What is ANIMATES? We’re not talking about making a drawing move here, people! ANIMATES is our new and totally free event-within-event at ANIMECON, focused on building friendships between attendees.  As a portmanteau of ‘anime’ and ‘mates’, we’ve fit them together to make an event for finding your next bestie, buddy or tomodachi!

For those who prefer to find new pals in person, hubs for anime fans can be few and far between. We know conventions should be our place where we can mingle and make friends with others who love anime, manga and other cool stuff just as much as we do. But conventions can be fast paced, busy, and a lot of the time people already have their established friends and networks.

How do you find an awesome friend in a huge colourful sea of potential buddies? How do you approach people when you’ve bravely made that decision to find friends? We get it, it can be nerve-wracking!  

ANIMATES is here to give you a hand as a free but exclusive event within ANIMECON where registered attendees can dedicate time connecting with other fans. This is a place focused on making friends and bonding over your love of fandom in a guided space. With a vibrant stage, a bubble tea bar and plenty of activities, this event-within-event is the ultimate hangout for anime fans to gather, socialise and create unforgettable memories!

As long as you’re registered, you can pop in and out as you desire. Some things will be guided and have booked time slots, so keep your eye out for booking announcements in the near future.