Calgary Comics and Entertainment Expo kicks off with an expected 100,000 attendees over four days

Thousands of people lined Eighth Avenue in downtown Calgary to celebrate the opening of the 16th annual Calgary Comics and Entertainment Expo.

Alex Kingcott, spokesperson for the show, says people come from all over the city and North America to attend.

"Calgary Expo is kind of like nerd Christmas," Kingcott said.

"People from all over Alberta, people from across Canada, the Pacific Northwest come to Calgary Expo. We have people here internationally, which is really exciting. It's definitely a hometown event but a big, big portion of our people are from out of town. We're filling hotel rooms, restaurants and lots of people are of course staying with family and friends."

Kingcott has watched the event grow every year and remembers being at the third event in Calgary that hosted a few thousand fans along with the actor who played Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies.

She says now it's one of the largest pop-culture conventions of its kind in North America.

"We like to say that everybody is a fan of something and whatever you're a fan of, you will find it at Calgary Expo," she said.

"Everything from sci-fi and comics and you know, shows like Game of Thrones or The Last of Us, which you might think of when you think of a comic con, but there's so much more here. Our vendors are some of the most creative, diverse people and they're bringing truly the best to the city."

Jamie Ripley, with the Calgary-based Dark Age Creations, which makes medieval weapons and armour, is looking forward to the fans looking to accessorize their costumes.

"We've got a really weird demographic," he said.

"We've got interest from a really wide swath of people and one of the great things about Expo is it brings a lot of different sorts of fandoms and cultures together."

Kelly Dowd runs Redd Skull Comics and Expo is a chance for him and his staff to see many fans of graphic art.

"They can be any age, that's what we're here for," he said.

"We want to enjoy it so families are here with their kids and yeah, they're enjoying themselves."

Carson Ackroyd, a senior vice-president with Tourism Calgary, says Expo is great news for local businesses.

"Tourism Calgary represents nearly 1,000 small to larger businesses in the visitor economy sector," he said.

"Events like this absolutely ring the cash register for our local businesses and make a big difference and they're a very passionate group that gets out for this event in particular and you will see, you know, hotels and bars and restaurants all full for the next four days because of this event."

Ackroyd says the success of such a large event is a signal to others looking for a city to host their events.

"Events like this and because of their track record of success, send a message to all event holders that if you come to Calgary, you can have a very successful event," he said.

"As an eventful city, we're drawing events that draw huge crowds and it makes a big difference when we go to talk to those people to try and encourage them to bring these kinds of things to the city."

The event runs until April 30.

More information is available at fanexpohq.com/calgaryexpo/.