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Comic Fiesta
Comic Fiesta
	Comic Fiesta in 2015
Status	Active
Genre	Anime convention; ACG event
Frequency	Annually
Venue	KL Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur
Country	Malaysia
Years active	22
Inaugurated	14 December 2002; 22 years ago
Most recent	21-22 December 2024
Next event	December 2025
Attendance	70,000 (2023)
Major events	Anime Fest, Comic Fiesta Mini
Organised by	Comic Fiesta Sdn Bhd
Website	www.comicfiesta.org

Comic Fiesta, abbreviated as CF, is Malaysia's longest-running convention that focuses on animation, comics and games (ACG). Its focus is to celebrate all aspects of art and creativity (and the ever popular ACG culture). Comic Fiesta is usually held in December at various locations, including Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre at KLCC. It is an event held with the motto of "event by fans for fans", and is also currently the first and the biggest ACG convention in Malaysia, organised to bring the comic convention experience to the Malaysian audience.

History

Comic Fiesta started as a small exhibition at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in Kuala Lumpur in 2002. Comic Fiesta 2003 fared better with the venue being changed to the Impiana Hotel also in Kuala Lumpur (now known as Ancasa Hotel and Spa). With the larger space, the standing capacity was bumped to 300; double the amount of its predecessor. Comic Fiesta 2004 was held at the Malaysian National Visual Art Gallery. The next two years saw Comic Fiesta setting up shop at the prestigious Sekolah Sri Sedaya. Due to its strategic location (close proximity to Sunway Pyramid and easy access by public transportation), many believed that the event had finally found its home. It did not, but it did become the birthplace of Cosplay Chess in 2006 (now a common fixture at many local ACG events). Comic Fiesta was then moved to Berjaya Times Square located in Bukit Bintang.

The seventh iteration of Comic Fiesta was held at the Sunway Convention Centre. Over 3,000 square metres of unobstructed function space certainly played a major role in the record number of attendees for the event. 2008 also saw the debut of the Live Art Demonstrations and the Portfolio Review Pavilion, proving to be big hits with aspiring artists looking to break into the competitive Malaysian comics industry.

The decision to keep and expand the Live Art Demonstrations and Portfolio Review Pavilion certainly played a part in pushing the number of visitors for CF 2009 (also at the Sunway Convention Centre) past the 7,000 mark. Representatives from Imaginary Friends Studios, Pekomik, Big Beak Productions, The One Academy, Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Clazroom and MDeC participated in the industry seminars. Comic Fiesta 2010, held at Berjaya Times Square's Manhattan Ballroom, continued the trend and attracted over 11,000 people.

In 2011, Comic Fiesta was moved to Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. Comic Fiesta 2011 attracted 15,293 visitors over 2 days and Comic Fiesta 2012, also held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre drew over 30,000 visitors across two days (22 & 23 December 2012), and was attended by renowned Japanese artists such as Redjuice, Kurata Yoshimi and bless4.

In 2015, Comic Fiesta was moved to Malaysia International Exhibition & Convention Centre located in Mines Wellness City. Comic Fiesta 2015 attracted 45,000 visitors for over 2 days. Performing guests consist of Flow, Majiko from Exit Tunes, Inc., guest cosplayers Reika, Jin (behindinfinity) and also special guests Danny Choo, Hajime Tabata and Wan Hazmer from Square Enix.

In 2016, Comic Fiesta was then moved to Putra World Trade Centre. Although transportation was significantly easier, the venue was also deemed inadequate for the large number of attendees. Starting from Comic Fiesta 2017, the location reverted to KLCC to accommodate the increasing number of visitors.

Comic Fiesta 2018, which was held at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on 22–23 December 2018, attracted approximately 60,000 visitors.^[1] Comic Fiesta 2019 was held again on 21–22 December at KLCC.

Comic Fiesta-associated events, such as the Comic Art Festival Kuala Lumpur 7 (CAFKL7), Comic Fiesta Mini Johor 2020, Comic Fiesta Mini Penang 2020 and the Toys Anime Game Comic Con 2020 (TAGCC 2020) was announced to be postponed to 2021, citing the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia.^[2]

Showcase

Creative Art Market

Comic Fiesta plays host to the largest amateur creative art market in Malaysia similar to Comiket of Japan, which consists over 100 booths showcasing talents in the field of visual arts and illustration. Comic Fiesta also contains an incredible variety of self-published comics, artbooks, posters and other merchandises available for sale.

Cosplay

Comic Fiesta hosts both solo and group cosplay competitions and is considered to be the second main focus of the event. Participants use the chance to showcase their skills in cosplay, attracting many to attend the event aside from buying self-published comics and artbooks.^{[citation needed]}

Comic Fiesta Mini

Comic Fiesta also organises two small CF-like events specialized for ACG enthusiasts in the north and south of Peninsular Malaysia, namely Comic Fiesta Mini Penang (stylized as CF Mini Penang) and Comic Fiesta Mini Johor (stylized as CF Mini JB, since 2018).

List of Comic Fiesta events


#	Year	Date	Location	Attendance^[3]
1	2002	14–15 December	Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, Kuala Lumpur (now known as The Kuala Lumpur And Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall)	500
2	2003	6 December	Impiana Hotel, Kuala Lumpur (now known as Ancasa Hotel)	1,000
3	2004	11–12 December	Malaysian National Visual Art Gallery (Balai Seni Visual Negara)	3,000
4	2005	17–18 December	Sekolah Sri Sendaya, Subang Jaya (now Sekolah Sri UCSI Subang Jaya)	3,000
5	2006	16–17 December	Sekolah Sri Sendaya, Subang Jaya (now Sekolah Sri UCSI Subang Jaya)	3,000
6	2007	15–16 December	Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur	5,000
7	2008	20–21 December	Sunway Convention Centre	7,000
8	2009	19–20 December	Sunway Convention Centre	8,000
9	2010	18–19 December	Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur	10,000
10	2011	17–18 December	Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, KLCC	15,000
11	2012	22–23 December	Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, KLCC	25,000
12	2013	21–22 December	Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, KLCC	40,000
13	2014	27–28 December	Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, KLCC	49,000
14	2015	19–20 December	Mines International Exhibition & Convention Centre, Seri Kembangan (MIECC)	45,000
15	2016	17–18 December	Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur (PWTC)	45,000
16	2017	16–17 December	Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, KLCC	55,000
17	2018	22–23 December	Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, KLCC	60,000
18	2019	21–22 December	Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, KLCC	65,000
#	2020	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
#	2021	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
19	2022	17–18 December	Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, KLCC	69,000
20	2023	23–24 December	Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, KLCC	70,000
21	2024	21–22 December	Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, KLCC

References

^ "Comic Fiesta 2019 | 21–22 Dec, KLCC". COMIC FIESTA. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
^ "Events 2020". Comic Fiesta. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
^ "Comic Fiesta". Retrieved 5 January 2020.