Comic-Con Parking Is $20 a Day. The Streetcar Is Free.
Tucson Comic-Con runs Sept. 4-6, 2026 at the Convention Center downtown — Shatner, a 1966 Batmobile, $20 garages, and a fare-free streetcar stop.
William Shatner, Lou Ferrigno and a 1966 Batmobile are on the guest list. So is an Arizona Daily Star staff illustrator whose work has hung on a Metallica tour poster.
Convention Center parking is $20 per day. Tucson Comic-Con publishes that number on its own parking page — and directly underneath it, tells you about Sun Link, the downtown streetcar, and that riding it is free. An event telling you not to pay it for parking is worth listening to, and it is the first thing to sort out before the show takes over the Tucson Convention Center from September 4 through 6.
- Sept. 4-6
- Fri. 2-7 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
- $20
- Convention Center parking, per day, per the organizer
- Free
- Sun Link streetcar - 3.9 miles, 23 stops, five districts
- 260 S. Church Ave.
- Tucson Convention Center, downtown Tucson, 85701
Who and What Is Billed
Seven names carry the celebrity billing: William Shatner, Lou Ferrigno, E.G. Daily, Deep Roy, Barbie Blank, Tracy Lynn Cruz and Katie Sarife. A 1966 Batmobile is listed as a special appearance alongside them.
The creator roster is the longer one, and depending on what you read, the heavier — Jim Starlin, James O'Barr, John Layman, Joe Benitez, Mark Texeira, Gabriel Hardman, Brian Pulido, Norm Rapmund, Steven Grant, Mike Friedrich, Jonboy Meyers and Larry Welz, among roughly thirty more. CGC and CBCS both send graders, which is the detail that tells you whether people are bringing boxes. On the schedule: artist alley, panels, photo ops, a drink-and-draw, adult and youth costume contests, an art zone, scavenger hunts, after-hours events and an inclusive quiet zone. Single-day and multi-day passes are sold through the convention's own site.
The Parking Math
The Convention Center campus has four places to spend that $20: Lot A, the garage at 260 S. Church Ave. between Broadway Boulevard and Cushing Street; Lot B, on the west side off Granada Avenue; and the Lot C surface lot and Lot C garage, both behind the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall. All four are run by Premium Parking, which has replaced gates and paper tickets with QR codes and an app — you pay on arrival. Come all three days and that is $60, which is real money set against the price of a badge. Sun Link, meanwhile, runs 3.9 miles across 23 stops and connects five districts: Mercado San Agustín, downtown, Fourth Avenue, Main Gate Square and the University of Arizona. Sun Tran's own stop guide lists the Granada Avenue and Cushing Street stop as the one for the Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave. — the west edge of the campus, roughly where Lots B and C are. An end-to-end round trip takes about an hour.
- Friday, September 4 (2-7 p.m., Five hours, Shortest day): Doors at 2 p.m., out at 7. It is the shortest of the three days and the only one that starts after lunch, which matters if you were planning to make a full Friday of it.
- Saturday, September 5 (10 a.m.-6 p.m., Eight hours, Longest day): Eight hours, the longest block of the weekend, and the day the panels, photo ops and costume contests have the most room to spread across.
- Sunday, September 6 (10 a.m.-5 p.m., Seven hours, Last day): Seven hours and the last pass at the artist alley tables. Doors close at 5 p.m., which is also when the creators start packing.
- Getting There (Free streetcar, $20 garages, 260 S. Church Ave.): Sun Tran lists Sun Link's Granada Avenue and Cushing Street stop as the Convention Center stop, and the ride costs nothing. The four Premium Parking lots are $20 a day, paid by QR code or app on arrival.
From 500 People to a 233,000-Square-Foot Campus
The convention launched in 2008 and drew about 500 visitors. By 2016 attendance was about 11,000, and in 2023 it doubled again to roughly 22,000 — the figures the Arizona Daily Star reported in August 2024. That trajectory is why it now needs the Convention Center rather than a hotel ballroom: the campus carries 233,000 square feet of new and remodeled event space across three performance venues, and it is the only address downtown that can absorb a crowd that size for three days running. Growth is also why the parking question is not a small one: a convention that has multiplied more than fortyfold since 2008 is competing for the same four lots it always had.
The Arizona Daily Star Illustrator on the Guest List
Chiara Bautista is the name on that roster with the most Tucson in it. She has worked behind the scenes at the Arizona Daily Star since 2001, and the illustration she does under her own name has earned her more than 700,000 followers on Facebook. In June 2018 the Star reported she was one of 35 artists tapped to create posters for the 35 United States stops on Metallica's WorldWired tour — one poster per city. She will be at a table in the artist alley, in the same room as a Batmobile, which is a fair summary of what a regional convention is actually for.
