Second Laval Comiccon ready to take over Place Bell on Saturday

Laval Comiccon spokesperson speaks about the unique, if not smaller, festival of comics, collectibles, anime and cosplay north of Montreal.

Comic, cosplay and collectibles fans will be in full force at the Place Bell on the weekend for the Laval Comiccon.

The much younger and smaller convention than the Montreal event at Palais des Congres that draws tens of thousands of visitors, the Laval edition established a home last year and hopes to build on its success in 2026.

“We finally found a place where we feel like we could build something kind of like in Montreal all those years ago, we went from Place Bonaventure to Palais des Congres and we found a home base, and now that’s been our home base for, you know, for well over a decade,” said spokesperson Jason Rockman.

This year’s Laval event will have a heavy anime vibe, including a K-Pop Demon Hunter homage stage show in French and English.

While featured guests Mathieu Coderre (Ghostface actor and stuntman) and Benz Antoine (Overwatch) will be present, Rockman said the smaller cons are a perfect place for cosplayers to dress up and show off and meet other costume enthusiasts.

“People love to do cosplay. They love dressing up,” he said. “When you have a con that happens, even these small shows, which you figure, oh, it’s just going to be people that are going to want to maybe shop and look around the exhibition hall. No, they’re there to cosplay... It’s a lot more than just an event. It becomes a social event, a social gathering, a meetup place.”

The team that puts on the Laval and Montreal comiccon also puts on events in Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Quebec City.

“I think the challenge always is probably the workload for the small amount of people that run these shows, because, year-round, it’s a very small team, but they’re so passionate, and they put so much hard work into it, that they find a way to make it work,” said Rockman. “The popularity of these events makes you want to do more than one a year in some instances.”

On the weekend, there will be over 100 retail booths and artists with comics, manga, toys, films, and other pop culture collectibles.

The masquerade costume contest is on Saturday, and Sunday is for the kids to get decked out.

“We’ve got a few guests, we’ve got some concerts, so we’ve got the vibe of what we do and Montreal, but on a smaller scale,” said Rockman. “So it’s almost like an appetizer. If you’ve never come, gone in for the full meal, it’s great to try out Laval.”