This year’s San Diego County Fair has faded into the sunset till next year and local beaches are recovering from the huge 4th of July crowds and now it’s time for the next chapter of San Diego’s summer.
As it has been for years now, the next chapter of summer, the one that happens in July, brings tons of tourists to San Diego.
Yes, the countdown is underway for Comic Con, San Diego’s largest annual convention and the one that is seen as the biggest draw for tourists than any single event of the year.
Comic Con has become such a huge event in recent years, far surpassing what the organizers ever imagined when they held that first geeky comic book convention decades ago, that the convention center can’t even contain it.
The four day pop cultural event now spreads itself outside the walls of the convention center, into the Gaslamp and even to hotels away from downtown, with exhibits, events and excitement for Comic Con fans.
It has become the Super Bowl in a city that is now without an NFL team and no chance of getting a Super Bowl unless we ever get another NFL team.
And because it is now so important to San Diego’s tourism industry and the local economy, Comic Con has become a major focus in the ongoing debate over the expansion of the convention center and the proposals for ballot measures to pay for it.
So clearly, the recent extension of the Comic Con contract that keeps it in San Diego through at least 20-21 was good news.
But what happens after that depends on what happens next in San Diego. A city that has lost the Chargers can’t afford to lose Comic Con.
(Photo credit Getty Images)