Quick reference (August 27, 2026): Tucson Comic-Con runs Friday, September 4 through Sunday, September 6, 2026 at the Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave., Tucson, AZ 85701. Hours are Friday 2 to 7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Convention Center parking is $20 per day across four Premium Parking lots; the Sun Link streetcar is fare-free and its Granada Avenue and Cushing Street stop is listed by Sun Tran as the Convention Center stop. Single-day and multi-day passes are sold through tucsoncomic-con.com. Guest lineups, hours, parking rates and ticket prices change — confirm at tucsoncomic-con.com before you go.
Three Days, Four Blocks, One Free Ride
Downtown Tucson gets a handful of weekends a year where the streets are the event rather than the route to it, and this is one of them. If you have been circling downtown as a place to live and have only ever seen it on a Tuesday, a convention weekend is the honest stress test: how the streetcar behaves under load, what the walk from Congress Street to Church Avenue is like with a crowd in it, whether the $20 garage is a nuisance or a dealbreaker. Ride it in on Saturday, walk out at six, and you will have learned something about the neighborhood that no listing photograph carries.
Sources
Tucson Comic-Con — "Location and Hours" — tucsoncomic-con.com/location-and-hours — accessed August 27, 2026 (for the September 4-6, 2026 dates, the Friday 2-7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. hours, and the Tucson Convention Center venue). Tucson Comic-Con — "Guests" — tucsoncomic-con.com/guests — accessed August 27, 2026 (for the celebrity guests William Shatner, Lou Ferrigno, E.G. Daily, Deep Roy, Barbie Blank, Tracy Lynn Cruz and Katie Sarife; the creator guests including Jim Starlin, James O'Barr, John Layman, Joe Benitez, Mark Texeira, Gabriel Hardman, Brian Pulido, Norm Rapmund, Steven Grant, Mike Friedrich, Jonboy Meyers, Larry Welz and Chiara Bautista; and the CGC and CBCS grading exhibitors). Tucson Comic-Con — "Home" — tucsoncomic-con.com — accessed August 27, 2026 (for the 1966 Batmobile special appearance and for the artist alley, panels, photo ops, drink-and-draw, adult and youth costume contests, art zone, scavenger hunts, after-hours events and inclusive quiet zone). Tucson Comic-Con — "Parking" — tucsoncomic-con.com/parking — accessed August 27, 2026 (for Convention Center parking at $20 per day and for the convention's own recommendation of the free Sun Link streetcar). Tucson Comic-Con — "Tickets" — tucsoncomic-con.com/tickets — accessed August 27, 2026 (for single-day and multi-day passes being sold through the convention's own site). Tucson Convention Center — "Parking & Directions" — cc.tucsonconventioncenter.com/venue-info/parking-directions — accessed August 27, 2026 (for Lot A Garage at 260 S. Church Ave. between Broadway Boulevard and Cushing Street, Lot B off Granada Avenue, the Lot C surface lot and Lot C garage behind the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, and for Premium Parking's QR-code and app payment replacing gates and tickets). Tucson Convention Center — "Venue Info" — cc.tucsonconventioncenter.com/venue-info — accessed August 27, 2026 (for 233,000 square feet of new and remodeled event space and the three performance facilities on the campus). Sun Tran — "Sun Link Streetcar" — suntran.com/routes-services/sunlink — accessed August 27, 2026 (for the fare-free ride, the 3.9-mile route, the 23 stops, the five districts of Mercado San Agustín, Downtown, Fourth Avenue, Main Gate Square and the University of Arizona, and the roughly one-hour round trip). Sun Tran — "Sun Link Streetcar Brochure" (dated 02/2026) — suntran.com/wp-content/uploads/SunLink-Brochure-FEB.pdf — accessed August 27, 2026 (for the Granada Avenue and Cushing Street stop listed as the stop for the Tucson Convention Center at 260 S. Church Ave., and for the full stop list). Arizona Daily Star / tucson.com — "How Tucson Comic-Con is celebrating 15 years" — tucson.com/life-entertainment/local/events/tucson-comic-con-pop-culture-art/article_3fa3374e-4dc7-11ef-9455-33efa94b519e.html published August 14, 2024 — accessed August 27, 2026 (for the 2008 launch drawing about 500 visitors, about 11,000 attendees in 2016, and that number doubling to about 22,000 in 2023). Arizona Daily Star / tucson.com — "Tucson artist tapped to create poster for upcoming Metallica tour" — tucson.com/entertainment/tucson-artist-tapped-to-create-poster-for-upcoming-metallica-tour/article_68a3e696-6554-11e8-859b-a3e73ab2f9f2.html published June 1, 2018 — accessed August 27, 2026 (for Chiara Bautista having worked behind the scenes at the Arizona Daily Star since 2001, her more than 700,000 Facebook followers, and her selection as one of 35 artists tapped to create posters for the band's 35 United States tour stops). All details are current as of August 27, 2026; event hours, guest lineups, ticket prices and parking rates change without notice, so confirm before relying on any single figure. This post is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase real estate. Kyle Berglund and Tierra Antigua Realty fully support and comply with the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act.
Topics
- Events
- Tucson Comic-Con
- Tucson Convention Center
- Downtown Tucson
- Sun Link Streetcar
- Tucson
- 85701