San Diego Comic-Con Timeline of Events

San Diego Comic-Con may only be one week a year, but the lead-up, preparation for, and planning of the convention is practically a year-round event. It can be difficult to remember just when certain events — say, Hotelpocalypse, or the parking lottery — typically happen.

Comic-Con International are for the most part creatures of habits, and everything from badge sales to panel announcements to exclusive lotteries tend to happen at roughly the same time each year. So we’ve put together a handy timeline of historical events, to help you answer, “When will this (probably) happen?” and “When do I need to pay attention?”.

The below are historical dates for when things happen, as well as an infographic for a “typical” year. As always, things can fluctuate — but it’s a pretty good indicator of when sales and registration events might happen.

Returning Registration

2018: October 28
2019: October 13
2020*: October 12
2023: October 15
2024: November 4
2025: September 21

*This wound up being for the 2022 convention

Open Registration

2018: December 9
2019: November 10
2020*: November 16
2023: November 5
2024: November 18
2025: ~~October 26~~ November 23**

*This wound up being for the 2022 convention
**Cancelled and rescheduled due to technical difficulties

Early Bird Hotels

2018: November 7
2019: January 9
2022: March 29
2023: November 29
2024: November 6

General Hotel Sale

2018: April 4
2019: April 11
2022: April 28
2023: April 12
2024: April 17

Parking Announced

2018: April 2
2019: April 9
2022: May 16
2023: May 5
2024: May 8

Exhibitor List

2018: June 20
2019: June 20
2022: July 6
2023: June 29
2024: July 2

Badges Begin Shipping

2018: June 16
2019: June 14
2022: June 16
2023: June 14
2024: June 18

Complete Panel Schedule

This is always announced exactly two weeks before the convention, with Wednesday/Thursday’s schedule coming out on the Thursday two weeks before, Friday’s schedule coming out the Friday two weeks before, etc.