A-Kon is an annual three-day

anime convention An anime and manga convention (often called just anime 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 cam ...

held during June at the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas and Toyota Music Factory in

Irving, Texas Irving is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and is an Inner suburb, inner city suburb of Dallas. Irving is noted for its #Demographics, racial and ethnic diver ...

. First held in 1990 with just 380 people in attendance, A-Kon is North America's longest running convention primarily focused on anime.

Departments

A-Kon consists of many volunteer managed teams each dedicated to operating a portion of this large convention. Each year, usually in February or March, they post a web page for volunteer sign-up. Volunteers work at least sixteen hours during the weekend and receive a free pass to the convention. Working for 20 hours, volunteers aged over 18 can receive a hotel room, shared with 3 other staff members.

Programming

While the focus of the convention was originally centered on

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

fandom A fandom is a subculture composed of Fan (person), 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 significan ...

and screenings of films and television series, many other activities take place encompassing various segments of

geek The word ''geek'' is a slang term originally used to describe Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In th ...

and

Japanese pop culture Japanese popular culture includes Japanese cinema, cuisine, television programs, anime, manga, video games, music, and doujinshi, all of which retain older artistic and literary traditions; many of their themes and styles of presentation can be t ...

. These events include panels with American authors and artists, a console gaming room, tabletop gaming room,

cosplay Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and Fashion accessory, fashion accessories to represent a specific Character (arts), character. Cosplayers often i ...

, scavenger hunts, martial arts demonstrations, an art show, and concerts by Japanese and SteamPunk bands. The convention also maintains a vigorous social network presence on Facebook and Twitter, having about 15,000 and 7,000 followers respectively, through which they post information and run contests throughout the year.

History

The name seems to be a play on the early anime series

Project A-ko is a 1986 Japanese animated science fiction action comedy film. The film focuses on 16-year-old Japanese schoolgirl A-ko, who defends her best friend C-ko, as they face off against their classmate and rival B-ko while the Earth faces the threa ...

. A-Kon was purchased by Frank Powell in January 2019, during a period when the convention was having money issues. A-Kon 2020 was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. A-Kon 2021 was also cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A-Kon 2024 was postponed due to various issues including financial problems. The convention, in a May 2025 update announced that 2024 refunds were starting to be issued, and they hope to hold an event in 2026 or 2027.

Event history

References

External links

Project: A-Kon web site
{{coord, 32.8779653, -96.9431448, region:US-TX_type:event, display=title Anime conventions in the United States Recurring events established in 1990 1990 establishments in Texas Annual events in Texas Conventions in Texas Festivals in Texas Japanese-American culture in Texas Tourist attractions in Texas