MegaCon

MegaCon, short for Mega Convention, is a large speculative fiction convention that caters to the comic book, sci-fi, anime, fantasy, RPG, and gaming communities, often occurring in spring at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The convention is the largest Fan convention event in the Southern United States and second largest in North America with an attendance of 160,000 recorded in 2023.

MegaCon
StatusActive
GenreSpeculative fiction
VenueOrange County Convention Center
Location(s)Orlando, Florida
Coordinates28°25′33″N 81°27′54″W
CountryUnited States
Inaugurated1993
Most recentMarch 30, 2023 (2023-03-30)
Next eventFebruary 1, 2024 (2024-02-01)
Attendance>160,000 in March 2023
Organized byFan Expo HQ/Informa Connect
Websitefanexpohq.com/megaconorlando/

History

Founding

The first comic book convention held in the Orlando area was OrlandoCon, held annually from 1974 to c. 1994. Regular guests included C. C. Beck, Floyd Gottfredson, and Hal Foster.

MegaCon was founded by James Breitbiel and first held in 1993.[1] The convention was acquired by the Tampa-based publisher CrossGen in 1999,[2] with Elizabeth Widera brought on to run the show in 2000.[2] (Breitbiel became CrossGen's Marketing and Distribution Director.) During this period, from 2000 to 2003, MegaCon heavily promoted CrossGen products and creators, to the frustration of some other exhibitors and attendees, although the show itself grew and thrived.[3]

In late 2003, Widera purchased the convention from the failing CrossGen, which was restructuring[3] (the publisher went bankrupt in 2004). Widera, who is a board member of the comics charity The Hero Initiative, currently runs the show along with her daughter Christine Alger.[1]

In September 2008, MegaCon headquarters moved from Safety Harbor to Live Oak, Florida, although the actual convention remains in Orlando.[4]

In 2009, in addition to the main show, held February 27–March 1, convention organizers produced a "mini-MegaCon" held August 22–23, the only one to date, featuring a number of actors from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show.[5]

In 2010, the Orlando area entertainment company Moshi Moshi Productions started to host adult evening afterparties in conjunction with the event at nearby hotels. In 2017, MegaCon began to officiate the afterparties. Said parties are often themed to a specific fandom or group of fandoms.[6] The first party is usually held at the Icebar Orlando with subsequent night parties at the Rosen Plaza and Rosen Centre.

Fan Expo
MegaCon Tampa Bay logo

On April 7, 2015, it was announced that MegaCon had been sold to Informa. The con now operates under the auspices of Informa's Fan Expo group, which also runs Fan Expo Canada, Fan Expo Dallas, and Fan Expo Boston. Unlike other conventions of Fan Expo, MegaCon has retained its existing name rather than being renamed to "Orlando Fan Expo".[7][8] Following Megacon 2015 it was announced that for the first time Megacon will be extended to 4 days in 2016.[9] Shortly after Megacon 2016, Megacon Tampa Bay was announced for October 28–30.[10] MegaCon Tampa last happened in 2018 and has not returned since due to the increasing sizes of convention rivals Tampa Bay Comic Con and Metrocon as well as the size limitations of the Tampa Convention Center.

The 2020 event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially planned to be held April 16–19 and June 4–7, it was replaced by a smaller "limited edition" "mini-MegaCon" with the next main event to be held on March 18–21, 2021. These dates were also cancelled with the next date, August 12–15 being a return to operations, though masks were mandated as a measure to quell an outbreak of COVID-19.[11] The 2021 event was plagued with many guest cancellations due to pandemic-caused filming conflicts affecting many including Elijah Wood, Brendan Fraser, and James Marsters who were to be among the headline celebrities of the event.[12]

2022 featured a return to normal operations with Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, and Billy Boyd, the Hobbits of the Lord of the Rings, reuniting on stage as well as Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes of the Jay and Silent Bob show, Brendan Fraser, and Gina Carano being other highlight guest appearances. Numerous traffic issues in the surrounding areas due to record attendance reached local news headlines.[13] Several tiers of tickets including family packages and youth tickets were sold out on Saturday. Surpassing Comic Con International's attendance cap of 130,000, MegaCon became the second most attended fan convention in the United States after New York Comic Con. The last day of the 2022 convention hosted a memorial service for the late comic artist George Perez, who was a frequent guest at the convention.[14]

2023 introduced advanced paid parking from several parking lots as well as shuttles to the convention as a way to alleviate traffic issues. [15] A Wednesday pre-launch party was added to the afterhours party line up at ICON Park. The floor plan also took over the entire North/South concourse for the first time. Tickets for the 2024 event went on sale the day after the 2023 event ended, a change in tradition from tickets going on sale 5-6 months prior to the event.

