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Written by:
Shantelle Nagarajan
9th September 2026
Fourteen years on, Comic Con in the Middle East has grown from a gathering of fans to one of the region’s biggest celebrations of pop culture, creativity and community.
The halls of Middle East Film & Comic Con (MEFCC) hold decades of legacy for fandoms in the region – more than superheroes and lightsabers, it has become home to the region’s dreams and storytellers. What began in 2012 as a pop-culture convention has evolved into a movement that inspires generations to create, compete and build their own worlds, championing imagination, craftsmanship and community.
As we gear up for its return in 2026 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) from September 11 to 13, here’s a bird’s eye view of one of the region’s most iconic events.
Middle East Film & Comic Con by the numbers
From humble beginnings in Dubai to record breaking attendance in 2025, here’s a snapshot at MEFCC through the ages:
2012:
The origin story: Hosted in Dubai at the Dubai International Marine Club, Mina Seyahi. Attendees 8000+ First celebrity lineup at the convention.
2016:
The expansion pack: 25,000+ attendees, comic legend Stan Lee attends as a guest amongst more than 20 celebrity guests.
2018:
Global standings: Integrated with Informa Connect, elevated to a global scale event. Featured more than 250+ artists, collectors & entrepreneurs.
2022:
The new fan economy: MEFCC finds a new home in Abu Dhabi.
2025:
Breaking records: Welcomed more than 46,000 fans over three days, including 400 international brands and celebrities.
Behind the costume
From left: Kalypso; Fatma Coser; Vin.
One of the most celebrated crafts at Comic Cons is the art of cosplay. Often mistaken for make-believe dress-up, at its best it’s performance art, engineering, textile work and character study rolled into one – practised by fans who spend months, sometimes years, building a single costume from scratch.
We spoke to judges of the 2026 Cosplay Competition to find out more.
For cosplayer and judge Kalypso, the conversation has shifted away from a single obvious skill and toward range. “Now I feel like the global conversation has to do with the variety of techniques a cosplayer can put into their costume,” she explains. “It’s the conversation around ‘the master-of-one versus a jack-of-all-trades.’”
A costume that draws on sewing, prop-making and performance shows judges a willingness to step outside the comfort zone. Vin, judging alongside Kalypso this year, traces great craft back further – to research. “Deep and thorough research on the character you’re cosplaying is the hidden skill fans overlook,” Vin says, whether that means studying how professional costumers construct superhero suits or how a historical dress was actually sewn.
“These things can add so much depth and story to even the smallest details of your cosplays.”
At MEFCC, cosplay takes on a regional flavour – costumes adapted for summer comfort and modesty norms alike. For Emirati cosplayer Fatma Coser, craft and identity are inseparable – as a hijabi cosplayer, she adapts every costume to her own values without losing the character underneath.
“Character truth is about getting the character’s identity, silhouette, personality and key details, but not copying it exactly,” she says. “Modesty has no limitations. For me, I see it as a chance to be creative and add my touch to the character.” Authenticity in cosplay was never about exact replication – it’s about interpretation.
Diversity runs through regional cosplay, too: Kalypso’s recent build of Queen Sonia from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom incorporated traditional Filipino craftwork – T’boli bells and Capiz shells – developed with Vin. “I like to see this as a positive sign that our community is so welcoming and open-minded,” she says of the UAE’s multicultural cosplay scene.
Vin frames the same instinct as a kind of preservation: leaning on culturally specific fabrics and design motifs “helps keep these wonderful art forms alive in the modern world.”
The competitive advantage: Advice from judges of the 2026 Cosplay Competition
As cosplayers prep for the 2026 Cosplay Competition, we asked judges Vin, Kalypso and Fatma Coser for their best advice to entrants.
Fatma Coser: “Cosplay takes time to learn – sewing, prop-making, makeup, performing. Be proud of who you are. Don’t copy – find your own style.”
Kalypso: “Take the plunge. Don’t see competitions as a chance to win – see them as a chance to show what you bring. You never really lose with that mindset.”
Vin: “Be confident and practise. Use all the space you’re given – a well thought-out performance is memorable. Whatever the outcome, competing is invaluable.”
The next generation of Middle East Film & Comic Con
Fandoms usually start small – a poster on a bedroom wall, doodles in a sketchbook – and grow to shape who we become. MEFCC aims to celebrate that influence.
From humble beginnings in April 2012 – two days on the sands of Mina Seyahi – to an audience of more than 45,000 in 2025, people keep coming back to a community that grew up with them.
Ayman Akaily, MEFCC’s Lead Content Manager, puts it simply. “We didn’t create the fandom,” he says. “The fandom was already there. We created a place for it to gather.” MEFCC’s DNA is rooted in listening before building – even as the event has grown into a mega-event across ADNEC, scale hasn’t replaced intimacy.
That shows up physically, in districts built for discovery rather than spectacle – Otaku District, Artist Alley, Gaming Arena, Cosplay Central – where fans wander from a Hollywood name to an Emirati illustrator’s booth without noticing the shift. In Akaily’s world, there shouldn’t be one.
The clearest expression of that philosophy in 2026 may be the Short Film Competition: 83 submissions, 37 qualified entries, 10 films that will finally reach a screen and an audience.
Behind every number is a young filmmaker who once sat in that audience, quietly building a story of their own. Akaily calls this the real ambition. “We want them to leave thinking; I could make something like that.” Encouraged by MEFCC’s 2024 judges to compete as a team, Kalypso and Vin spent a year stitching, sanding and rehearsing – then became the youngest cosplayers ever to represent the UAE at the World Cosplay Summit in Japan, placing tenth, the highest any Middle Eastern country has climbed.
While the 2026 edition will continue to feature celebrity guests, trading floors and exclusive drops, this year’s MEFCC aims to tell the story of young Emirati and expat creators learning that a costume can become a craft, a short film can become a calling, and a convention floor can become a launchpad to the big leagues.
Tickets to MEFCC are on sale and currently start at Dhs160.
