A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significant portion of their time and energy involved with their interest, often as a part of a social network with particular practices, differentiating fandom-affiliated people from those with only a casual interest.
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, rock music performances, video games and in some cases original characters. The term is composed of the two aforementioned counterparts – costume and role play.
A science fiction convention is a gathering of fans of science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expression as films, television, comics, animation, and games. The format can vary but will tend to have a few similar features such as a guest of honour, discussion panels, readings and large special events such as opening/closing ceremonies and some form of party or entertainment. Science fiction conventions started off primarily in the UK and US but have now spread further and several countries have their own individual conventions as well as playing host to rotating international conventions.
A-Kon is an annual three-day anime convention held during June at the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas and Toyota Music Factory in Irving, Texas. First held in 1990 with just 380 people in attendance, A-Kon is North America's longest running convention primarily focused on anime.
Dragon Con is a North American multigenre convention, founded in 1987, which takes place annually over the Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. As of 2017, the convention draws attendance of over 80,000, features hundreds of guests, encompasses five hotels in the Peachtree Center neighborhood of downtown Atlanta near Centennial Olympic Park, and runs thousands of hours of programming for fans of science fiction, fantasy, comic books, and other elements of fan culture. It is owned and operated by a private for-profit corporation, with the help of a 1,500-member volunteer staff. Dragon Con has hosted the 1990 Origins Game Fair and the 1995 North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFiC).
Betty JoAnne Trimble, known as Bjo, is an American science fiction fan and writer, initially entering fandom in the early 1950s.
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.
Monica Jean Rial is an American voice actress and ADR script writer affiliated with Funimation and Seraphim Digital/Sentai Filmworks. She provides voices for English language versions of Japanese anime films and television series.
Sakura-Con is an annual three-day anime convention held during March or April at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, Washington. The convention, which is traditionally held over Easter weekend, is the largest anime convention in the Northwest. It is organized by the volunteer Asia-Northwest Cultural Education Association (ANCEA).
MomoCon is a fan convention held in March or May in Atlanta, Georgia.
Metrocon is an annual three-day anime convention held during July/August at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. It is Florida's largest anime convention and organized by Team Dynamite Productions. The convention evolved from meetups of AnimeMetro.com members.
FenCon is a literary science fiction and fantasy convention with filk held each year on or around the fourth full weekend of September in or around Dallas, Texas. The name is derived from "fen", the fannish plural of "fan", and "con", an abbreviation for "convention".
Fan Expo Dallas, previously known as Dallas Comic Con, is a three-day speculative fiction, fan convention held annually in the Dallas, Texas area. Larger in scale than the Dallas Fan Days events under the same management, Fan Expo Dallas focuses on comic book artists, writers, and publishers. These events usually also feature question and answer sessions, a large dealers room, and autograph-signing with a number of famous comic and media guests. The event is produced by Informa doing business as Fan Expo HQ.
Stellar Occasion was a three-day science fiction convention held in the Dallas, Texas area in the mid to late 1990s. It blended science fiction literary and media guests with space science in an unusual, fan-oriented cross between the traditional science fiction convention and a commercial media event. Stellar Occasion is notable for being an early proponent of the television series Babylon 5 and featuring both writers and actors from the show each year.
Zenkaikon is a multi-genre convention held during spring at the Lancaster County Convention Center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The convention was formerly based around King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Zenkaikon's name is a portmanteau of Zentrancon and Kosaikon, created when they merged in 2006. The convention has an all-volunteer staff.
Hal-Con Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Comic Convention, commonly known as Hal-Con, was founded in the 1970s and revived in the 2010s. It is traditionally an annual weekend event held in Halifax, Nova Scotia in Atlantic Canada during the middle of Fall.
Fan Expo is a group of fan conventions operated by Fan Expo HQ, a unit of the Informa Connect division of Informa plc. Most of its events are run under the Fan Expo brand, which stems from its namesake, the Toronto-based Fan Expo Canada.
CoastCon is Mississippi's longest running and largest science fiction, fantasy and gaming convention. It is the main sponsored event of CoastCon, Inc., a non-profit literary organization. CoastCon, Inc. and its ten-member volunteer board develop events and gatherings to promote reading, education, fellowship, and science fiction, fantasy and gaming in all formats across the Southern United States, for over forty years. The next CoastCon annual convention, CoastCon 46, will be held March 1-3, 2024, at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Comicpalooza is a large annual, multi-genre, comic book, science fiction, anime, gaming, and pop culture convention in the Southern United States and is held in Houston, Texas. The event is organized by John Simons, the originator of the event along with Startling Events, LLC. The event hosts the annual Comicpalooza Fandom Awards. It is the fourth largest Houston-based organized event behind Houston Rodeo, Houston Pride, and Astroworld Festival.
The Dallas Fantasy Fair was an annual multi-genre fan convention held between 1982 and 1995 in Dallas, Texas. From 1989 until the show's demise in 1996, it was the home of the Harvey Award ceremonies. During its heyday, the show was one of the largest comics conventions in the country, third in attendance behind the San Diego Comic-Con and the Chicago Comicon.
Dallas, Texas