Dates and guests

'90s and 2000s
DatesOfficial guestsBuildingNotes
Spring 1993Orlando Expo Center
Spring 1994Orlando Expo Center
Spring 1995Gil Kane, Dick Giordano, and Howard ChaykinOrlando Expo Center
March 8–10, 1996John Beatty, Howard Chaykin, Amanda Conner, Kevin Conrad, Tony Daniel, Dick Giordano, Adam Hughes, Joe Jusko, Trent Kaniuga, Joe Madureira, Todd McFarlane, Jimmy Palmiotti, George Pérez, Joe Quesada. John Romita Sr., Brian Stelfreeze, William Stout, Tim Townsend, William Tucci, Ethan Van SciverOrlando Expo Center
March 15–16, 1997J. Michael Straczynski and Peter David[16]Orlando Expo Center
March 13–15, 1998Stephen Furst, Robin Atkin Downes, Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, Jonathan HarrisOrlando Expo Center
March 5–7, 1999Orlando Expo Center
March 31-April 2, 2000Stan Lee, Harlan Ellison and Joe QuesadaOrlando Expo Center
March 2–4, 2001George Pérez, Mark Waid, Steve Epting, Rick Magyar, Scot Eaton, Andrew Hennessy, Wil Quintana, Barbara Kesel, Steve McNiven, Tom Simmons, Morry Hollowell, Bart Sears, Andy Smith, Michael Atiyeh, Ron Marz, Greg Land, Drew Geraci, Brandon Peterson, John Dell, Andrew Crossley, Jim Chuen, Don Hillsman II, and Caesar RodriguezWest Concourse Hall CShow moves to the Orange County Convention Center
February 22–24, 2002Guest of honor: Kevin Smith; other guests: George Pérez, Butch Guice, Mark Waid, Erin Gray, June Lockhart, David Prowse, Michonne Bourriague, Eugene Roddenberry Jr., Bob May, and Mark Rolston[17]West Concourse Hall C
February 28–March 2, 2003J. Scott Campbell, Scott McDaniel, Chuck Dixon, Frank Cho, George Pérez, Roy Thomas, Greg Land, Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Robert Rodi, Bart Sears, Brian Pulido, and Adam HughesWest Concourse Hall C
March 5–7, 2004Kaare Andrews, Brian Michael Bendis, John Cassaday, Amanda Conner, Phil Jimenez, Andy Lee, Tony Lorenz, David W. Mack, James O'Barr, Jimmy Palmiotti, Walter Simonson, Craig Thompson, Skottie Young, Luis Amado, Tony Bedard, Jose Caraballo, Patrick Carlucci, Jim Cheung, Laura DePuy, Chuck Dixon, Steve Epting, Glenda Finkelstein, Jeff Johnson, Greg Land, Ron Marz, Stanley Morrison, Mike Perkins, Brandon Peterson, Justin Ponsor, Ariel Rivero, Tone Rodriguez, Steven Sanchez, Bart Sears, Josh Sullivan, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Allison Mack, Walter Koenig, Ken Foree, Brad Dourif, Noah Hathaway, Herbert Jefferson, Jr., Brian Thompson, Glenn Shadix, Marc Singer, Angela Cartwright, Bill Mumy, Virginia Hey, and Sid HaigWest Concourse Hall C
February 25–27, 2005Mark Waid, Mike Deodato, George Pérez, Michael Avon Oeming, Chuck Dixon, Wilson Tortosa, Aaron Lopresti, Marv Wolfman, Ethan Van Sciver, Monte Moore, Phil Jimenez, Tone Rodriguez, Michael T. Gilbert, Roy Thomas, Dan Brereton, Allen Bellman, Gene Colan, George Tuska, Tommy Castillo, Andy Runton, Jinky Coronado, David Campiti, Lou Ferrigno, George Lowe, Richard Hatch, and Gil GerardWest Concourse Hall D
February 24–26, 2006Special guest: George Pérez; other guests: Sal Buscema, Bob Andelman, Mark Brooks, Tommy Castillo, Amanda Conner, Chuck Dixon, Steve Epting, Greg Land, Michael Lark, Laura Martin, Phil Noto, Jimmy Palmiotti, Mike Perkins, Brandon Peterson, Brian Pulido, Andy Runton, Andy Smith, William Tucci, Ethan Van Sciver, Robert Venditti, John Schneider, Tony Amendola, Steve Bacic, Julie Benz, Jason Carter, Alexis Cruz, Mira Furlan, John Kassir, Clare Kramer, Cirroc Lofton, Mark Lutz, Scott McNeill, Chris Rankin, Tanya Roberts, Sean Schemmel, Tracy Scoggins, Marina Sirtis, and Jamie YeatesWest Concourse Hall D
February 16–18, 2007David Finch, Darwyn Cooke, George Pérez, Andy Smith, Brian Pulido, Sean Astin, Lou Ferrigno, Virginia Hey, Bob May, David Hedison, and "Lois Lane" actresses Noel Neill and Margot KidderWest Concourse Hall CGuests June Lockhart and Mark Goddard canceled
March 7–9, 2008Jennie Breeden, Brian Clevinger, Amanda Conner, Caitlin Glass, Mark Goddard, Erin Gray, Neil Kaplan, June Lockhart, George Lowe, Cynthia Martinez, Peter Mayhew, Vic Mignogna, Paul Pelletier, Joe Quesada, Stan Sakai, William Tucci, and Mark WaidSouth Concourse Hall B
February 27–March 1, 2009Peter S. Beagle, Jim Cheung, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Aaron Dismuke, Lou Ferrigno, Caitlin Glass, Peter Mayhew, Vic Mignogna, George Moss, Aaron Pabon, Paul Pelletier, George Pérez, William Tucci, and Mark WaidWest Concourse Hall D40,000 attendees[18]
August 22–23, 2009Charisma Carpenter, Emma Caulfield, Amber Benson, and Adam Busch[5]West Concourse Hall C"mini-MegaCon"

