Emerald City Comic Con survival guide for newbies 

By: Karla Pastrana

On March 6, Washington state’s pop cultural convention season kickstarted with the four-day monster of a convention (con) know as Emerald City Comic Con (ECCC). The streets of Downtown Seattle were flooded with a colorful array of comic fans, cosplayers, collectors and star guests. 

ECCC is known as not only as the second biggest convention in the state, but it is also the second biggest in the West side of the U.S. It holds the fifth biggest comic con in the United States in general, according to Multiverse Comic Box.  

The convention hosts over 900+ events and panels and over 950+ exhibitors and creators. Most importantly, invite guest from almost every aspect of pop culture from comic artists to big name Hollywood stars like Chris Evans who is known for his role as Marvel’s Cinematic Universe’s Steve Rogers (Captain America).  

With such a large range of industry guests, activities and events for fans to do all four days, ECCC has been able to attract people from all corners of the state, the country, and from Canada. Just last year, ECCC broke a record by hosting 85,000 attendees, nearly achieving their pre-pandemic numbers of 98,000, according to NPR’s KUOW. 

Although ECCC attracts many people each year to join the celebration of geek pop culture, many who wish to attend do not, which prevents the con from truly reflecting the size of the community and influence in the mainstream.  

Many don’t attend due to being anxious about attending a large event while others are confused on what day they should attend as first-time goers. As an annual convention goer at ECCC for the past four years, each year I have tackled a different day to get a taste of the different experiences, I encourage you to attend ECCC in 2026.  

If you’ve never been to a con in your life or any of the major state ones like Sakura-con, don’t buy a four-day badge. You’re going to overstimulate and tire yourself immediately. Just being at the convention for 2 hours feels like you’ve been there for years., and that is coming from someone who has been attending cons for nine years. 

ECCC is nothing like the Washington State Fair Comic Con or even Sakura-con who are created and sponsored by nonprofits. ECCC is by the for-profit ReedPop, whose annual revenue is $100 million according to Fortune. This allows them to invest money into unique experiences for fans that other conventions can’t offer like photo-ops with Hollywood stars and have major industry companies host portfolio reviews for striving illustrators and comic writers. Hence the ocean of humans found in the Arch and Summit buildings of the Convention Center every year. 

Having said that, if you have claustrophobia, social anxiety or you are introverted but still wish to attend the event, the best day would be day one. Thursday is the best day for first-time con goers in general, being the cheapest day for those with a tight budget for tickets are $57 before tax. 

Thursday is a sample day of the event due to how slow and low crowd level. Due to the small crowd size the Events and activities at the industry and community level are minimal. However, you will still find cool and fun things to do like fan meet ups, panels hosted by guests, organizations and companies of the industry.  

Going early has its perks, as you have a higher chance of bumping into guests in the hallway or talking to them after panels, which might spark more in-depth conversations. I attended day one of ECCC back in 2021 and was able to meet the comic writer and founder of Stranger Comics Sebastian A. Jones after his yearly “How to take your idea from concept to creation” panel. I was able to obtain more in-depth advice on how to pitch my stories when I’m ready to publish and most importantly how to do it for Stranger Comics if I wish to work with them.  

Lastly, on Thursday you’ll be getting first pick on any item you want to purchase from artist ally and/or exhibitor’s hall. I highly suggest hitting Artist Alley first on Thursday because merchandise there sells out fast and many artists only packed a certain number of products to sell due to traveling expenses or room. 

If you’re not an introvert, no social anxiety, an experienced con goer or you’re a very brave soul and want to go headfirst into chaos, look no further than Saturday, day three of ECCC.  

Saturday is known as the main day of the con as the majority of people attend on the weekend. There will be long lines to enter panels and meet with guests and overflowing hallways with people walking shoulder to shoulder. 

People are forced to walk in a single file line just to get from one side of the building to the other, depending on the hallway you take due to the large traffic of people. To avoid arriving late to panels because you’ll be risking your chance to enter. If you have Time management will be your best friend for Saturday for it will help you tackle every event you want easily from panels to meet ups without stressing or missing out. 

However, don’t be discouraged as Saturday is the main day for both industry and community events and activities. When it comes to events, Saturday is the day where you will see the most popular events, activities and panels happening. Events like panels starring A-List actors, directors and producers from Hollywood, and major industry presentations where reveals and updates on big projects are discussed. Competitions for the public to enter like the Cosplay Central Crown Championship where cosplayers show their craft, hoping to win the cash prize and obtain a spot to compete at the Global Cosplay Central Crown Championship at C2E2 in 2026.  

Saturday you will also find more career panels that discuss how to enter the entertainment industry from voice acting to illustration. This year’s day three featured “Breaking (into) the source wall: how to work with for DC Comics” which was hosted by DC comic book artists. Lastly, you will find more community activities like the Saturday night Prom dance and more 18+ After Dark panels. 

If you find yourself in the middle area between introvert and extrovert or want a day that is a mix of both Thursday and Saturday- look no further than Friday and Sunday. They are decent days for new con goers to attend if you can’t attend on Thursday. I would describe these days as swimming with a small floatie rather than a life jacket or swimming without support. 

Since Saturday delivers the most waited features of the entire con, tickets are $88 before tax. Friday and Sunday are quiet similar to each other, from both day tickets costing $78 before tax to having a middle-sized crowd attending. However, the time the crowd gets packed is different.  

On Friday the crowd is small in the morning and early afternoon but its energy won’t be as slow as it was on Thursday, as many people skip school and work to attend on Friday. Additionally, you’ll find the crowd levels getting higher the later you stay because many attend the con after work and school. Also, Friday evening there are many fun events to attend that are a bit similar to the ones you find on Saturday like a smaller dance and less of the After Dark panels.  

In the evening on Friday you will also find industry panels with guests. For example, this year on day 2, ECCC hosted a panel featuring the main voice cast and director of the popular RPG game “Baldur’s Gate 3” and fans got to ask them questions and listen to them talk about the game.   

Much like Friday, Sunday’s crowd moves the same but in the opposite manner., as in the morning and early afternoon the crowd is big but becomes smaller as the weekend winds down. Luckily Sunday attendees are still offered the same amazing experience as Friday attendees like guest panels. I had the opportunity to attend an “Evil Dead” reunion that featured actor Bruce Campbell and actress Jane Levy this year on Sunday. It was fun to meet fellow horror fans and see an icon of the horror genre. I spoke with one of Campbell’s predecessors of the series and how the movies were created. 

Be warned as exhibitors may be low on merchandise on Sunday, especially those in Artist Alley. If you do go on Sunday, I highly suggest hitting the exhibitor’s hall and Artist Alley first thing in the morning to get merchandise while it lasts. 

That’s ECCC in a nutshell. If you’re interested in attending next year or learning more about the event you can find tickets at ECCC’s official website. Tickets are expected to go on sale in the late summer and early autumn.