Status Active Country United States | Location(s) San Jose, California Inaugurated 1994 | |
Genre Anime, Japanese popular culture Venue San Jose McEnery Convention Center | ||
FanimeCon is an annual four-day anime convention held during May at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California over Memorial Day weekend. It was the 5th largest North American anime convention in 2013, but not ranked in 2014 onwards due to its attendance being shared with the steampunk convention Clockwork Alchemy.
Contents
Programming
The convention typically offers an AMV contest, artist's alley, contests, cosplay chess, dances, dealer's room, formal ball, game room (arcade, console, PC, and tabletop), karaoke, maid cafe, masquerade, panels, screenings, a swap meet, tournaments, and workshops. The convention offers 24-hour programming, including gaming and video.
FanimeCon held an art auction for the charity Habitat for Humanity in 2004. Charities that FanimeCon supported in 2011 included the American Red Cross of Silicon Valley, APA Family Support Services of San Francisco, Cancer Support Community, and Japanese Red Cross Society.
History
FanimeCon was first held in 1994 at California State University, Hayward, being run by several anime clubs. Foothill College would also host the convention until moving to the Wyndham Hotel in San Jose for 1999. From 2000-2003 the Santa Clara Convention Center hosted FanimeCon. In 2004, FanimeCon moved to the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. Problems with the convention in 2009 included Christian protests and over purchasing of artist alley tables, with the protesters also returning in 2010. In 2011, Saturday saw three hour registration waits, problems with the convention not using a printed schedule, outside religious protesters, and the Marriott fire alarm being pulled on Monday morning. Registration was affected in 2012 by an power outage. FanimeCon's 20th anniversary in 2014 was marked by San Jose having Fanime Day on May 23, 2014. The masquerade in 2015 suffered from technical issues. FanimeCon's masquerade for 2016 was scheduled to run for five hours.
The convention in 2004 brought $5 million to the local economy, growing to an estimated 8.7 million in 2013, and 10.5 million in 2014.