Comic Con Africa 2026 returns to Johannesburg from 24 to 27 September
Comic Con Africa 2026 will take place at the Johannesburg Expo Centre in Nasrec from Thursday, 24 September to Sunday, 27 September 2026, with the festival scheduled to run from 09:00 to 18:00 each day.
Phase 2 general-access tickets cost R270 for a single day, while a four-day ticket covering Thursday to Sunday is currently listed at R750 on Howler.
The festival combines comics, gaming, anime, cosplay, film and television, alongside exhibitors, Artist Alley, esports competitions, celebrity appearances, tabletop gaming and activities spread across the Nasrec venue.
For South Africans planning ahead, there is another useful piece of timing: the event begins on Heritage Day, 24 September, which is a national public holiday. It also begins immediately after the scheduled end of the third term for South African public schools on 23 September, making the timing particularly convenient for families with school-going children. Private-school calendars may differ.
Comic Con Africa 2026 ticket prices
At the time of writing on 30 August 2026, Howler lists Phase 2 tickets at:
| Ticket | Current price |
|---|---|
| Thursday, 24 September | R270 |
| Friday, 25 September | R270 |
| Saturday, 26 September | R270 |
| Sunday, 27 September | R270 |
| Four-day pass | R750 |
These are the current Phase 2 prices, rather than permanent prices, so visitors should check the ticketing page before purchasing. Howler also advertises a 15% discount for group bookings of at least 10 people, handled through Comic Con Africa rather than the normal individual ticket process.
Children aged five and younger can enter free. Anyone younger than 16 must attend with an adult aged 21 or older.
Parking at the Johannesburg Expo Centre is currently listed at R50, payable to B-Free Parking, although Comic Con Africa recommends considering e-hailing services.
Tickets are listed as non-refundable.
Celebrity line-up already covers gaming, animation and television
A number of significant guests have already been added to the official programme.
One of the biggest names for gamers is Christopher Judge, known for playing Teal’c in Stargate SG-1 and for voicing Kratos in the modern God of War games. The current Comic Con Africa schedule lists appearances for Judge during the festival.
Animation fans are also getting a sizeable Rick and Morty contingent. The official programme currently lists Ian Cardoni, Harry Belden and Spencer Grammer, the voices of Rick, Morty and Summer respectively, for a cast spotlight.
Alison Sealy-Smith, known for voicing Storm in X-Men: The Animated Series and its continuation X-Men ’97, is also on the programme.
There is a particularly strong South African connection through members of Netflix’s live-action One Piece production. The programme lists South African actors Steven John Ward, Jazzara Jaslyn, Martial T. Batchamen and Nahum Hughes for One Piece-related sessions. Ward plays Dracule Mihawk in the series.
Comic-book artists confirmed on the official site include Jim Cheung, whose work includes Marvel’s Young Avengers and numerous Avengers projects, and Canadian artist Mike Rooth, whose credits span publishers including DC, IDW, Dark Horse and Image Comics.
The programme remains subject to change, an important qualification for anyone purchasing a ticket primarily to see a particular guest.
Photos and autographs cost extra
A general Comic Con Africa ticket does not automatically include celebrity photographs or autographs.
These experiences are sold separately as add-ons, and Comic Con Africa states explicitly that an add-on ticket does not grant admission to the festival. Visitors still need a valid day or four-day pass.
For example, Christopher Judge’s currently listed early-bird photograph and autograph sessions cost R800 each, while some other guests have different rates. These amounts should therefore be treated as guest-specific add-on prices rather than part of the R270 entrance fee.
That distinction is important when working out the real cost of attending. A visitor planning only to explore the show floor has a very different budget from someone intending to buy merchandise and book several celebrity experiences.
Gaming and technology remain a major part of the event
Comic Con Africa may have comics in its name, but gaming has become one of the event’s major components.
The organiser says esports and free-to-play gaming competitions will return in 2026, while the published programme includes activities linked to Telkom VS Gaming.
Tabletop gaming is also being expanded through activities from Unplug Yourself. Separate role-playing sessions, for example, have been advertised for the Johannesburg Expo Centre during the convention, although these require a valid Comic Con Africa admission ticket as well as registration or an applicable activity ticket.
For TechnologyBlog.co.za, one of the more interesting policies surrounding the 2026 event has little to do with celebrity appearances.
Comic Con Africa’s exhibitor documentation states that products, material or content created wholly or substantially using generative artificial intelligence are prohibited from being offered for sale at the show. Its policy specifically covers AI-generated visual art, images, graphics and animations. According to the organiser’s published rules, exhibitors breaching the policy can be warned and required to remove affected products, with repeat violations potentially leading to removal from the event or exclusion from future editions.
That makes generative AI and the protection of human-created artwork an unusually relevant technology story inside this year’s convention, particularly given the size of Artist Alley and the importance of independent creators to Comic Con.
Cosplay returns across all four days
Cosplay remains another core part of the event.
Comic Con Africa says both its Championship of Cosplay and casual competitions will return. Casual cosplay is planned twice daily, with registration taking place at Cosplay Central, while championship competition is aimed more directly at craftsmanship and performance.
The official information also positions Artist Alley, merchandise shopping, international guests and the main stage among the returning attractions.
What South African fans are already talking about
The public conversation around Comic Con Africa is beginning to move from simply asking who will attend to the practical question of how much the weekend will cost.
One recent South African Reddit discussion specifically asked previous visitors how they budget for Comic Con Africa. Responses described widely varying spending depending on food and merchandise, with some attendees saying they save beforehand in case they encounter harder-to-find collectibles.
That thread should not be treated as representative polling of Comic Con attendees. It is, however, a useful early indicator of one practical issue likely to matter in the build-up: the admission ticket is only one part of the potential cost once parking or transport, food, merchandise and paid celebrity experiences are taken into account.
TechnologyBlog.co.za will continue tracking public discussion as the event approaches, while keeping fan sentiment separate from confirmed announcements.
Comic Con Africa returns to its September slot
The 2026 dates also return Comic Con Africa to late September after unusual circumstances pushed the Johannesburg event into August in 2025.
Comic Con Africa 2025 was staged from 28 to 31 August at Nasrec. Contemporary reporting said the move was linked to preparations around Johannesburg’s G20 hosting requirements later that year.
Around 70,000 people were reported to have attended or been expected at the 2025 festival, depending on the source and timing of the report. Because those figures are described differently across sources, they should not be presented as a precisely audited attendance number.
For 2026, the festival is back in its familiar late-September window and opens on Heritage Day.
What happens next
The official Comic Con Africa programme is already extensive, but the organiser continues to describe parts of the schedule as subject to change and some activities are still being filled in.
That means the guest list, gaming schedule, exhibitor activations and individual session times should all be checked again closer to 24 September.
For now, the confirmed essentials are straightforward: Comic Con Africa 2026 runs from 24 to 27 September at the Johannesburg Expo Centre in Nasrec, from 09:00 to 18:00 daily, with Phase 2 day tickets currently costing R270 and the four-day pass R750.