Upcoming Events: August

This upcoming month there are only four conventions, and each one is in a different province. I'll be making it out to Animethon and Anime Evolution as well so there will be some posting on those two events coming up.


In Alberta:

Animethon - Edmonton, AB, August 6 - 8th

Held at the Grant MacEwan City Centre Campus, Animethon lists itself as being "Canada's longest-running festival celebrating Japanese animation."
I've been for four years, this upcoming year will be the fifth year I go myself and I always find it to be pretty fun and there's usually a good variety in panels and guests. 


In B.C:

Anime Evolution - Vancouver, BC, Aug 13 - 15th
 
This year Anime Evolution is being held at UBC. They have a long list of guests coming which if you want to check more up on you can find here.
Also I have to say they seem really well organized. Even with no schedule up yet (though there's bound to be soon), on the forums you can already check out what fan panels are running along with descriptions here.

In Ontario:

FanExpo Canada - Toronto, ON, Aug 27 - 29

Held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre this convention focuses on five things: comic, anime, sci-fi, horror, and gaming.

 In Quebec:

Otakuthon - Montreal, QB, August 13 - 15th

What is Otakuthon? Their FAQ answers this best:

"Otakuthon is Quebec’s largest fan-run festival promoting Japanese animation (anime), Japanese graphic novels (manga), related gaming and Japanese pop-culture. We are a not-for-profit organization that is a part of the Quebec Anime Committee."

Animethon in Edmonton's Capital Ex Parade

A while back Animethon had been trying to recruit cosplayers to be in the Capital Ex parade. And thus yesterday some cosplayers were able to show off their amazing costumes to the public.

IF you missed the parade here's a video of the Animethon portion:



I wish I'd been able to go. Credit of this post however goes to my friend Cassandra (also a cosplayer in the parade) for letting me know about these links. Thanks Cassandra!

Update: Manitoba & Ontario Cons

Searching along the internets I came across two conventions that were previously missing from the list. However they have now been added to the Canadian Convention list 2010.

Central Canada Comic Con - Winnipeg, MB - October 29th - 31st

Dot-Con - Toronto, ON - November 13th - 14th

Cosplay Picnics

Cosplay Picnics are great events to attend. I don't put them in the Convention List simply for the fact that they can be pretty hard to keep track of. They aren't really conventions in themselves but they are events or gatherings that can be a fun thing anyone can really get started.

I've been to one in Edmonton a couple of years ago and it was a lot of fun. The one I went to was potluck in style and most people showed up in costume. There wasn't anything overly planned other than bringing food and dressing up. Most other things just kind of happened.

I took photos from the one I went to in 2008 and if you're interested in checking out the photos from that you can find them here and the rest of them here.

Since then however I've read where some have people set up blankets and add in a mini artist alley and some games get added. It tends to vary at each event.
Edmonton had one again this year July 3rd. I found the event on FaceBook. According to the event listing there were 75 confirmed going and another 100 who put themselves down as a 'maybe'.
I don't know how the event turned out itself for the number of people who came out (how many people who say they'll come on FB and how many actually show up is always debateable) but I'm not surprised by the large amount of people (confirming themselves) for this event. Edmonton has a fair sized cosplay community.

If attending a Cosplay Picnic is something your interested in then I'd recommend just doing a quick search on FaceBook, either by events or groups as some groups manage a couple of the events.

If you aren't able to find one in your area then look at planning one. Maybe join in on one of the groups to see what kinds of things they do and start up your own event. All you really need to do is advertise a little and plan for the space, and what you want to do.

I reccommend definitely checking with other groups to hear what problems they might have had to work around, and advertise on their walls as well. If you have a convention that happens in your area as well go to their forums and advertise the event there. Maybe even contact the convention and see if it would be something they would be interested in helping with as a possible pre registration event.

Cosplay Picnics really add in a lot of freedom as you can make them just small events for you or your friends or make them bigger events where you gather together other cosplayers. Either way they can certainly help fill in the gaps if you're waiting for a convention to come up and want something fun to do.

Update: Dates for 2011

It might only be just over halfway through the year 2010 but as some conventions start in the earlier part of the year dates for 2011 have become available for some cons.

As such I've started the Canadian Convention List 2011 to keep track.

Also here's currently the conventions with their 2011 dates already up:


GottaCon - Victoria, BC -  Feb 4 - 6th 

G-Anime - Gatineau, QB - Feb 5 - 6th

Con-G - Guelph, ON - Feb 19- 20th

Soba Bowl - Edmonton, AB - March 12th

Edmonton Collectible Toy and Comic Show - Edmonton, AB - March 20th

Trumpeter Salute - Burnaby, BC - April 1 - 3rd

Harufest - Edmonton, AB - May 7th

Keycon - Winnipeg, MB, May 20 - 22nd
  
Anime North - Toronto, ON -  May 27 - 29th

Anime Evolution 2010 is Coming Soon

There may be many conventions coming up in the meantime but I have to say I was really impressed by a lot of the videos I saw for an event that hasn't even taken place yet.

Let's start with this one. It might not make too much sense but be sure to watch the second video posted here for a better explanation.



Who are these people he's talking about? Well you can click through the links to read more about Loading Ready Run (LRR), Team Four Star (TFS), and Synaptic Chaos Theatre (SCT).
However if you want to see how the kidnapping of the Communications Director of AE took place then watch the video below:



The video above is just one of a series of commercials about Anime Evolution done by LRR. Checking out the same channel I found some videos that were placed about about 3 months ago from what looks to be a commercial contest. I've posted my two favourites below but there are more of those as well and you can find them all on the AnimeEvolutionPR channel.

For more information about the convention itself check out: http://www.animeevolution.com/

Cosplay Masquerade Ball in Saskatoon, SK

The Saskatoon Love Love Anime Group has been busy. With Anime Blitz having been in May, and Nerdfest currently being worked on for this year (although there is no date yet), they have also added in another event. A Cosplay Masquerade Ball.

This event is July 23, 2010 from 6:30pm - 12:30am at the University of Saskatchewan Campus.
Their main post with all the info can be found here. And preregistration and policies can be found here.

It's certainly good to see that there is a very active group in Saskatchewan. To keep up with everything they're doing be sure to check out their FaceBook group.

Update: Dates Added

Two conventions on the Canadian Convention List 2010 now have their proper dates.

Pure Speculation - Edmonton, AB, October 22 - 24th

Naru2U - Ottawa, ON - November 12 - 14th