Attendance surprises organizers
Despite concerns that Alberta’s economic downturn would have a dramatic effect on attendance, the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo exceeded organizers’ expectations in 2017, bringing an estimated 95,000 fans to the Stampede Corral over four days.
Attendance was down from last year’s 103,500 tally, but organizers said they were conservatively anticipating closer to 80,000. So while attendance may not have continued on the upward trajectory the expo has enjoyed over the past three years, organizers were not disappointed.
“There was concern,” says Lindsay Thomas, a.k.a. Emily Expo, the VP of communications and guest acquisitions for Calgary Expo. “So this is fantastic. We were all preparing to see a drop and clearly things have turned out really well.”
Four-day passes were sold out over the weekend, as were singleday passes for Saturday. Meanwhile, Friday’s Parade of Wonders in downtown Calgary broke the attendance record in its fifth year, with 2,454 costumed participants and 12,500 spectators.
It’s an indication that the 12-year-old event is at least partially immune to the vagaries of the economy.
It also means that the programming of guests this year, which included those whose reputations go beyond the horror, sci-fi and fantasy focus of past conventions, was a gamble that paid off.
Which means we got to see two-time Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner, genre-jumping actor John Cusack, playwright and actor Wallace Shawn and former child actress turned writer and social
So this is fantastic. We were all preparing to see a drop and clearly things have turned out really well.
media star Mara Wilson.
“The fans who have interacted with them have all had great experiences,” says Thomas. “What we try to do every year is keep things fresh, bring in some stuff and all that. I have been a fan of Wallace for years and years, mostly from My Dinner with Andre. And Mara, if you follow her on Twitter, she is such a fascinating person and I just thought she would make a wonderful addition to an Expo lineup.”
As of Sunday afternoon, panels with Cusack, Doctor Who’s Peter Capaldi and Edmonton’s Nathan Fillion, from Firefly and Castle, were popular draws.
“(Fillion) did ask the audience how many people were from Edmonton and a lot of people cheered,” Thomas says.
“I think we had a lot of Edmontonians coming down, a lot of his hometown folks coming down to see him.”
However, the MVP guest this year may have been Todd McFarlane, the Calgary-born comic-creator and toy entrepreneur who worked on Spider-Man and created Spawn. He was the guest of honour at the opening ceremonies in downtown Calgary on Friday morning, gave away free autographs all weekend and participated in two panels. He even coaxed 94-year-old comicbook icon Stan Lee back to Calgary, even though he had claimed 2016 would be his last year for Canuck conventions.
“I’ve never met (McFarlane) before, but he’s someone we’ve been wanting to have at our show for a long time,” says Thomas. “He shows up with this brilliant, luminous, larger-than-life personality that fills the room. He’s been just fantastic.”
Work is now underway on expos in Saskatoon, from Sept. 16 and 17, and Edmonton, from Sept. 22 to 24.