Minneapolis Anime Convention — Fan Panels & Cosplay

Big Minneapolis Anime is scheduled for August 8-9 at the Minneapolis Convention Center, according to the event’s official website and Meet Minneapolis. The weekend convention is billed as a family-focused anime event with celebrity meet-and-greets, fan panels, cosplay contests, gaming, an artist alley and vendor booths. FOX 9 included the event in its August 7-9 weekend roundup for Minnesota, saying attendees can meet performers behind familiar animated characters. ### When and where is the convention happening? The Minneapolis Convention Center at 1301 2nd Ave. S. is hosting the event on Saturday, August 8, and Sunday, August 9, according to Meet Minneapolis and the ticketing page. The official event site lists Saturday hours of 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (bigminneapolisanime.com) Eventeny lists Hall E as the convention space and says admission products include single-day, weekend and VIP options. The ticketing page says celebrity autographs and photos are sold separately. ### What will people find once they get inside? Meet Minneapolis says the weekend will include a “massive artist alley,” vendor hall, cosplay contests, industry panels, gaming and meet-and-greets with voice actors. (bigminneapolisanime.com) FOX 9 described the event as a place for celebrity meet-and-greets, fan panels, contests and shopping at vendor booths. The official website says the show is centered on anime fans and lists guests, vendors and artists as core parts of the event. FanCons, which tracks fan conventions, describes Big Minneapolis Anime as an anime convention organized by Big Texas Comicon, LLC and says the event is aimed at the whole family. ### Which guests are being promoted for the weekend? (fox9.com) FOX 9 said attendees can meet “the cast from Avatar: The Last Airbender” at the convention. FanCons lists guests including Greg Baldwin, Dante Basco, Grey DeLisle Griffin, Olivia Hack, Michaela Jill Murphy and Janet Varney, all performers associated with animated and game roles. (bigminneapolisanime.com) FanCons also lists Griffin Burns, Greg Chun, Tom Gibis, Brittney Karbowski, Brianna Knickerbocker, Adam McArthur, Max Mittelman, Monica Rial, Michelle Ruff, Keith Silverstein, Kaiji Tang, Alexis Tipton, David Vincent and Anne Yatco among the announced guests. The official event homepage says celebrity autographs and photos are separate purchases, a standard convention add-on that can affect what fans spend beyond admission. (fox9.com) ### How much do tickets cost? Eventeny listed the VIP pass as sold out at $208.67 as of August 6. The same page showed a weekend pass at $65.81, a Saturday pass at $42.00 and a Sunday pass at $36.05. The ticket page also listed a weekend pass for ages 3-12 at $6.28 and a Saturday child pass at $6.28. Eventeny said the listed tickets were non-refundable, non-cancellable and non-transferable after purchase. (bigminneapolisanime.com) ### Why is this event showing up in the weekend roundup? FOX 9 included Big Minneapolis Anime in a list of seven things to do in Minnesota for the August 7-9 weekend. (eventeny.com) The station placed it alongside other metro-area events and described it as a ticketed convention built around fan interaction, contests and shopping. Meet Minneapolis called it the Twin Cities’ premier summer anime event in its calendar listing. That description came from the city tourism site’s event page, which also repeated the August 8-9 dates and Minneapolis Convention Center location. ### What should attendees know before going? Saturday, August 8, is set to begin at 10 a.m., and Sunday programming is scheduled to continue until 5 p.m., according to the official site and Eventeny. (fox9.com) The event website directs visitors to tickets, guests, vendors and artists pages, while FOX 9’s roundup points readers to event details for the weekend listing. (bigminneapolisanime.com) (minneapolis.org)