Animecon (Netherlands)

AnimeCon (Netherlands) is a yearly Dutch anime convention. The festival is officially called Anime year of edition but is called AnimeCon by visitors. AnimeCon is a non-profit organization organized by the J-POP Foundation (Dutch: Stichting Promotie Japanse Popcultuur).

AnimeCon (Netherlands)
Genre	Anime convention
Frequency	Annually
Years active	25
Inaugurated	February 1999 (1999-02)
Attendance	15.200
Organised by	J-POP Foundation

AnimeCon is a 52-hour non-stop fan convention; featuring Japanese movies (animation and cinematic), video games, competitions, concerts, theatre performances, workshops, presentations and the selling of art and merchandise. The doors open early in the afternoon on Friday and stay open until the end of the afternoon on Sunday.

AnimeCon is a fan convention for people who enjoy the elements of Japanese common popular culture and who want to find out more. AnimeCon is the largest Japan-oriented fan convention in the Netherlands, with just over 15.000 visitors in 2018.

International Cosplay competitions

There are six international competitions in the cosplay scene, and the AnimeCon organization is the only one in the world hosting preliminaries for all of them. Also they hosted their own international competition for the second time in 2016: Clara Cow's Cosplay Cup is now the seventh international cosplay competition.

• World Cosplay Summit, WCS (attendance not measured), Nagoya, Japan, for pairs
• CICAF, China International Cartoon and Animation Festival (attendance 2.000.000), Hangzhou, China, for teams from the Benelux
• Yamato Cosplay Cup, Anime Friends Festival (attendance 150.000), São Paulo,. Brazil, for individuals from the Benelux
• Euro Cosplay Championships, MCM London Comic Con (attendance 120.000), London, UK, for individuals
• ECG (European Cosplay Gathering), Japan Expo (attendance 250.000), Paris, France, for pairs and individuals
• Cosplay World Master, Iber Anime (attendance 25.000), Porto, Portugal
• Clara Cow's Cosplay Cup (C4), AnimeCon (projected attendance 15.000), The Hague, The Netherlands, for pairs

Clara Cow’s Cosplay Cup

This international cosplay event started in 2015 is named after the mascot Clara Cow. In Clara Cow's Cosplay Cup, or C4, teams of two cosplayers from different countries compete for the Golden Marieke statue and a week long all expenses paid trip to Japan. All judging is done by veteran cosplayers from non-competing countries.
UK: MCM London Comic Con since 2001, attendance: 120.000
Spain: Salon del Manga since 1991, attendance: 130.000
France: Mang’Azur, attendance: 20.000
Germany: Animuc, attendance: 20.000
The Netherlands: AnimeCon since 1999, attendance 15.000
Poland: Japanicon since 2009, attendance: 10.000
Denmark: J-Popcon since 2000, attendance: 7.000
Romania: Otaku Festival since 2001, attendance: Not measured
Portugal: Iber Anime, attendance: 25.000
Switzerland: Japanimanga Night since 2001, Attendance: Not measured
Russia: Hinode Moscow, attendance: 80.000
USA: Omni Expo, attendance: 40.000
Belgium: F.A.C.T.S, attendance: 40.000

History

Date	Location	Visitors	Theme
February 1999	Holiday Inn, Rotterdam	208	AnimeCon 1999:
February 2000	Koningshof, Veldhoven	300+	AnimeCon 2000:
February 2001	Koningshof, Veldhoven	382	AnimeCon 2001:
February 2002	Koningshof, Veldhoven	524	AnimeCon 2002:
February 2003	Hotel Haarlem-Zuid, Haarlem	770	AnimeCon 2003:
May 2004	Theaterhotel Almelo, Almelo	1043	AnimeCon 2004:
May 2005	Theaterhotel Almelo, Almelo	1157	AnimeCon 2005: Magical Mystery
June 2006	Theaterhotel Almelo, Almelo	± 1300	AnimeCon 2006: Romance
June 2007	Theaterhotel Almelo, Almelo	± 1300	AnimeCon 2007: Fun and (Video) Games
2–4 May 2008	Theaterhotel Almelo, Almelo	± 1300	AnimeCon 2008: 10th anniversary
1–3 May 2009	Theaterhotel Almelo, Almelo	3.700	AnimeCon 2009: Mental Maniacs
21–23 May 2010	Theaterhotel Almelo, Almelo	3.750	AnimeCon 2010: Masters & Servants
6–8 May 2011	Theaterhotel Almelo, Almelo	4.900	AnimeCon 2011: Children of the Night
18–20 May 2012	Theaterhotel Almelo, Almelo	4.900	AnimeCon 2012: Apocalypse Cow
31 May - 2 June 2013	World Forum, Den Haag	8.700	AnimeCon 2013: To Udder Worlds
13–15 June 2014	World Forum, Den Haag	11.000	AnimeCon 2014: Summer Games
12–14 June 2015	World Forum, Den Haag	12.700	AnimeCon 2015: Do NOT try this at home!
10–12 June 2016	World Forum, Den Haag	14.500	AnimeCon 2016: All aboard!
9–11 June 2017	World Forum, Den Haag	14.900	AnimeCon 2017: Marieke's Magical Miracle
15–17 June 2018	World Forum, Den Haag	15.200	Animecon 2018: Queens of the Round (s)table
14–16 June 2019	Ahoy, Rotterdam	16.000	Animecon 2019: AnimeCon Goes South

References

• Anigenda website