Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, and a broader use of the term "cosplay" applies to any costumed role-playing in venues apart from the stage. Any entity that lends itself to dramatic interpretation may be taken up as a subject. Favorite sources include anime, cartoons, comic books, manga, television series, rock music performances, video games and in some cases, original characters.
Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first weekend of July, spanning the course of four days. Anime Expo is regularly hosted at the Los Angeles Convention Center but has also been held in other cities such as Anaheim, San Jose, New York, and Tokyo.
An anime and manga convention is a fan convention with a primary focus on anime, manga and Japanese culture. Anime conventions are commonly multi-day events hosted at convention centers, hotels or college campuses. They feature a wide variety of activities and panels, with a larger number of attendees participating in cosplay than most other types of fan conventions. Anime conventions are also used as a vehicle for industry, in which studios, distributors, and publishers represent their anime related releases. They also take place in multiple different countries, such as Japan, South Korea, China, India, Indonesia, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Finland.
The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. With an attendance of 200,000 in 2022, it is North America's most attended fan convention. The New York Comic Con is a for-profit event produced and managed by ReedPop, a division of RX and Reed Elsevier, and is not affiliated with the long running non-profit San Diego Comic-Con, nor the Big Apple Convention, later known as the Big Apple Comic-Con, owned by Wizard Entertainment.
Otakuthon is a Canadian anime convention promoting Japanese animation (anime), Japanese graphic novels (manga), related gaming and Japanese pop-culture. It is held annually for 3 days in downtown Montreal during a weekend in August. It is a non-profit, fan-run anime convention that was initiated by Concordia University's anime club, named Otaku Anime of Concordia University. The name "Otakuthon" is a portmanteau of the Japanese word "otaku" and "marathon". Otakuthon strives to be a bilingual event, having programming, the masquerade and the program book in both official languages. The first edition of Otakuthon was held in 2006 in mid-June, but later moved to early-mid August / late July from 2007 onward. The current edition, Otakuthon 2024, is being held on August 2-4, 2024 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal.
London Film and Comic Con is a fan convention held annually in London that focuses on films, cult television, gaming, anime, cosplay and comics. It is organised by Showmasters Ltd.
The World Cosplay Summit is an annual international cosplay event, which promotes global interaction through Japanese pop culture. It developed from a cosplay exhibition held at the Aichi Expo in 2005.
Animefest is the oldest anime convention in the Czech Republic, Europe.
The Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) is fan convention dedicated to comics, pop culture, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies, and television held annually in Chicago. The inaugural event was held April 16–18, 2010 at the McCormick Place in Chicago.
The MCM Comic Con London is a speculative fiction fan convention held at the ExCel London twice yearly since 2002, usually on the last weekend in May and October. The convention primarily focuses on comic books, video games, sci-fi, cosplay, anime and popular media.
C3AFA, also known as Anime Festival Asia (AFA), is a series of anime conventions held in the Southeast Asian region, with a core annual convention held in Singapore. The main convention is traditionally held over a weekend in late November to early December. It was held at the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre from 2008 to 2011, but was moved to the Singapore Expo MAX Pavilion in 2012 due to renovation works at Suntec Convention Centre that year. The convention returned to Suntec Convention Centre in 2013 and is being held there till now.
Cosplay Mania is an annual cosplay-centered convention organized by Cosplay.ph. It is usually held in the fourth quarter of the year in the Philippines. The convention features various events related to cosplay, anime, and J-pop culture which features rookie and veteran cosplayers and cosplay enthusiasts.
Alodía Almira Arraiza Gosiengfiao-Quimbo is a Filipino cosplayer, model, TV presenter, singer, vlogger, actress and co-founder of Tier One Entertainment. She is also known as Senpai Alodia of the Philippines. As a celebrity endorser, she is one of the ambassadors and VJ for Animax Asia known as the "Ani-mates" and co-host of ABS-CBN's prank show Laugh Out Loud. She has been featured in various magazines, newspapers and TV shows locally and abroad. She appeared on the Filipino FHM 100 Sexiest Women poll, ranking No. 1 in 2009, No. 2 in 2010 and No. 3 in 2012; she posed as the cover girl for that magazine on its July 2013 issue. She was named by DOS Magazine as one of the Most Influential Women in the Philippines.
Jessica Nigri is an American cosplayer, promotional and glamour model, YouTuber, voice actress, and fan convention interview correspondent. She has been cosplaying since 2009 and modeling since 2012, having served as an official spokesmodel for several video games and comic book series, including Lollipop Chainsaw and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. She is also notable for her voice work as Cinder Fall in RWBY.
The Middle East Film & Comic Con is a speculative fiction convention held annually in the United Arab Emirates.
Dhaka Pop Culture Expo was a convention for fans of comic books, film, TV, anime and video games, held in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. The first event was held on Friday and Saturday 30–31 August 2013 at Baridhara DOHS Convention Center, Dhaka; it was attended by over 2,000 participants. The 2014 expo was staged 24–25 June 2014 at the National Shooting Federation Hall in Dhaka. The third edition took place 31 July and 1 August 2015. The expo returned in July 2016, and June 2017.
Monika Lee is an American cosplayer. In 2013, she joined the cast of reality television show Heroes of Cosplay.
Katie George is an American cosplayer who has been cosplaying since 2004 and lives in Atlanta. George has been a special guest at conventions in the United States and abroad, including MomoCon, Pensacon and more, hosting panels and acting as a judge in costume contests. In 2012, she was featured in the television documentary Cosplay: Crafting a Secret Identity and represented the US at the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya, Japan. In 2014, she joined the cast of the reality television show Heroes of Cosplay.
The Vancouver Halloween Parade & Expo is a festival of arts, performances, cosplay, comics, anime, films, costumes and makeup. The festival consists of an outdoor Parade in downtown Vancouver and an indoor Expo made of music and performing arts festival, arts exhibition and comic convention.
Crunchyroll Expo (CRX) was an annual three-day anime convention held during August/September at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California over Labor Day weekend. The convention was organized by anime licensor Crunchyroll and LeftField Media.