2010s
DatesOfficial guestsBuildingNotes
March 12–14, 2010Marv Wolfman, George Pérez, Lea Thompson, Claudia Wells, Nichelle Nichols, Jeremy Bulloch, and Peter MayhewWest Concourse Hall D
March 25–27, 2011Stan Lee, William Shatner, and Jimmy PalmiottiWest Concourse Hall D45,000 in attendance[1]
February 17–19, 2012Amanda Conner, Chuck Dixon, Paul Gulacy, Phil Hester, Rob Hunter, Dan Jurgens, Jimmy Palmiotti, George Pérez, Stephane Roux, Frank Tieri, Tim Townsend, William Tucci, Ethan Van Sciver, and Zeb Wells West Concourse Halls D-E
March 15–17, 2013Media guests included the entire Star Trek: The Next Generation cast: Sir Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Denise Crosby, John De Lancie and Wil Wheaton, and Daniel Stewart; other guests included: Lou Ferigno, David Prowse, Jeremy Bulloch, Paul Blake, Vic Mignogna, Tara Strong, Morgan Gendel, Arne Starr, Dean Cain, Larry Nemecek, Gigi Edgley, and James and Oliver Phelps. Comic book guests included: Ed McGuinness, Mark Bagley, Frank Cho, Bob Layton, Mike Perkins, Michael Lark, Neal Adams, Mark Waid, Chris Claremont, Mike Choi, Andrew Robinson, Steve Epting, Andy Price, Doug Sneyd, José Delbo, Matteo Scalera, Steve McNiven, Michael Atiyeh, Jimmy Cheung, George Pérez, Gail Simone, Mike McKone, Dave Johnson, Dan Panosian, Brian Pulido, Brandon Peterson, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Billy Tucci, Georges Jeanty, Tim Townsend, Frenchy and the Punk and Craig BoldmanWest Concourse Halls D-E
March 21–23, 2014Stan Lee, John Barrowman, Torchwood’s Eve Myles and Gareth David-Lloyd, Manu Bennett, Karl Urban, The Walking Dead's David Morrissey, Danai Gurira, Stephen Yeun, Emily Kinney, and Sonequa Martin-Green, Buffy's Eliza Dushku and James Marsters, Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict, Battlestar Galacticas's Herbert Jefferson, Jr. and Anne Lockhart, Smallville's Allison Mack, John Glover and Laura Vandervoort, Wil Wheaton, Jon Heder, Jason David Frank, Ivy DoomKitty, Bryan Johnson, Comic Book Men's Ming Chen and Mike Zapcic, Matt Senreich, Robot Chicken's Zeb Wells and Tom Root, Peter Mayhew, Vic Mignogna, Jennifer Hale, George Lowe, Phil Lamarr, Jim Cummings, Rob Paulsen, Quinton Flynn, Richard Horvitz, Tom Kane, and Arne Starr South Concourse 80,000 attendees[1]
April 10–12, 2015Adam Baldwin, Alan Tudyk, Alex Kingston, Cary Elwes, Clifton Collins Jr., Danielle Panabaker, David Della Rocco, David Ramsey, Hulk Hogan, Jeremy Shada, Karen Gillan, Lou Ferrigno, Mark Boone Jr., Michael Rooker, Milo Ventimiglia, Norman Reedus, Olivia Olson, Robbie Amell, Sean Patrick Flanery, Stan Lee, Summer Glau, Tony Curran, George Pérez, Ed McGuiness, Mike Perkins, Marv Wolfman, Allen Bellman, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Frank Cho, Ethan Van Sciver, Andy Smith, Darwyn Cooke, Drew Geraci, Rob Hunter, Katie Cook, Bob Layton, Chuck Dixon, Andy Price, Mike Lilly, Sean Chen, Greg Horn, Dan Parent, Sergio Cariello, Billy Tucci, Brian Pulido, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Callies, Ron Perlman, Jenna Coleman, Arthur Darvill, Grey DeLisle, Troy Baker, Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell, Tress MacNeilleWest Concourse Hall B[19]
May 26–29, 2016Stan Lee, Frank Miller, William Shatner, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Kevin Smith, John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd, Hayley Atwell, Adam West, Burt Ward, Jason Isaacs, Tom Felton, James and Oliver Phelps, Ming-Na Wen, Anthony Daniels, Katie Cassidy, Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Vivica A. Fox, and Curtis Armstrong.[20]

