On your right... welcome to Fan Expo Denver. Even from outside, you can almost hear it: the soft roar of a crowd, the snap of photo ops, the squeak of fresh convention badges, and somebody’s armor plates clicking like a determined kitchen drawer. Denver does “high altitude” in more ways than one.
This event started in 2012, when a local nonprofit called Pop Culture Classroom launched it as Denver Comic Con. The first year pulled in about 27,700 people over a June weekend... which is already a lot of humans in one place to debate the correct watch order of a sci-fi franchise. And here’s the part people miss: it wasn’t just a party. The convention was designed to help fund Pop Culture Classroom’s year-round educational work. Comics as a gateway drug... to reading, art, and learning. Terrifying.
Then it grew fast. By 2015, attendance topped 100,000, putting Denver on the short list of the biggest fan conventions in the country. That kind of size changes the energy. The vibe turns from “local gathering” to “citywide migration,” where you’re as likely to bump into a Stormtrooper as a CFO.
In 2019, it changed names to Denver Pop Culture Con after a legal dust-up with San Diego Comic-Con. Even superheroes have lawyers. The convention paused in 2020 because of COVID, and in 2021 it was acquired by Fan Expo HQ, becoming Fan Expo Denver. Pop Culture Classroom didn’t vanish, though-they stayed involved as the featured charity, and they kept bringing educational programming into the mix.
Inside, the experience is basically organized joy: celebrity panels, creator talks, workshops, indie films, autograph areas, “Artist Valley,” big-name “Celebrity Summit,” collectibles, and fan groups like the 501st Legion-those Star Wars costumers who take their trooping VERY seriously.
And Denver being Denver, there were local twists: tracks spotlighting Colorado creators, plus programming centered on women, minorities, and the LGBTQ community. They even built kid and teen spaces where thousands of students could make comics, play with animation, and get hands-on with creative tech. Pop culture... with homework you actually want to do.
Oh-and yes, there was a special collaboration beer every year with pun-based names chosen by fans. Because of course there was.
