Status Active Country Canada Attendance 9,468 in 2015 | Location(s) Edmonton, Alberta Inaugurated 1994 | |
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Venue MacEwan University City Centre Campus | ||
Animethon is a three-day anime convention held annually at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta. It is Canada's longest-running anime convention, the first being held in 1994.
Contents
Convention History
Animethon was formed back in 1994 by the Banzai Anime Klub of Alberta (BAKA) and hosted by (BAKA II), with the intention of promoting Japanese anime. It became a success by presenting well-known and more obscure anime to audiences and has since grown to what it is now. Today, Animethon is presented by the non-profit organization, Alberta Society for Asian Popular Arts (ASAPA).
In the beginning, Animethon 1 was a one-day event that allowed people to view different Japanese anime movies and television shows within two classrooms at Grant MacEwan. From there, it expanded to the whole 106th street building during Animethon 2 through 10. It was not until Animethon 11 that the festival grew to utilize the entire university campus for events, artist alley, education panels, and a large vendor hall. As such, the steady increase of numbers in attendees to Animethon has allowed for various vendors to expose themselves to a unique group of people both young and old.
With an estimated 4,000 people in 2003, Animethon was the tenth largest anime convention in North America that year.
Animethon has experienced several years of consecutive growth in attendance while increasing their scope to include guests from Japan such as DaizyStripper, Kanon Wakeshima, An Cafe, FLOW, and Ladybeard.
Events and programming
Animethon has expanded their focus beyond screening anime and now also include voice actor guests from North America, musical acts from North America and Japan, improvisation groups, as well as various related activities such as gaming, costume contests, anime music video compilations/contests, and more.
A Taste of Animethon
A Taste of Animethon was first created in 2010. While nowhere near the size of Animethon itself it's been a successful event in its own right with a steadily growing attendance.
ASAPA control
In 2004 the event was transferred to a new society, the Alberta Society for Asian Popular Arts (ASAPA), a non-profit society that focuses on the promotion and enjoyment of Asian popular art and culture. The society is also the financial and legal backbone of Animethon, formed under the Societies Act of Alberta.