How Lusaka Comic Con Began
Growing up in the mid-1990s, I often felt that the popular culture around me left little room for some of my interests. That desire for community, and the feeling of wanting to find people who shared those interests, helped inspire a group of young millennials to form a Facebook group called Nerd|Otaku. It eventually led to the creation of Lusaka Comic Con (LsCon), a convention celebrating pop culture and nerd culture in Zambia.
From Nerd|Otaku to Zambia's Pop Culture Convention
LsCon began in 2016 as a gathering for like-minded fans of nerd and popular culture. It brought together creators and community members with an interest in local and international arts. Highlights included live performances by bands such as Stasis Prey, vinyl records and nerd memorabilia from Time Machine Zambia, cosplayers, local artists and merchandise stalls.
LsCon became a meeting point for the different communities that make up nerd culture. Cosplayers developed followings of their own, while digital and traditional artists built audiences, and local merchandise businesses expanded, with some opening physical stores. The event also attracted partners and collaborators, including Open Window University, the Embassy of Japan to Zambia, Liquid Intelligent Technologies and Ster-Kinekor Zambia. Over the years, it has been hosted at different venues, from Paark Xtreme to the Mulungushi International Conference Centre.
How COVID-19 Changed LsCon and Its Community
LsCon has a habit of “catching fire” and outgrowing its venues. That momentum was interrupted in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted public events. Although there was no LsCon that year, the period also changed how many people spent their time, with online communities offering new ways to connect over shared interests. The event lost some connections but continued to attract interest, helping its organisers build relationships with a wider range of institutions, including the National Arts Council and government officials.
Since 2019, LsCon has provided a gathering place for Zambia's fighting game community (FGC) and helped challenge negative perceptions of competitive gaming. The event has brought together players at different levels, including Mortal Kombat player Chimba “Killjoy” Mutale of Illusion Gaming. The convention has also supported the development of local talent. In 2018, Team Gematrix helped Justin “Mr 5000” Banda travel to Las Vegas to represent Zambia at the Evolution Championship Series (EVO), an international fighting game tournament. Outside the competitive scene, casual and retro gamers also make up part of the LsCon community.
Cosplay, Creativity and Self-Expression at LsCon
Cosplay is one of LsCon’s mainstays and is its emotional centre. Hundreds of people dress up as their favourite fictional characters from all types of media. Returning attendees and internet lurkers have grown to anticipate their favourite cosplayer’s look on event day. Cosplayers like Mali-Chan (Malindi Chipenzi) and Laluna_Otaku have grown to be household names in the community and even received international recognition from the global cosplay fandom.
One can think of LsCon as a modern Ing'ombe Ilede because it brings together many cultures and their arts. The event is hosted by many different embassies and institutions, most notably the Japanese Embassy, which gives attendees a taste of Japanese culture with kimono wearing, origami and other activities. LsCon has been active long enough that it has inspired other grassroots African nerd communities to take root. Today the whole African continent has a healthy number of events for fans of all kinds. Fans across the continent can look forward to Zambia’s LsCon, Malawi’s Nerd Axis and Kenya’s Otamatsuri.
The People and Passion Behind Lusaka Comic Con
If you walk into LsCon, you’ll notice everything is colourful and kinetic; you’ll feel a rush of adrenaline at every turn. When the fanfare wears off, and you look closely, you’ll see what it takes to make it all possible. Much like with the cultures we celebrate, the allure of LsCon is not in understanding all the niches or being a fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion for 16 years. The herds of cosplayers and corridors of fan art are fueled by people who simply enjoyed what they saw and committed to loving it. The event has endured on pillars of passion, community, and evolution.
LsCon is kept alive by groups of volunteers who, despite their better judgment, decide to pour their lives and resources into something very alien to the usual Zambian weekend scene. The growing pains of sustaining something this big led to LsCon being powered by attendees, vendors, artists and partners. It's come a long way and would benefit greatly from some solid backing. It's a hard pitch but one that is very rewarding; else it wouldn't have lasted this past decade despite insurmountable odds. Olga Shinodo, one of Nerd|Otaku's founding members, put it best in an interview with Crunchyroll: 'At times we only understand a vision when it materialises. So sometimes you have to make it happen to get people to understand the bigger picture. So just push until you actually get it done.' That approach is what makes even the words you're reading now possible.
Grind Fiction: LsCon's 2026 Theme of Self-Expression
Any reasonable person could have told you 10 years ago that it was unlikely that the Zambian nerd community would be as big as it is now. Deviating from expectations is the common thread you'll find among the returning attendees. This year's theme is Grind Fiction, a sub-culture built on extreme self-expression and opposing the norms of societal expectations. Today, Zambia is reclaiming the glory of Zamrock, the cultural rock subgenre popular in the 70s, which, at its core, was Zambians being inspired by Western music and in turn, expressing their culture and identities through a new form of music. LsCon is that experience, and Grind Fiction is for the modern youth who live through music and self-expression. In today's age where everyone wonders just how free they are, it's important to not only get familiar with our ancestors' culture but to discover who we are by expressing what we love. If you ask me, that's what LsCon is.
LsCon 2026 is taking place on the 14th of November at NASDEC Sports Centre from 10:00 hrs to 18:00 hrs.
