since expanded into more meeting rooms each year, ultimately utilizing the entire facility beginning in 2022 and even having to turn away vendors due to a lack of space. More than 1,500 of last year’s attendees traveled in from more than 50 miles away. 

“Soda City Comic Con is a great example of what we as an organization are all about – generating economic impact by bringing in visitors from out of town, while also creating a world class event for the people of the Midlands to look forward to each year,” said Sarah Britt, the CMCC’s director of sales. “It’s been a lot of fun working with Brock and his team for the past eight years and see this event more than quadruple in size since its inception. We are grateful to be the host site for this event and look forward to continuing to partner with their team to raise the bar.” 

Tickets to the event can be purchased here. For media access or requests, please reach out to Donald Brock at info@sodacitycomiccon.com. 

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About Soda City Comic Con: 

Soda City Comic Con is the premiere pop culture event in the Midlands, combining comic and pop culture entertainment with anime, toys, celebrity guests and traditional/electronic games. We aim to create a safe and exciting space for everyone to enjoy their personal fandom. For more information, please visit www.sodacitycomiccon.com. 

About the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center:

Centrally located in South Carolina's historic capital city, the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center (CMCC) is South Carolina’s only downtown convention center and is in the middle of a vibrant, urban scene with dynamite eats, world-class attractions, breweries and a never-ending roster of festivals and live music. Built in 2004, CMCC is a 142,500 square foot facility that includes a 16,700 square foot ballroom, 18,560 square feet of meeting space that can be broken into up to 19 different spaces, and a 23,700 square foot column-less exhibit hall. For more information, please visit www.columbiaconventioncenter.com.