Rose City Comic Con is a popular pop-culture convention dedicated to comics, fantasy, gaming, sci-fi, cosplay, and anime. Rose City Comic Con takes place at Oregon Convention Center every September, gathering about 42,000 fans. The inaugural convention was held in 2012 at the DoubleTree hotel.
Entertainment Highlights
Portland's pop culture convention offers a plethora of attractions and activities for fans with various interests. Cosplay is at the heart of Rose City Comic and is represented in a wide array of workshops, exhibitions, meetups and a cosplay competition. An annual staring contest is a riveting no-blinking stand-off between convention attendees. The Weird Stage at the event's grounds will feature live performances of Off the Wall Drag troupe and Idol Fest stars.
Vendors & Panels
Rose City Comic Con hosts a huge exhibition floor with dozens of vendors offering comics, movies, games, costumes, gadgets, books, toys, and much more. Artist Alley is a space for creators, such as illustrators, webcomic artists, writers, directors, and 2D artists, to showcase their art. Makers Market is focused on hand-made products presented by creators themselves.
Anime fans will especially enjoy the Anime Yokocho space, featering anime merchandise, panels with their favorite anime voiceover artists, and Japanese food. Given Portland's love for literature, it's no wonder that a book fair is one of the convention's major attractions. At this fair, you'll have a chance to get an autograph of your favorite author or find you next favorite book.
Celebrity Guests of the Convention
Other highlights of Rose City Comic Con include interaction with celebrities, comic artists and other major figures of the entertainment industry during autograph sessions and panels. This year, more than 80 creators are set to attend the convention, with the list only growing as the date of the Comic Con approaches. Among the attendees, you'll have a chance to see Hayden Christensen, Daniel and Luis Moncada, Dean Norris, Kate Higgins, Michael Rosenbaum, Tom Welling and many other talented cosplayers, authors and voiceover artists.
Past Guests
Previous guests of the convention included Val Kilmer, Felicia Day, John Barrowman, Michael Biehn, Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, Chris Sullivan, Michael Rooker, Charlet Chung, Stan Lee, Linda Blair, Michael Dorn, David Tennant, Peter Capaldi, and Pearl Mackie. The venue also hosted such stars as Burt Ward, William Shatner, Jason David Frank, Dominic Cooper, Katee Sackhoff, Felicia Day, Karl Urban, Danielle Panabaker, Jeremy Shada, Rose McIver, Charles Martinet, Troy Baker, John de Lancie, Jon Bernthal, and John Cusack.
Tickets & Admission
Several ticket options are available for purchase, including one-day badges, three-day badges, and VIP passes. Note that the price is subject to increase as the date of the comic-con approaches. Price also differs depending on the day of the convention. Pricing of the one-day badges is $50-53 online and $62 on-site for Friday, $65-68 online and $82 on-site for Saturday, and $60-63 online and $72 on-site for Sunday. Three-day pass costs $92-97 online and $128 on-site. Children between ages of 3 and 10 years old can enter for $15 online and $20 on-site.
For $145 online and $174 on-site, the Premium Pass grants you access to all three days, early entry, and a premium entrance. A Fast Pass also gives you priority in queues to celebrity sessions and costs $295. Club Rose Membership offers all the benefits of the Fast Pass and Premium Pass but also opens entry to a private lounge. The membership costs $775.
Schedule
The buildings at the venue are open for entry from 11:30 am to 8 pm on Friday, from 8 am to 9:30 pm on Saturday, and from 8:30 am to 5 pm on Sunday. However, the Show Floor starts operating later in the day: from 1 pm until 8 pm on Friday, from 10 am to 7 pm on Saturday, and from 10 am to 5 pm on Sunday.
Location
Oregon Convention Center regularly hosts Rose City Comic Con. It's conveniently located in Downtown Portland and boasts and impressive space of 255,000 square feet (23,690 sq m).
