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Hello, Downtown!
This weekend, you’ll start to see ginormous ad wraps and promotional banners covering downtown buildings and hotels. These colorful, temporary and technically illegal advertisements are the not-so-subtle, imminent harbingers of Comic-Con International (July 23-26 at the San Diego Convention Center).
More than 130,000 visitors are expected. You had to be lucky enough to snag a ticket last year to get into the exhibition hall this year. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t hundreds of things to do, see and gawk at for free in the Gaslamp Quarter outside the convention center.
The annual celebration of superheroes and all things pop-art can’t be contained. Even just people watching the cosplayers on Fifth Avenue is worth an early evening visit.
Activations by major studios and small street marketers will abound. The Gaslamp Quarter Triangle near Baja Rick’s will house a free walk-through area based on “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.” Nickelodeon will host a “Fun Flows Here” kids-oriented activation outside the New Children’s Museum. You can also boldly go to the “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” photo op at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina.
And so on. For the best list of free outdoor stuff during Comic-Con go to: Offsites.
One event that caught my eye was a unique treasure hunt by Kreepy Cuddles artist Gus Fink. He’ll be painting a new goth-but-lovable character on Fifth Avenue at The Tipsy Crow live on Friday, July 24, from 4 to 8 p.m. Meanwhile, his team will hold a treasure hunt.
Clues will drop every 20 minutes on Instagram pointing to 11 pieces of original artwork hidden around the Gaslamp. Finders, keepers. Plus, Fink is giving out Kreepy Cuddles dolls and other prizes.
Anyone can play. Which is kind of the theme of Comic-Con outside the convention center.
Ron Donoho
Downtown News newsletter host
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