West Concourse Halls A-B

 First 4-day event. First to reach over 100,000 guests[21]
October 28–30, 2016 (Tampa Bay)David Tennant, Billie Piper, Henry Winkler, Matthew Lewis, Graham McTavish, Brett Dalton, Brent Spiner, Levar Burton, Kevin Sussman, Wallace Shawn, Kevin Sorbo, Will Friedle, Mitch Pileggi, and Verne Troyer.[22] Tampa Convention Center East Halldebut of MegaCon Tampa Bay
May 25–28, 2017 (Orlando)Stan Lee, Richard Dean Anderson, Brent Spiner, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, James Marsters, Tim Curry, Ian Somerhalder, Famke Janssen, Tom Cavanagh, Caity Lotz, Danielle Panabaker, Eliza Dushku, Matthew Lewis, Felicia Day, Jeri Ryan, Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, Elyes Gabel, Gina Torres, Tom Wilson, Ray Park, Spencer Wilding, Barry Bostwick, John Schneider, Tom Wopat, Catherine Bach North/South Concourse Hall A
Sept 29–Oct 1, 2017 (Tampa Bay)Stan Lee, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, John Barrowman, James Marsters, Alex Kingston, Katie Cassidy, Ruth Connell, Zach Callison, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, William Shatner, Ian Somerhalder Full Tampa Convention Center
May 24–27, 2018 (Orlando)Jeff Goldblum, Lucy Lawless, Jason Momoa, Stephen Moyer, Norman Reedus, Elijah Wood, Amy Acker, Alexa Bliss, John Cena, Charlie Cox, Michael Cudlitz, William B Davis, Keir Dullea, Cary Elwes, Joe Flanigan, Annabeth Gish, Amy Jo Johnson, Gary Lockwood, China McClain, Jennifer Morrison, Shinsuke Nakamura, Mitch Pileggi, Paul Reubens, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn, Jewel Staite, Braun Strowman, Joonas Suotamo, Catherine Tate, Billy Dee Williams, Cress Williams, Nafessa Williams West Concourse Hall A-B
Sept 21–23, 2018 (Tampa Bay)Manu Bennett, Peter Capaldi, Jonny Cruz, John de Lancie, Michael Dorn, Jason David Frank, Summer Glau, Ali Hillis, Pearl Mackie, David Mazouz, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Sean Pertwee, James and Oliver Phelps, Marina Sirtis Full Tampa Convention CenterFinal MegaCon Tampa Bay event
May 16–19, 2019 (Orlando)Christopher Lloyd, John Barrowman, Jason David Frank, Tom Wilson, Will Friedle, Michael J. Fox, Lea Thompson, James Tolkan, Peter Weller, Zachary Levi, Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk, Michael Rosenbaum, David Tennant, Mike Colter, Tyler Hoechlin North/South Concourse Hall A 120,000 attendees

Post-COVID
DatesOfficial guestsBuildingNotes
Oct 30–Nov 1, 2020
Cancelled		"mini-MegaCon" planned after cancellation of the 2 dates for the main 2020 event.
April 16–19, 2020
June 4–7, 2020
Aug 12–15, 2021Actors/Actresses: Kevin Alejandro, Stephen Amell, Leslie David Baker, John Barrowman, Mark Boone Jr, Katie Cassidy, Dave Coulier, Ray Fisher, Aimee Garcia, Ryan Hurst, David Koechner, Robert Patrick, Ron Perlman, Michael Rooker, Bob Saget, Adam Savage, William Shatner, John Stamos, George Takei

