SAN DIEGO — San Diego Comic-Con returned to the San Diego Convention Center with hundreds of events, vendors, panels and live performances. More than 135,000 tickets were sold making this year's Comic-Con event sold out. For the first time since 2019, the Convention Center transformed into a comic’s dream.
The event came from humble origins, just a few hundred fans in 1970. Since, it has attracted millions of comic book and pop culture fans from around the world. In 2019 alone, Comic-Con welcomed more than 135,000 attendees and generated $3.2 million in hotel and sales tax revenue for San Diego.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the largest comic book and popular arts convention in the world has been held virtually -- except a far smaller, in-person three-day event held last November. Despite increasing virus numbers, it returned this week with an exhibit hall with over 460,000 square feet of floor space and more than 1,000 exhibitors.
The Comic-Con programming schedule is available through the free Comic- Con App and will include live updates, a complete program schedule, an interactive map, special guest bios and more.
Following the four day convention is the cleanup. Executive Director of the Clean & Safe Program, Alonso Vivas told CBS 8 that the City of San Diego and the Clean & Safe Program collected 46,000 pounds of trash. 8,900 trash cans were emptied and the group was pressure washing the sidewalks on Monday morning.
Here are some sights and sounds from the event - both inside the Convention Center and around downtown.
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