Comic Con returning to Sunrise Mall this month

By Sara Beth Williams–
The Weekend Blender, an event labeled as “Not your typical comic-con,” is returning to Sunrise Mall on March 15-16, 2025.

The vendor fair features vendors selling all manner of merchandise from, anime, superhero, retro and vintage culture merchandise, toys and games, and everything in between.

The comic-con-themed event also features cosplay contests, one each day, where anyone can dress up and participate in a cosplay contest and small parade inside the Sunrise Mall. In past years, professional cosplay performers have come to entertain guests as they shop, such as Jack Sparrow, Spiderman and several Disney princesses.

The event has also featured celebrity guests including Hollywood stuntman Nick Palma in 2023, whose IMDB credits include stuntwork in John Carter (2021) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II and III (1991 and 1993) Newsies (1992) and The Rundown (2003)

In 2024, Carla Perez also made an appearance, whose IMDB credits include Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1994-1996), and several more Power Rangers spin offs, where she played the villain, Rita Repulsa.

This year’s Weekend Blender will be held Saturday, March 15, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, March 16, from 12 to 6 p.m. inside the mall’s main corridor. The event is free and family friendly.

The event is organized by Pete Salazar, who said the events began in 2009 at the Sierra Vista Mall in Clovis, California, with a handful of vendors who sold arts and crafts, toys, and collectibles. Salazar runs his own store in the Sierra Vista Mall and has hosted Weekend Blender events at both the Sierra Vista Mall and the Westfield Mall in Tracy.

Currently, Salazar organizes up to six Weekend Blender events per year in three different malls, including Sunrise Mall, and is committing to two events per year, per mall.

For more information, visit the event page here. The Sunrise Mall is located at 6041 Sunrise Blvd.