Comic-Con International San Diego 2027: Dates & Travel Guide

Comic-Con International San Diego is the largest pop culture convention in the world, filling the San Diego Convention Center to capacity every summer with panels, exclusive announcements, and one of the biggest concentrations of cosplay anywhere. The 2027 edition runs July 22-25, with the traditional Preview Night on July 21 giving early access to the exhibit hall.

The convention's roots are considerably more modest than its current scale. It began in 1970 as the Golden State Comic Book Convention, organized by a group of San Diego comics fans including Shel Dorf, Richard Alf, Ken Krueger and Mike Towry, focused primarily on comic books and science fiction. The show changed names twice more — becoming San Diego's West Coast Comic Convention in 1972, then officially San Diego Comic-Con by its fourth annual event in 1973 — before the organizing non-profit adopted its current name, Comic-Con International: San Diego, in 1995.

That expansion in name mirrored an expansion in scope: what started as a comics-focused gathering now spans film, television, video games and virtually every corner of pop culture, and has filled the San Diego Convention Center to its capacity of over 130,000 attendees every year since 2010.

Badges: The Hardest Part

How Much Does a Trip Cost?

Badge cost is only the starting point — accommodation is the biggest swing factor, since downtown San Diego hotels near the convention center are in extremely high demand and short supply during Con week.

Getting There & Around

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What are the 2027 Comic-Con San Diego dates?

July 22-25, 2027, with Preview Night on July 21, at the San Diego Convention Center.

How do I get a badge?

Through Comic-Con's official queued online registration system, which typically opens for the following year's event around the time of the current year's convention — badges for the full event usually sell out within hours.

How did Comic-Con start?

It began in 1970 as the Golden State Comic Book Convention, a comics- and sci-fi-focused gathering organized by a small group of San Diego fans, before growing into today's pop-culture-wide event and adopting its current name, Comic-Con International: San Diego, in 1995.