Comic Fiesta 2023, one of Malaysia’s biggest Anime, Comic, and Games (ACG) event had taken place last month, garnering a sea of visitors both local and abroad; given its recent success, we had the opportunity to speak with the organisers of Comic Fiesta regarding the event as a whole.

Vtuber Invasion

Virtual Youtubers, or Vtubers, have largely been intertwined with the ACG community ever since it hit mainstream publicity. Given its lucrative market, more and more Vtubers have made their debuts, regardless whether they’re independent or part of a company.

This year, we had our fair share of Vtubers, from hololive and PRISM Project, we were curious if fans could expect more highlights on Vtubers in future Comic Fiesta events.

The organisers mentioned that Vtubers are one aspect of the rich and complex world of ACG, and they will continue to observe the developments of the scene and choose the best guests that fans would like to see.

Large Crowds

Comic Fiesta has seen a rise in popularity across its many years of existence, starting from having 40K visitors back in 2013, to 70K visitors in the previous Comic Fiesta.

Admittedly, this also proved to be one of Comic Fiesta’s largest problems, being problems getting tickets as well as overcrowding.  We asked the organisers what they did differently to tackle said issues.

To which, they mentioned that they dealt with the aforementioned issues through multiple angles.

One of solutions the organisers had come up with was increasing the walkways of various areas by 25-40%, as well as increasing the overall event space by 30% for smoother traffic and avoiding congestion.

Comic Fiesta 2023 also saw the introduction of afternoon ticket sales, meaning that there’s two waves of entry compared to the previous years of only one, which helped to stagger crowd entrance.

Lastly, the organisers also introduced a second stage to accommodate for more crowds, as well as a second event entrance to avoid overcrowding.

The organisers mention that there’s still much to be done but they are happy to report that their efforts had borne fruit, and the feedback they have received regarding the queue and crowd management has improved greatly compared to the previous years.

20th Anniversary

Comic Fiesta is going on its 20th anniversary, and given their long and credible reputation, we asked them how it feels to have come so far and still get the love and support from fans.

“We thank the fans for supporting us for 20 years through thick and thin and rain and shine. We hope to continue to do what we can for the Malaysian ACG community.” said the organisers.

Comic Fiesta has been a staple to Malaysia’s evergrowing ACG scene, connecting fans of similar interests together under one roof over a weekend filled with jam packed performances, cosplays, merchandise and more, and they are set on continuing the tradition for more years to come.

For those who were not able to attend Comic Fiesta 2023, you can check out our event experience article here.