Voice Actors/Actresses: Watson Amelia, Rodger Bumpass, Luci Christian, Takanashi Kiara, Charles Martinet, Brandon McInnis, Lucie Pohl, Carolina Ravassa, Christopher Sabat, Sean Schemmel, Jeremy Shada, J. Michael Tatum

Comic Creators: Steven Ahola, Sean Anderson, Aaron Bartling, Scott Blair, Pat Broderick, David Campiti, Sergio Cariello, Elias Chatzoudis, Frank Cho, Jeremy Clark, Jaime Coker, Jinky Coronado, Joe Corroney, Clayton Crain, David Deforne, Ariel Diaz, Dan DiDio, Sasha Dorogov, Jeff Edwards, Chris Ehnot, Omar Francia, Sara Frazetta, Bryan Fyffe, Brianna Garcia, Steve Garcia, John Giang, Owl Goingback, Daniel Govar, Jenni Gregory, Bob Hall, Javier Avila Hanzozuken, Tony Harris, Ben Harvey, Francisco Herrera, Morry Hollowell, Greg Horn, Will Jack, Austin Janowsky, Larry Spike Jarrell, Frank Kadar, Ryan Kincaid, Tyler Kirkham, Ron Leary Jr., Creees Lee, Jae Lee, Steve Lydic, Knightmare Lynch, Roland Mann, Bill Marimon, Alitha Martinez, Mike Mayhew, Bill McKay, Bob McLeod, Dan Mendoza, George Michail, Karl Moline, Bill Morrison, Mostafa Moussa, James C. Mulligan, Sean Murray, Tao Nguyen, Ryan Ottley, Alfred Paige, Mog Park, Mark Pennington, Martin Pierro, Aron Pohara, Benny Powell, Jenna Powell, James Pruett, Rodney Ramos, Patrick Reilly, Alex Riegel, Andrew Robinson, Tone Rodriguez, Sam de la Rosa, Joe Rubinstein, Fabrice Sapolsky, Alex Saviuk, Bryan Seaton, Jim Shooter, Andy Smith, Larry Stroman, Sorah Suhng, Arthur Suydam, Jamie Tyndall, Robert Venditti, Karen Whitfield, Nathan Wiedemer, Keith Williams, Kevin Wood, Ashley A. Woods, Anna Zhuo

Cancelled: Sean Astin, Leslie David Baker, Billy Boyd, Dave Bautista, Christopher Eccleston, Giancarlo Esposito, Kate Flannery, Brendan Fraser, Jon Lovitz, Ross Marquand, James Marsters, Dominic Monaghan, Oscar Nunez, Danielle Panabaker, Billie Piper, Brent Spiner, Elijah Wood, D. B. Woodside

Justin Briner, Maile Flanagan, Paul Nakauchi, Nolan North, Billy West

Mirka Andolfo, Chris Campana, Greg Capullo, Donny Cates, Adelso Corona, Tony Daniel, John Delaney, Francine Delgado, Derec Donovan, Michael Dooney, Jason Fabok, Mitch Gerads, Michael Golden, John Hebert, Steve Horton, Sam Humphries, Megan Hutchison, Dave Johnson (comics), Tom King, Tony Kordos, Leo Leibelman, Shannon Maer, Sam Maggs, Clay Mann, José Marzan Jr., David Nakayama, Graham Nolan, George Pérez, Evan Shaner, Scott Snyder, Mark Sparacio, Ryan Stegman, Mico Suayan, Frank Tieri, Tim Townsend, Joshua Williamson, Ron Wilson, Barringer Fox Wingard III, Renee Witterstaetter

 West Concourse Halls A-B Originally scheduled for March 18–21 but pushed back. Masks were required. 100,000 attendees
May 19–22, 2022

Celebrities: Jeff Anderson, Sean Astin, Britt Baker, Dante Basco, Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, Alexa Bliss, Billy Boyd, Lorraine Bracco, Tanner Buchanan, LeVar Burton, Gina Carano, Carmella, Adam Cole, Ashley Eckstein, Giancarlo Esposito, Trevor Fehrman, Ric Flair, Brendan Fraser, Nathan Fillion, Martin Kove, Jerry Lawler, Matthew Lewis, Caity Lotz, Jes Macallan, Ralph Macchio, James Marsters, Jason Mewes, Dominic Monaghan, Mary Mouser, Rey Mysterio, Brian O'Halloran, Kevin Owens, Chris Sarandon, Adam Scherr, Mark Sheppard, Kevin Smith, Mike Smith, Brent Spiner, John Paul Tremblay, The Undertaker, Robb Wells, Elijah Wood, William Zabka

