Animethon 25 to take over entire Shaw Conference Centre
Edmonton’s first Animethon, held back in 1994, took up all of two classrooms in a community college.
This August, the annual anime festival will take up every last inch of the 144,406 rentable square feet in the Shaw Conference Centre. Organizers expect around 10,000 attendees.
It will be the first time any organization has rented the entire Shaw.
“Anything they can rent us, we’re taking,” says Vicky Lau, Animethon’s director of public relations. “All the closets and nooks and everything.”
The size of the festival isn’t the only thing that’s changed in the 25 years since its debut. While this year’s Animethon will still include screenings of both popular and obscure anime, just like the original, this year’s edition of the festival will also host more—much, much more. Offerings include everything from panel discussions with popular anime voice actors to costume contests, an art sale area and more.
With over 400 hours of live programming events scheduled, keeping track of everything at Animethon 2018 is a challenge. Here’s a rundown of the highlights.
A PANEL FOR EVERY OCCASION
Animethon always hosts an incredible range of panel discussions. The move to the Shaw will allow for more than ever.
The guest-speaker lineup includes voice-acting stars like Daisuke Sakaguchi (Sailor Moon; God Eater; Pokemon), Erica Lindbeck
(League of Legends; Avengers: Secret Wars; Street Fighter V) and Mela Lee
(When They Cry; Durarara!!;
Blade of the Immortal). These stars will also available to sign autographs.
Yet Animethon has also always been a real grassroots festival, with many opportunities for attendees to get involved. As such it also accepts applications from attendees to organize their own panels on nearly any topic imaginable. This creates an eclectic mix of one-ofa-kind, inclusive discussions at each Animethon.
COSMOS WORTH OF COSPLAY
Dressing up like fictional characters, or “cosplay,” is a staple of geek culture. Animethon attendees always turn the festival into a threeday fashion show, with elaborate cosplay paying tribute to every corner of the genre. With more space and more attendees than ever before, the festival’s cosplay scene is sure to be the best yet.
THE ANIMETHON MUSIC VIDEO CONTEST
The Animethon Music Video Contest is a chance for anime fans to showcase their enthusiasm and creativity through anime-inspired music videos. A panel of judges will evaluate the videos and hand out prizes at a two-hour event. Categories include Best in Show, Audience Favourite, and Best Made in Alberta. Entries are open until June 17.
GAMING SPACE GALORE
Animethon 25 will devote more space than ever—24,000 sqaure feet—to a favourite pastime of many anime fans: games of all kinds. There will be a stage with videogame competitions, space for card games, and free-play areas for computer and console videogames.
There will also be a strong local angle, with space devoted to local independent game developers and Extra Life Edmonton, the local charity that raises funds for the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation.
“A lot of people either don’t know about Extra Life or haven’t participated,” says Ramin Ostad, president of Extra Life Edmonton. “This gives us an opportunity for us to reach out to a community that bleeds into our own and tell them: ‘You clearly have a passion for nerdery, we provide an opportunity to use that for a good cause and a selfless cause.’ It provides us an opportunity to give our message to the community that is most going to attach to it.”
THE ARTIST ALLEY
Past animethons have included space for vendors hawking specialty wears to fans of anime and general geek culture. This year’s incarnation will include an “Artist Alley” devoted to local talent. Anyone over 16 can apply for space in the Alley, which will be awarded by lottery, making it a great showcase opportunity for up-andcoming artists.
A TRUE SENSE OF COMMUNITY
Animethon’s thousands of attendees and recordbreaking rental at the Shaw require a team of over 300 volunteers to pull off. Despite the clear and growing demand for a conference of this kind in Edmonton, the festival remains a non-profit run entirely by volunteers, just like when it started.
This creates a true “by fans, for fans” atmosphere, as everyone at the event is connected by a love of anime and other related interests. That makes Animethon a great place to meet likeminded individuals, no matter how niche or obscure your interests.
Animethon 25 will run from Aug. 10 to 12 at the Shaw Conference Centre. Tickets are available at