More than 40,000 pop-culture fans descended on the EY Centre Sept. 5-7 for Ottawa Comiccon 2025.
The con was well-planned, with an army of volunteers to get people through the doors and guide them toward their interests. After the opening ceremonies, I went looking for gifts for my family in the exhibition hall, and was impressed by the selection. There were stickers, hand-made jewelry, and 3-D printed dragons. There were figurines of every kind, t-shirts, leather-bound journals, video games, and comic books.
Ottawa Comiccon 2025. Photo by Kimberly Lemaire.
By design, a pop-culture conference must be eclectic, and Comiccon is definitely eclectic. Visitors could choose to shop, play videogames, watch celebrity interviews or cosplay demonstrations, or attend workshops. They could participate in nerdy bingo, geeky speed friending, or archery practice. They could even grab drinks with the Trailer
Park Boys. There was truly something for every kind of fan.
The con opened with an aerial acrobatic performance by Skyline, which truly was a sight to behold. The backlit stage left a lot to the shadows where I would have loved to see more of the artists’ skills, but their talent shone through anyway.
I could only attend the first day when the kinks were being worked out of the sound system, but still enjoyed the celebrity interviews and panels.
Overall, I had a blast! I could have attended the whole weekend. I left with a full bag of goodies, from nerdy coffee beans to sci-fi books. But the best part of the con for me were the smiles. From little girls dressed as princesses to adults in Nightmare on Elm Street T-shirts, everyone loved it.
Start planning for Ottawa Comiccon 2026 – happening September 11-13!