Voice Actors/Actresses: Zach Aguilar, Troy Baker, Anjali Bhimani, Beau Billingslea, Steve Blum, Justin Briner, Kevin Conroy, Justin Cook, Jessica Darrow, Steve Downes, Maile Flanagan, Chloé Hollings, Matt Lanter, Jason Liebrecht, David Matranga, Paige O'Hara, Ken Page, Monica Rial, Christopher Sabat, Sean Schemmel, Dana Snyder, James Arnold Taylor, Chris Wehkamp, Billy West,

Comic Creators Steven Ahola, Mirka Andolfo, Brian Azzarello, Lloyd Bailey, Bjorn Barends, John Beatty, Raymond Bermudez, Scott Blair, Pat Broderick, Alvaro Martinez Bueno, Letizia Cadonici, Chris Campana, Eric Canete, Greg Capullo, Sergio Cariello. Donny Cates, Elias Chatzoudis, Derrick Chew, Jeremy Clark, Jamie Coker, Amanda Conner, Clayton Crain, Shawn Crystal, Dennis Culver, Krystiano DaCosta, Tony Daniel, Jeff Dekal, Francine Delgado, Werther Dell'Edera, Johnny Desjardins, Ariel Diaz, Dan Didio, Joe Doyle, Martin Dunn, Jeffrey Edwards, Tommy Lee Edwards, Chris Elnot, Elliot Fernandez, Athena Finger, Walt Flanagan, Sara Frazetta, Agnes Garbowska, John Giang, Rossi Gifford, Michael Golden, Daniel Govar, Jenni Gregory, Chris Hamer, Chad Hardin, John Hebert, Jonathan Hedrick, Francisco Herrera, Morry Hollowell, Greg Horn, Megan Hutchison-Cates, Mark Irwin, Austin Janowsky, Sam Johns, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Javan Jordan, Ejikure Wee Kiat, Ryan Kincaid, Tom King, Michael Kingston, Greg Kirkpatrick, Tony Kordos, Adam Kubert, Emma Kubert, Andres Labrada, Dr. Travis Langley, Ken Lashley, Stanley Artgerm Lau, Jerry "The King" Lawler, Ron Leary Jr., Creees Lee, Inhyuk Lee, Erin Lefler, Leo Leibelman, Kendrick "Kunkka" Lim, Tula Lotay, Steve Lydic, Knightmare Lynch, Criss Madd, Sam Maggs, Clay Mann, Anthony Marques, Jose Marzan Jr., Marco Mastrazzo, Francesco Mattina, Sam McCandless, Bill McKay, Bob McLeod, Steve McNiven, Dan Mendoza, Jonboy Meyers, Frank Miller, Inaki Miranda, Roy Miranda, Jorge Molina, Karl Moline, Bill Morrison, Mostafa Moussa, Tony Moy, James C. Mulligan, Marat Mychaels, David Nakayama, Tao Nguyen, Graham Nolan, Ryan Ottley, Jimmy Palmiotti, Dan Panosian, Yanick Paquette, Mark Pennington, Ryan Parrott, Benjamin Percy, Stephanie Phillips, Aron Pohara, Jenna Powell, Humberto Ramos, Rodney Ramos, Sabine Rich, Tone Rodriguez, Don Rosa, Sam de la Rosa, Joe Rubenstein, Alex Saviuk, Sajad Shah, Jim Shooter, Marc Silvestri, Martin Simmonds, Sozomaika, Ryan Stegman, Mico Suayan, Sorah Suhng, Arthur Suydam, Josua "Sway" Swaby, Ivan Tao, Silenn Thomas, Frank Tieri, Tim Townsend, Marco Turini, Jamie Tyndall, James Tynion IV, Ram V, Jose Varese, Pablo "Lobos" Villalobos, Zeb Wells, Freddie Williams II, Joshua Williamson, Renee Witterstaetter, Joe Wos, Anna Zhuo, Chrissie Zullo,

Cancelled: John Cleese, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Katee Sackhoff,

Marguerite Bennett, Rus Braun, Joshua Cassara, Kami Garcia, Mitch Gerads, Mike Grell, Jae Lee, Mog Park, John Timms, Ashley A. Woods,

