12 June 2018

ICON CGC – LOST WORLDS makes a play for Emperors Palace in 2018

Submitted by: Veruska D'Onofrio
ICON CGC – LOST WORLDS makes a play for Emperors Palace in 2018

Johannesburg, June 2018 - The 26th edition of the ICON Comic and Games Convention (ICON CGC), South Africa’s longest running and largest pop culture event, will be held at The Palace of Dreams, Emperors Palace, from the 29th June – 1st July, 2018.

ICON CGC has become a staple on the South African pop culture calendar, featuring a number of firsts. This year continues to break new ground as it hosts the local leg of the World Cosplay Summit for the first time ever on the African continent.

This is the destination for leading gaming and pop culture experts and anyone looking to celebrate their fantasy world while being immersed in a compelling and exciting storyline. This celebration of gaming, story-telling, role-playing and tech positions ICON CGC as the ideal introduction to gaming for people of all ages and interests. SA’s most important gathering of geeks, it is seen by industry insiders as being on a par with the best hobby gaming conventions in the world.

All that remains is to take some time out for a weekend of gaming and pop culture fun with the best boardgaming and tabletop warfare, cosplay competitions, national tournaments, educational panels, international guests and more. And to ensure you don’t miss a thing, ICON CGC and Emperors Palace have put together some fantastic stay and play packages available.

ICON CGC RAISES THE BAR

In a major coup for the South African cosplay aficionados, ICON CGC proudly announces that South Africa will be part of the global World Cosplay Summit (WCS) 2018 Championships, with the winners of the local competition jetting off to Nagoya City, Japan at the end of July to represent SA at this incredible nine-day world championship event. 

Another first for 2018 sees a partnership with Lagos Comic Con and Nairobi Comic Con to create a pan-African network of event and competition promotion. This year, ICON CGC also plays host to the Sub-Saharan leg of a major, pan-African competition - the Annecy MIFA Pitches competition. Unleash your creative spirit, pitch your animation idea and you could win automatic entry into Animation du Monde at Annecy 2019, the massive animation festival held in France annually.

KEY GUESTS

As ardent ICON attendees will know, the convention hosts key international guests, authors, thought leaders and more from the world of pop culture.  The line-up this year includes:

Raymond E. Feist: Twelve times New York Times bestseller, 9 times London Times bestseller, a master of fantasy fiction. Raymond will be promoting his new book “King of Ashes”.

ICON CGC will be Raymond’s ONLY Johannesburg appearance for book signings of not only “King of Ashes”, but his extensive collection of prior novels, including the world renowned “Magician”.

Meagan Marie: World class cosplayer and cosplay ambassador. Meagan is the Senior Community Manager at Crystal Dynamics and will be promoting the latest instalment in the Tomb Raider game franchise, Shadow of the Tomb Raider. In a further coup for ICON CGC, an exclusive live game play demo of Shadow of the Tomb Raider (SOTTR) will be hosted by Meagan Marie at the event before anyone else in Africa sees it on Friday 29th June.

For more info about Marie, check her FB page https:/www.facebook.com/MurgBurgler/) and her Twitter account https:/twitter.com/MeaganMarie

Jim Zub: Jim is a Marvel Comics author and currently the lead writer on the ‘Avengers’ and ‘Champions’ series of comic books. For more info on Jim, check www.jimzub.com

Sean Izaakse: Marvel Comics artist, currently artist on the ‘Avengers’ and ‘Champions comic books.

For more info, check Sean’s Twitter feed (https://twitter.com/SeanIzaakse) and his Deviant Art page (https://sean-izaakse.deviantart.com/)

With Jim and Sean both attending ICON, this will be the first time ever that they are at the same convention. With the Avengers: Infinity War movie having been released in April, you’ll have the chance to interview the creative team behind the biggest comic book in the world right now.

OTHER ATTRACTIONS:

ICON CGC has long been the home of the biggest tabletop gaming events in South Africa: from regional competitions to national and international qualifiers, ICON is home to the best competitive board, CCG, RPG and tabletop gaming in the country. But beyond the competition, ICON also provides a raft of entertaining activities including Live Action Role Playing (LARPING) demonstrations, informative panel discussions and the eternally popular ‘Comedy Night’ to be held in the evening on the 30th June.

EVENT DETAILS

VENUE: Red Roman Shed at Emperors Palace

DATES: Friday 29th June / Saturday 30th June / Sunday 1st July

TIMES: Friday/Saturday: 9 am - 6 pm || Sunday:  9 am - 5 pm

TICKETING INFORMATION:

Tickets are on sale now and start at R120 for a one day pass. Weekend passes start at R250 and limited VIP tickets are available starting at R895. Tickets are available from ICON CGC via TIXSA.

Visit the ICON FB page and click on the ICON Online Tickets tab, or visit the ICON CGC website to purchase tickets.

STAY AND PLAY PACKAGES

Stay and play packages available from R1495 and include a 3 day pass and 2 night stay at the Metcourt Hotel at Emperors Palace. (Friday check-in, Sunday check-out). Only for sale up to 6 pm Friday, 29th June.

Follow ICON on Twitter and Facebook for all the latest ICON CGC news and updates.