Turning 85% of a shopping mall’s floor space into thirty themed zones isn’t an everyday sight. Yet that’s exactly what’s happening this week at Centro Comercial Alisios on Gran Canaria, where Gran Canaria Experience, also known as GCX26, returns for its second edition.
The festival, free and open to everyone, takes over the mall through Sunday, September 6, with more than 110,000 experiences spread across over 2,000 activity stations. There are more than a hundred esports competitions and tournaments, immersive technology zones, spaces for content creators, tabletop games, K-Pop, cosplay, and one area worth singling out, the Artist Alley, where illustrators and creators sell original work directly to the public, no middlemen involved. More than 30,000 euros in prizes are up for grabs.
You don’t need to be a gaming enthusiast to find something worthwhile: the event brings together more than 140 shops and artists alongside more than 40 independent video game studios, a mix that places commercial and handmade, big brand and small independent project, side by side. There are spaces built for children and families, others for people getting their first taste of digital culture, and others still for a specialized crowd that’s followed industry fairs for years.
The first edition’s numbers explain why the event draws attention well beyond the gaming world: 87,000 attendees and an estimated economic impact of 5.8 million euros. For this second edition, organizers expect more than 175,000 visitors and an economic return exceeding 20 million euros, figures that place the festival among the island’s more significant creative-economy initiatives, at a moment when Canarian institutions keep pressing the need to diversify an economy long tied too closely to sun-and-beach tourism.
The program also includes talks and networking spaces with national and international professionals, with sessions on gaming, technology and artificial intelligence, plus a nostalgic nod to the legendary Commodore computer. This year also marks the debut of an app designed to help visitors navigate the dozens of themed zones.
Admission stays free for all five days, and anyone planning a visit can check the schedule in advance on Centro Comercial Alisios’ official website, where hours and updates will keep being posted as the event approaches.
