The 3rd Astana Comic Con, scheduled for July 25-28, announces an extensive program lineup featuring workshops, merchandise, Q&A panels with special guests, and more, QazMonitor reports.
Program: This year’s event has been moved from the Congress Center to the EXPO International Exhibition Center, anticipating around 100,000 visitors for the four-day program. The festival will feature premieres, sneak previews, cosplay shows, an authors' alley, performances by music and dance groups, autograph signings, and interactive entertainment booths.
The international cosplay competition will feature a total prize pool of ₸12,000,000 ($27,008). The jury includes Trine, a talented cosplayer and skilled costume creator from Denmark, and Sonia Grillet, a frequent winner of international championships from France.
Among the special guests will be bloggers Chuck Review, Anastasiz, and Yan Topless, along with voice actors Vsevolod Kuznetsov (the voice of Geralt of Rivia from the Witcher game series), Petr Glanz (the voice of Adam Jensen in Deus Ex), Islam Gandzhaev, Egor Vasiliev (the voice of V from Cyberpunk 2077), and illustrator Djuney9.
Witcher fans will be excited to know that Maul Cosplay, known for his faithful portrayal of Geralt, will also attend the event.
Other notable guests include Saikono Joker, the creator of the Tiny Bunny visual novel, and Prince Lemon and Akonya, the founders and official voices of SoftBox Studio, which specializes in translating and voicing K-dramas.
The festival program will also include:
A geek fairground zone with themed goods, exclusive merchandise, and handmade items.
A lecture zone featuring presentations and master classes from renowned local and international authors of books and graphic novels, bloggers, actors, artists, and other pop culture figures.
A game zone with board games, VR experiences, esports tournaments, and retro consoles.
A Pop Asia exhibition zone dedicated to Asian pop culture, including anime, manga, J-pop, and K-pop.
A food court for all festival guests.
A kids’ area for the youngest visitors.
