EAST PEORIA, Ill. – Fans of Japanese animation shows such as “Naruto,” “Attack on Titan,” “One Piece,” and more are converging in East Peoria this weekend.
This weekend marks the 17th edition of Anime-Zap, running through Sunday at the Embassy Suites Convention Center. The convection has been run each year since 2010.
Activities throughout the weekend include panels on various topics; such as a cosplay contest, Kpop, a date auction, and more. The convention also features a vendor hall that sells wares such as art, manga books, keychains, Japanese snack foods, and more.
Tristan Sites is the convention’s Live Entertainment Department head. Sites says more than 500 people are expected to attend throughout the weekend. It’s those attendees that Sites says makes the weekend special.
“This group of people is just so happy to be here, celebrating together,” Sites said. “Everyone is welcome. I’ve never had anybody tell me after this weekend that they felt in any way excluded from anything.”
Sites says the cosplay contest on Saturday is one of the highlights of the weekend. The contest is where people dress up as their favorite characters, with a panel of judges declaring a winner. Sites also hosted the “date auction” on Friday, where cosplayers are “auctioned off” to people to hang out with for the weekend.
While the name of the convention does have “anime” in it, Sites says fans of all kinds of shows and activities can find something to enjoy throughout the weekend.
“We’ve had Star Trek panels, we’ve had all kinds of visual novels, we’ve had people who are more into the video gaming side of things, we have DnD guests who come and host tabletop sessions throughout the weekend,” Sites says.
For casual fans or those curious about the convention, Sites had one message to try and encourage them to come out.
“If you enjoy being weird, with other people who are weird, this is the place for that.”
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