“Bigger and better” is the mantra for planning the second annual St. Pete Comic Con on January 7-8, 2023, at the Coliseum. There are more celebrity guests and activities as well as additional auditorium space for contests and panels.

“We’re doing more of everything,” said Dewey Caruthers, St. Pete Comic Con organizer who also runs Anime St. Pete and Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay. “More space, more celebrity guests, more panels, and more activities are all part of our plans for 2023,” he said. 

St. Pete Comic Con 2023 features three big-time anime voice actors, three nationally-known comic artists, and four high-profile guest cosplayers. In addition, panels will be held across the street at The Sunshine Center, which includes an auditorium for larger attended topics. “We listened to fans last year and expanded to include bigger and better rooms for panels and other programming,” he said.

And the convention features five contests with $1,500 in cash prizes. Like last year, there are two cosplay contests (Craftsmanship on Saturday and Runway on Sunday). And new competitions include a lip sync contest, and a Tiktok film festival.