Ai-Kon

Ai-Kon is an annual three-day anime convention held on a weekend during the month of July in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Ai-Kon was first held at the University of Manitoba in 2001 and is currently held at the RBC Convention Centre. The convention's name is a blend of the words ai (Japanese for love) and convention and is derived from its slogan "For the love of anime". The word ai was also chosen to play on the fact that the club had a magazine they called Anime Injection.

Ai-Kon
Ai-Kon logo
For The Love Of Anime!
StatusActive
VenueRBC Convention Centre Winnipeg
Location(s)Winnipeg, Manitoba
CountryCanada
Inaugurated2001
Attendance10,533 in 2023
Filing statusNon-profit
Websiteai-kon.org

Programming

Ai-Kon provides a wide variety of on mandate programming put on by committee staff, members of the community, guests and industry partners. Streaming/showing rooms run 24-hours during the conventions featuring titles in both Japanese and English languages. Alongside anime, the convention also hosts many video game and Japanese culture related activities.[1]

Additional convention events include:

  • Marketplace: Dealer's Room and an Artists Alley
  • Cosplay events: Cosplay Contest, Cosplay Skills Faire, workshops
  • Gamer's Lounge: no entry tournaments, various video games stations, tabletop gaming area, charity event for Extra Life
  • Music: Saturday Dance, Dance Showcase
  • Panels and workshops: Guests, staff, cultural workshops, fan based/ members of the community, industry, game shows, fashion shows
  • Other attractions: Cultural room, Maid Cafe, Gundam Builders World Cup National qualifiers, Tamiya mini 4awd stock car tournament, pop-up partnered experiences, art auction

History

Ai-Kon was first held in July 2001 at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and was run by the University of Manitoba Anime Club (UMAnime). The founding members were the club's executive staff, Kristjanna Thorarinson, Riki Lecotey, Kwan Fu Sit, Tong Lin, Cathleen Ma, Tim Groner, Geoff Wright, and Jeff Agapito. At the time the club held one-day events but they had so many things planned that summer, the club decided on making it a two-day event but added a dance on Friday evenings, making it a 3-day convention.[2][3] In 2002 the event went on hiatus for one year, due to changes within the club, and in July 2003 a second Ai-Kon was held at the university.[4]

Today, Ai-Kon is a non-profit organization that is run by a volunteer committee. It continues to be held annually in Winnipeg each summer.[5]

In 2011, as a celebration of the 10 year anniversary, Ai-Kon held a one-day event in January called "The Ai-Kon Winter Festival". This one-day event is now held annually in February under the name "Winterfest".

Event history
DatesLocationAttendanceGuests
July 20–22, 2001 University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba		500[2]Richard Kekuhuna (DVD Producer for Bandai entertainment)
July 25–27, 2003 University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba		700[4]
July 30 – August 1, 2004 Sheraton Hotel
Winnipeg, Manitoba		1,000[6]
August 12–14, 2005 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		960[7]
July 21–23, 2006 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		1,100[8]
July 27–29, 2007 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		1,551Greg Ayres and Vic Mignogna[5]
July 25–27, 2008 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		1,825Chris Ayres, Greg Ayres, and Johnny Yong Bosch.[9]
July 24–26, 2009 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		2,180Caitlin Glass, Tiffany Grant, and Jan Scott-Frazier.[10]
July 16–18, 2010 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		2,365Greg Ayres, Monica Rial, Kirby Morrow, Christopher Ayres[11]
January 15, 2011 (Winter Festival) Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		623[12]
July 15–17, 2011 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		2,575Greg Ayres, Eric Vale, Christopher Sabat, Johnny Yong Bosch[13]
July 20–22, 2012 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		2,785Christopher Sabat, Monica Rial, Brina Palencia, Todd Haberkorn, Greg Ayres[14]
January 12, 2013 (Winterfest) Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		[15]
July 12–14, 2013 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		3,148Chris Patton, Sarah Sullivan (Representative from Funimation), J. Michael Tatum, Greg Ayres[16]
February 8, 2014 (Winterfest) Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		[17]
July 11–13, 2014 Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		3,194Christopher Sabat, Richard Ian Cox, Greg Ayres, Johnny N Junkers (Cosplay Guest), The 404s[18]
February 28, 2015 (Winterfest) Delta Winnipeg Hotel
Winnipeg, Manitoba		[19]
July 17–19, 2015[20] RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg (Re-named)
Winnipeg, Manitoba		3,636The 404s, Greg Ayres, Eric Vale, Vickybunnyangel, Terri Hawkes, Ian Sinclair[21]
February 27, 2016 (Winterfest) RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg
Winnipeg, Manitoba		[22]
July 15–17, 2016[23] RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg
Winnipeg, Manitoba		4,067[24]Bryce Papenbrook, Cherami Leigh, Greg Ayres, Josh Grelle, Sonny Strait, Yume & Kitsuri Cosplay, The 404s[25]
February 25, 2017 (Winterfest) RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg
Winnipeg, Manitoba		The 404s[26]
July 21–23, 2017 RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg
Winnipeg, Manitoba		3,973[24]Arda Wigs Canada, The 404s, Greg Ayres, Mike McFarland, Nathan DeLuca, Shushuwafflez, Christine Cabanos, Cristina Valenzuela, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Joshua Seth[27]
February 24, 2018 (Winterfest) RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg
Winnipeg, Manitoba		1,951[24]Japanese Cultural Association of Manitoba, The Escape Hatch, Nintendo, Video Games Live[28]
July 27–29, 2018 RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg
Winnipeg, Manitoba		5,170[24]KujaOnii & Lady Zero Cosplay, The 404s, Greg Ayres, Ray Chase, Max Mittelman, Josh Grelle, Robbie Daymond, Japanese Cultural Association of Manitoba, Extra Life[29]
February 23, 2019 (Winterfest) RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg
Winnipeg, Manitoba		2,260Seishun Youth Academy
July 26–28, 2019 [30] RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg
Winnipeg, Manitoba		5,906Micah Solusod, The 404s, Greg Ayres, Luci Christian, Monica Rial, Sarcasm-hime, Crunchyroll, Scott “KaiserNeko” Frerichs, Curtis “Takahata101” Arnott, Anthony “Antfish” Sardinha, Nick “Lanipator” Landis, Jerry Jewell, Japanese Cultural Association of Manitoba,[31]
February 22, 2020 (Winterfest) RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg
Winnipeg, Manitoba		2,297
July 24-26, 2020 (Ai-Kon Online) VirtualThe 404s, Crunchyroll[32]
February 27, 2021 (Winterfest Online) VirtualGreg Ayres, Mike McFarland, The 404s, Crunchyroll[33]
July 22-24, 2022[34] RBC Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		8,428 [35]Greg Ayres,[36] Kaiji Tang,[37] The 404s,[38] Rock M Sakura,[39] Veronica Taylor,[40] Terri Hawkes,[41] Bryson Baugus,[42] Crunchyroll
July 14-16, 2023 RBC Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba		10,533[43]Greg Ayres, Lucien Dodge, Erica Mendez, Zeno Robinson, Mike McFarland, A.K. WIRRU, Ben Diskin, Ryan Colt Levy

