There are a lot of events out there, and planning your convention schedule for 2024 is already well underway. Some of this is old news, but we thought it useful to round-up some of the more notable convention schedule changes of recent months.
§ At noted at Popverse, LA Comicon is moving to October 4-6, just two weeks before NYCC. The event has moved around a lot on the schedule (I remember it was Halloween weekend) before settling on pandemic influenced December dates. But pre holidays isn’t the greatest time for a con. This will make an already jammed fall schedule even more jammed.
§ Anime NYC is moving to August 23-25, after being held in November for all its previous editions. As noted in a press release, this will allow the show to expand take over the entire Javits Center – given the crowds at this year’s event, that is a wise move. However, given the heat and sweat and smells of New York City in August, wearing elaborate cosplays might become a lot more taxing. It also makes the show much closer to other anime shows, like Washington DC’s Otakon, which will be held August 2-4. On the other hand, NYCC is practically an anime show now, and having Anime NYC well before that event might make it more prominent on the schedule for exhibitors. There are just so many shows everywhere, conflicts are impossible to avoid. Reddit users reactions were mixed.
§ Toy Fair is staying in NYC: Back at the start of October, we went to the first in person Toy Fair in a while, and people were moaning and groaning about the just-made announcement that the venerable event would be moving to New Orleans in 2026. While some might have enjoyed the experience of bopping down Bourbon Street with their new Bratz squishables, it turned out people like doing it in New York more. In a hilarious turnabout, as soon as the announcement was made, the uproar forced organizers to announce a move BACK to New York, as the New York Post, of all places, reported. It seems TIA, the organization that throws the event, had no idea what people wanted.
While we aimed to adapt to the perceived shifts in our industry, the announcement of that change was met with strong feelings of tradition and enduring memories of toy business conducted in New York. We were swiftly reminded of our industry’s passionate bond to a place that no amount of research, conversation and learning had sufficiently surfaced.
As a board we have heard clearly that this change was the wrong choice for our members.
It has become abundantly clear through the passionate reaction, that the PLACE holds as much or more importance than the DATE, and that the industry’s desired location for the great industry-wide coming together remains New York City. Thus, we have recommitted to New York and the Javits Center. We will return to the first available opening (March 1- 4, 2025) and are working with Javits Center leadership to confirm dates in February for 2026 and beyond.
The board also has a rather beleaguered FAQ on their site, answering all questions about the move. Messy.
§ General con craziness in the spring: We’re working on an updated convention schedule for the newsletter, but spring is gonna be busy:
Mega Con: February 1-4, 2024
ECCC: Feb 29 – Mar 3, 2024
Awesome Con: March 8-10, 2024
Planet Comicon: March 8 – 10, 2024
WonderCon: March 29-31, 2024
C2E2: April 26-28, 2024
Conventions are mostly on hold in North America for now, but everything kicks off again, as is tradition, with Fan Expo New Orleans on January 5-7. Dust off those travel sized toothpaste tubes. It’s going to be a wild one.
