Cosplay, a portmanteau 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, and video games. The term is composed of the two aforementioned counterparts – costume and role play.
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Te Papa Tongarewa translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring from mother Earth here in New Zealand". Usually known as Te Papa, it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand and the National Art Gallery. An average of more than 1.5 million people visit every year, making it the 17th-most-visited art gallery in the world. Te Papa's philosophy emphasises the living face behind its cultural treasures, many of which retain deep ancestral links to the indigenous Māori people.
Wellington Regional Stadium is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. The stadium's bowl site size is 48,000 m2 (520,000 sq ft).
A costume party or fancy dress party is a type of party, common in contemporary Western culture, in which many of the guests are dressed in costume, usually depicting a fictional or stock character, or historical figure. Such parties are popular in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, especially during Halloween.
Samuel Percival Maitland Hunt is a New Zealand poet, especially known for his public performances of poetry, not only his own poems, but also the poems of many other poets. He has been referred to as New Zealand's best-known poet.
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.
Christchurch Arena is an indoor arena in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located in the suburb of Addington. It has gone through a series of name changes, the most recent of which prior to its current name having been Horncastle Arena.
The New Zealand National Science Fiction Convention is a volunteer-run science fiction convention that is scheduled annually, and usually takes place either at Easter or at Queen's Birthday weekend. It is usually abbreviated as NatCon.
Armageddon Expo is a New Zealand owned and operated pop culture convention that holds multiple events around New Zealand in cities including Auckland, Wellington, Tauranga and Christchurch. The event, run by Beyond Reality Media Premier Event Management, has been running continuously since 1995. It has evolved from its roots of comics and trading cards to showcase computer and video gaming, animation, film and television, cosplay, comics, live wrestling, and retailers selling pop-culture merchandise.
The TSB Bank Arena is an indoor arena in Wellington.
Otakuthon is Quebec's largest 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. Last year's edition, Otakuthon 2019, was held on August 16–18, 2019 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal.
Robyn E. Kenealy is a comic book artist and organiser in the New Zealand art communities. She is based in Wellington, and had a role in establishing the 91 Aro St Gallery, organising the New Zealand Comics Weekend and the Eric Awards. Kenealy's early works, Influenza in Wellington and Love Ain't Easy, were predominantly autobiographical comics. Her later work Roddy's Film Companion marks a distinct shift from this style. Although Roddy's Film Companion is biographical, it is also fictional and frequently acknowledges the limitations of 'truth' and 'fact' in historical research. These themes are continued in Steve Rogers' American Captain, an autobiographical comic told from the perspective of Captain America's alter-ego.
Impact Pro Wrestling (IPW) is a New Zealand professional wrestling promotion. It has promoted regular events throughout the country and abroad in the last several years and is credited for being the first to bring live wrestling shows to cities, such as Hamilton and Whangarei, in over two decades.
Comic Con India (CCI) is a series of annual comic-based conventions held in India. The first edition was held in New Delhi in 2011 and over the years has expanded to other major cities in India such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Ahmadabad. There are annual comic cons now in all these cities. Cumulatively these five cities attract over 200,000 visitors with over 1200 exhibitors. Jatin Varma, the founder & managing director of Comic Con India, launched the first comic con in India in Delhi in 2011. Since 2014, Comic Con India has been conducted in collaboration with ReedPop, the organisers of the New York Comic Con and the MCM London Comic Con.
L.A. Comic Con is a three-day multi-genre convention held annually in downtown Los Angeles, California. L.A. Comic Con is one of the largest independent conventions in the United States and encompasses several categories, including comic, horror, sci-fi, anime, gaming, and pop culture, with a particular focus on the local Los Angeles community.
Overload is an annual single-day anime convention focusing on doujin held in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the first of its kind to run in New Zealand.
Tahere Paul Eagle is a New Zealand politician and member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the Rongotai electorate. He was previously a Wellington City Councillor and the first person of Māori descent to be Deputy Mayor of Wellington, but was defeated in a landslide when he sought the mayoralty as an independent candidate in 2022.
CubaDupa is New Zealand's largest outdoor arts and music festival, celebrating the unique character of Cuba Street, Wellington. It attracts up to 100,000 people. The festival is managed and produced by the non-profit Creative Capital Arts Trust. It is held each year over a weekend in late March. The festival features a dozen music stages, parade groups, street theatre performances, visual art installations, and food and beverage vendors. Some central city streets are closed with Cuba Street in the centre, creating a large pedestrian festival zone. Many artists participate in the CubaDupa programme, including acts from all over the world.
The 2019 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections and was be held on 12 October to determine who would serve as Mayor of Wellington for the next three-year term. It was won by Andy Foster, who unseated the incumbent Justin Lester by 62 votes.
