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Now in its third year, the MCM Manchester Comic Con (formerly MCM Manchester Expo) has grown significantly each year in terms of size and attendance.  So much in fact, that MCM have announced that next year it will expand the show to a two-day event in 2014.  2013 will be the last year the show runs for a single day and, with ticket sales growing at a rate of 138% year on year, you can expect it to be one very busy day.  Thankfully the venue, Manchester Central, has more than enough space to cope with the increasing demand and the event will be packed with attractions to keep the huge crowd entertained. 
 

As always the event will be a mixture of various fandoms, notably anime, sci-fi, fantasy, gaming and comics.  Anime fans will be able to explore the stalls of many specialist retailers dedicated to anime, manga, figures as well as the obligatory cosplay masquerade.  Manga UK will be recording a live onstage podcast and will have a stall along with other distributors such as MVM Entertainment.  Sci-fi and fantasy fans get it best though, with cast members from shows Merlin and Young Dracula in attendance, as well as the ever popular Warwick Davis and Kai Owen from Torchwood.  Gamers will be able to meet the voice of Vaas Montenegro from Fry Cry 3 and enjoy the best of new and old, with demos of 

the latest games on show, retro gaming and Dance Dance Revolution machines available for playing.  Also, two of the developers of Saints Row IV will be talking about the game on the main stage.  

The comic village will contain a number of both professional and amateur artists, including artists that have worked on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Doctor Who Adventures and even The Beano.  There will also be a large number of artists offering commissions and manga style portraits, as well as selling prints of their work. 
 

Lastly there will once again be Robots Live, which will including machines from the old yet still popular TV show Robot Wars.  At previous shows this has been accompanied by loud, exciting commentary akin to that of Craig Charles, so it does make for a good show. 

After attending the previous shows, we find it very likely that the two-day expansion promised for 2014 will continue and grow even further after that.  Last year had a massive queue outside Manchester Central, not only from fans who had booked tickets but from passing trade due to the location of the venue.  The venue is fit for the purpose and

spreading the event out to two days should help it cope with the demand, should ticket sales increase by the large figures they have in previous years.  This year however should see a busy one-day event which will have a very busy atmosphere, but will no doubt leave people wishing that the two-day expansion in 2014 will lead to even more fans attending Manchester Comic Con

The Manchester Comic Con MCM Expo is held in the Manchester Grand in central Manchester on Saturday 20th July.  Ticket prices are £6 for adults and £3 for children, with children 10 years and under entering for free.  Early entry tickets are available at a flat rate of £10 regardless of age.  For more information visit www.mcmcomiccon.com/manchester
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