 North South Concourse Hall A >140,000 attendees[23]
March 30-April 2, 2023

Celebrities: Dana Barron, Brec Bassinger, Jon Bernthal, Jacob Bertrand, Christie Brinkley, Steve Burns, Neve Campbell, Chevy Chase, Hayden Christensen, Gwendoline Christie, John Cleese, Charlie Cox, Rosario Dawson, Vincent D'Onofrio, Ashley Eckstein, Giancarlo Esposito, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Anthony Michael Hall, Garrett Hedlund, Charlie Hunnam, Jamie Kennedy, Martin Kove, Zachary Levi, Mario Lopez, Vivien Lyra Blair, Matthew Lewis Matthew Lillard, Ralph Macchio, Xolo Maridueña, Sonequa Martin-Green, James McAvoy, Gates McFadden, Anson Mount, Lana Parrilla, Ethan Peck, Sam Raimi, Christina Ricci, Emilio Rivera, Katee Sackhoff, Emily Swallow, Skeet Ulrich, Mercedes Varnado, Cerina Vincent, Carl Weathers, Henry Winkler, William Zabka
Voice Actors/Actresses: Zach Aguilar, Jodi Benson, Justin Briner, Luci Christian, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Susan Eisenberg, Kellen Goff, Marty Grabstein, Jennifer Hale, David Hayter, Kenny James, Samantha Kelly, Brianna Knickerbocker, Aleks Le, Charles Martinet, Shameik Moore, George Newbern, Nolan North, Christopher Sabat, Ian Sinclair, Sonny Strait, Tara Strong, Abby Trott, Suzie Yeung,
Comic Creators Jay Anacleto, Mirka Andolfo, Jeff Balke, Eric Basaldua, Simone Bianchi, David Booher, Pat Broderick, Mark Brooks, Ryan Brown, Chris Campana, Sergio Cariello, Joshua Cassara, Frank Cho, Jeremy Clark, Joe Corroney, Clayton Crain, Eranga D, Tiago Da Silva, Dame Darcy, Mike Debalfo, Sam de la Rosa, Mike DeCarlo, Francine Delgado, Ariel Diaz, Simone Di Meo, Derec Donovan, Joe Doyle, Gerry Duggan, Jeffrey Edwards, Chris Ehnot, Francesca Fantini, Elliot Fernandez, Athena Finger, Asiah Fulmore, Kami Garcia, Alé Garza, Mitch Gerads, John Giang, Erik Gist, Daniel Govar, Scott Hanna, Jonathan Hedrick, Morry Hollowell, Greg Horn, Austin Janowsky, Geoff Johns, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Javan Jordan, Ryan Kincaid, Greg Kirkpatrick, Scott Koblish, Tony Kordos, Mike Krome, Adam Kubert, Andy Kubert, Emma Kubert, Greg Land, Travis Langley, Ron Leary Jr., Creees Lee, Jae Lee, Jeph Loeb, Steve Lydic, Megan Maher, Clay Mann, Jose Marzan Jr., Marco Mastrazzo, Ed McGuinness, Bill McKay, Bob McLeod, Steve McNiven, Dawn McTeigue, Jason Meents, Jonboy Meyers, Frank Miller, Karl Moline, Bill Morrison, Mostafa Moussa, Tony Moy, James C. Mulligan, Marat Mychaels, David Nakayama, Alice Nerf, Kael Ngu, Tao Nguyen, Sam Noir, Ryan Ottley, Cassy Parsons, Mark Pennington, Andrew Pepoy, Benjamin Percy, Gabriel Picolo, Martin Pierro, Marissa Pope, Jenna Powell, Alan Quah, Joe Quesada, Rodney Ramos, Ivan Reis, Aaron Reynolds, Sabine Rich, JP Roth, Joe Rubinstein, Alex Saviuk, Stephen Segovia, Sajad Shah, Jim Shooter, Uko Smith, Ryan Stegman, Mico Suayan, Sorah Suhng, Arthur Suydam, Joshua Swaby, Frank Tieri, Peter Tomasi, Marco Turini, Jamie Tyndall, Jose Varese, Pablo Villalobos, Joshua Williamson, Kyle Willis, Kez Wilson, Ron Wilson, Renee Witterstaetter, Joe Wos, Martin Zavala, Anna Zhuo

Cancelled: Mario Lopez, Max Mittelman, Robbie Daymond, Deliliah Dawson, Marco Checchetto, Steven Ahola, Adelso Corona, Chad Hardin, Sean Gunn, Donny Cates, Tone Rodriguez, Julian Tedesco

 Full North South Concourse Building >160,000 attendees
February 1-4West Concourse

Events
Red Dead Redemption 2's cast in a panel at MegaCon 2019

Events include the Indy Film Festival, annual cosplay/costume contests, all-genre costume contest, panels, and rave dances. MegaCon also offers attendees the option of game playing. Current game systems offered are Dungeons & Dragons living campaigns, Living Forgotten Realms, Pathfinder Society and Legends of the Shining Jewel. Other non-campaign role playing games are offered. Magic: The Gathering is also offered in a card room, and board and strategic games are often on the dealer floor. E-gaming tournaments are also held at the event for games like Super Smash Bros.

