Animecon (Finland)

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Animecon
Status Active
Location Varies
Country Flag of Finland Finland
First held 1999
Organizer Suomen Animeunioni
Attendance approx. 7000 in 2007, together with Finncon
Official website

Animecon is the largest anime convention in Finland, held annually over a weekend in varying Finnish cities. It has no participation or membership fees.

Animecon is organized as a joint project between anime clubs throughout Finland, facilitated by the communications hub Suomen Animeunioni (The Finnish Anime Union).[1] The convention was first established in 1999 as an outgrowth of the science fiction anime fandom of the sci-fi convention Finncon,[2] expanded into a separate event about anime in general. Animecon and Finncon are still held in conjunction, sharing premises but no events; they even hold separate opening ceremonies.

The two drew some 5200 visitors in 2004[3] and 5500 in 2006[4], peaking at 5000 on Saturday during the three-day event.[5] After the 2007 conventions, an organizer cited the number of visitors as an estimated 7000.[6] Animecon II was the first major cosplay event in Finland, [7] and the practice has been noted for its abundance in later ones.[5]

Two women cosplaying as anime characters during Animecon 2007.
Two women cosplaying as anime characters during Animecon 2007.

[edit] Conventions

  • Animecon (1999): Turku
  • Animecon II (2003): Turku
  • Animecon III (2004): Jyväskylä, special guest artist Yoshitoshi Abe, guest speaker translator, author, anime specialist of the UK Sci Fi channel Jonathan Clemens.
  • Animecon IV (2006): Helsinki, special guest comics specialist Paul Gravett, author of Manga: 60 years of Japanese comics, accompanied by co-author Peter Stanbury.
  • Animecon V (2007): Jyväskylä, special guest Jonathan Clemens. Japanese rock fusion band GARI performed in the city.

Animecon VI (2008) will be held in Tampere. Animecon VII (2009) will be held in Helsinki.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Eturautti, Kyuu (2005). "Kotimaan katsaus (A domestic look)". Anime magazine (01): pp. 42. 
  2. ^ Joukamaa, Mauno (2006). "Animecon: Kuinka kaikki alkoi (Animecon: How it all began)". Anime magazine (13): pp. 08. 
  3. ^ "Jyväskylän Kesä veti väkeä", Turun Sanomat, 2004-07-14. Retrieved on 2007-09-03. (Finnish) 
  4. ^ Jyväskylän kaupunki: Virhe
  5. ^ a b Eturautti, Kyuu (2006). "Tervetuloa coniin! (Welcome to the con!)". Anime magazine (14): pp. 40–45. 
  6. ^ Animecon V home page. Accessed on 2007-09-03. "Kävijöitä oli erittäin paljon, arvoiden mukaan n. 7000." (We had an abundance of participants, estimates put their number at around seven thousand.)
  7. ^ Escapism in Japanese style (2006), Tuomas Tiainen, Free! magazine. Accessed on 2007-09-03.

[edit] External links