Mascot

Aiko is a fictional cheerful, stylish, energetic anime girl with pink hair and blue eyes. Her various incarnations coordinate with the convention's yearly theme. The mascot is selected annually from an open contest. Aiko's many manifestations are used on convention promotional materials, clothing, badges, and other wearables. Doug is Aiko's fictional younger brother and likewise the Winterfest mascot. He is portrayed as younger, mischievous and playful with white hair and blue eyes.[44]

References
  1. "Programming". Ai-kon.org. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  2. "Ai-Kon 2001 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  3. David Larkins (July 16, 2015). "What's up Winnipeg Drawing attention: Ai-Kon keeps attracting anime newbies 14 years in". Winnipeg Sun. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  4. "Ai-Kon 2003 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  5. "Ai-Kon 2007 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  6. "Ai-Kon 2004 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  7. "Ai-Kon 2005 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  8. "Ai-Kon 2006 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  9. "Ai-Kon 2008 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  10. "Ai-Kon 2009 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  11. "Ai-Kon 2010 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  12. "Ai-Kon Winter Festival 2011 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  13. "Ai-Kon 2011 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  14. "Ai-Kon 2012 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  15. "Ai-Kon Winterfest 2013 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  16. "Ai-Kon 2013 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  17. "Ai-Kon Winterfest 2014 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  18. "Ai-Kon 2014 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  19. "Ai-Kon Winterfest 2015 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  20. "Drawing attention: Ai-Kon keeps attracting anime newbies 14 years in". Winnipegsun.com. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  21. "Ai-Kon 2015 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  22. "Ai-Kon Winterfest 2016 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  23. "Costumed fans of anime descend on downtown Winnipeg". Cbc.ca. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  24. "Attendance Numbers". Ai-kon.org. 17 June 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  25. "Ai-Kon 2016 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  26. "Ai-Kon Winterfest 2017 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  27. "Ai-Kon 2017 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  28. "Ai-Kon Winterfest 2018 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  29. "Ai-Kon 2018 Information". AnimeCons.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  30. "Ai-Kon Presents Winterfest 2020". Aikonwinterfest.tix123.com. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  31. "Ai-Kon 2019 Information". CTV News. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-24.
  32. "Ai-Kon Online 2020 Schedule". Ai-Kon. 2020-07-25. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  33. "Winterfest Online 2021 is now LIVE!". 27 February 2021.
  34. "Winnipeg anime convention returns after two-year hiatus, breaks attendance records". CBC News. July 24, 2022.
  35. "Ai-Kon Attendance Numbers". Ai-Kon. 2022-07-29. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  36. "Greg Ayres". 26 June 2022.
  37. "Kaiji Tang". 18 June 2022. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  38. "The 404s". 23 June 2022. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  39. "Rock M Sakura". 5 June 2022. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  40. "Veronica Taylor". 8 July 2022. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  41. "Terri Hawkes". 10 July 2022. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  42. "Bryson Baugus". July 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-08-03. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  43. "Ai-Kon Attendance Numbers". Ai-Kon. 2023-07-19. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
  44. "Ai-Kon Artists". Ai-kon.org. 17 June 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2021.

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