Since 2001, MegaCon has also been the location of the long-running "Paranoia LIVE!"[24] LARP, based on Mongoose Publishing's Paranoia.

In 2007, MegaCon hosted the first live presentation of the Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards.[25]

In August 2008 MegaCon announced that it would host the first inaugural Project Fanboy Awards ceremony, awarding authors, writers and publishers with honors voted on by Internet users on the Project Fanboy website.[26] The Project Fanboy Awards are now an ongoing event.

Beginning with 2018, MegaCon has been host of the Sunshine qualifier of FanExpo's Masters of Cosplay Grand Prix.[27]

Starting in 2022, MegaCon inaugurated FanExpo's partnership with virtual auction site WhatNot, featuring a Virtual MegaCon with virtual celebrity signings, comic artist sketch streams, and streams of cosplay contests, as well as a WhatNot booth.[28]

References
  1. Walt, Andra (February 13, 2012). "Owner/Director Beth Widera of Orlando's MegaCon Stops by InvestComics". InvestComics.
  2. Weiland, Jonah. "Battling Conventions? Talking with the NY Comic Con and MegaCon Organizers," Comic Book Resources (June 10, 2005).
  3. "CrossGen Sells MegaCon To the Show's Director," ICv2 (November 19, 2003).
  4. "MegaCon Headquarters move to Live Oak, FL" (Press release). MegaCon official website. Archived from the original on May 28, 2009.
  5. Chien, Philip (2009). "MegaCon". NeatInformation.com. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  6. "Moshi Parties". Moshi Moshi Productions. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  7. Dineen, Caitlin (April 7, 2015). "Orlando's MegaCon sold to Informa". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  8. Mantei, Shelley (April 9, 2015). "Informa Exhibitions Expands Pop Culture Convention Portfolio With MegaCon Orlando" (PDF) (Press release). Orlando, Florida: Fan Expo HQ. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  9. Busdeker, Jon (April 13, 2016). "MegaCon 2016: Convention extended to four days next year". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  10. Pavlinskaya, Anastasia (June 10, 2016). "MegaCon Orlando: Fantasy and Fandom". Knight News. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  11. Carter, Ashley. "MegaCon Orlando 2020 Canceled Amid Coronavirus Pandemic". Spectrum News 13. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  12. @MegaConOrlando (July 29, 2021). "@JamesMarstersOf is no longer able to attend the show - he's been called back to production on an upcoming project. Epic Photo Ops will be in touch with those that bought a Photo Op, and if you had tickets to James Marsters Unplugged you'll see a refund processed for that ticket" (Tweet). Retrieved April 16, 2022 – via Twitter.
  13. Kondolojy, Amanda. "Fans deal with massive crowds, parking woes at MegaCon 2022". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  14. Moyer, Matthew (May 10, 2022). "Memorial service for late comics legend George Pérez to be held at Orlando's MegaCon". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  15. Twitter. MegaConOrlando https://twitter.com/MegaConOrlando/status/1640817289447587840. Retrieved 28 March 2023. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. "Spotlight," Orlando Sentinel (14 Mar 1997), p. 43.
  17. Szadkowski, Joseph. "The keen and obscene at Florida's MegaCon," Washington Times (09 Mar 2002), p. B02.
  18. "Convention calendar," Orlando Sentinel (Mar. 13, 2009).
  19. "MEGACON RETURNS APRIL 10-12, 2015". Orange County Convention Center. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  20. "Fans unite at MegaCon 2016 in Orlando". Florida Today. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  21. Carchidi, Jim (May 29, 2016). "MegaCon 2016 raises the bar for Orlando's convention future". Orlando Business Journal.
  22. O'Reilly, Sean (2016-10-28). "MegaCon Tampa Bay features celebrity guests, comic book creators and cosplay events". WFTS. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  23. Salkowitz, Rob (26 August 2022). "Fan Expo HQ Is Betting On A Big Comeback For Pop Culture Conventions". Forbes. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  24. Paranoia LIVE!
  25. "MegaCon Convention". MegaCon Convention. Archived from the original on 2007-02-03. hosting the 6th annual Web Cartoonist Awards. After six years of growing, world-wide popularity, the WCCAs will, for the first time ever, be presenting the 2007 winners at a live ceremony.
  26. Project Fanboy Awards to be announced at MegaCon Archived May 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  27. Tuttle, Brittani (2 April 2018). "MegaCon announces first-ever cosplay competition, 'Master of Cosplay Grand Prix'". Attractions Magazine. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  28. "FAN EXPO Announces Whatnot as Official Livestream Partner". Business Wire. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
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