# Nekocon

Nekocon is an annual three-day anime convention held traditionally on the first weekend in November at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton, Virginia. It is Virginia's oldest anime convention. The convention's name comes from the Japanese word neko, meaning "cat".

## Programming

The convention typically offers art shows, artist's alley, autograph sessions, card game tournaments, charity auction, concerts, costume competition, dances, dealer's room, fashion show, karaoke contests, kimono/tea ceremony workshop, maid cafe, music video contest, panels, Q&A sessions, role playing, tabletop games, vendors, video game tournaments, video rooms, and workshops. Nekocon's 2015 charity events benefited Be The Match. More than $7,000 was raised in 2023 for the Carolina Manga Library and Heritage Humane Society.

## History

An attendance cap of 1,600 passes was instituted in 2003 due to fire code regulations. The convention held its first J-rock concert in 2009, hosting Suicide Ali. Virginia Air and Space Center provided content during the 2012 convention. Nekocon in 2017 had an Anime style cooking challenge with students from the Culinary Institute of Virginia. Nekocon 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

### Event history

| Dates | Location | Atten. | Guests |
| October 2–4, 1998 | Holiday Inn Executive Center Virginia Beach, Virginia | 506 | Tristan MacAvery and Jan Scott-Frazier. |
| November 5–7, 1999 | Holiday Inn Executive Center Virginia Beach, Virginia | 1,048 | Steve Bennett, Michael Brady, Colleen Doran, Pat Duke, Kuni Kimura, Hiroyuki Kitazume, Tristan MacAvery, Steve Pearl, Jan Scott-Frazier, Elin Winkler, and Toshifumi Yoshida. |
| October 27–29, 2000 | Holiday Inn / Chesapeake Conference Center Chesapeake, Virginia | 1,100 | Steve Bennett, Michael Brady, Robert DeJesus, Colleen Doran, Nickey Froberg, Elizabeth Kirkindall, Shin Kurokawa, Rachael Lillis, Tristan MacAvery, and Jan Scott-Frazier. |
| October 26–28, 2001 | Holiday Inn Executive Center Virginia Beach, Virginia | 1,450 | Nickey Froberg. |
| November 8–10, 2002 | Holiday Inn Executive Center Virginia Beach, Virginia | | John Barrett, Steve Bennett, T. Campbell, Robert DeJesus, Kara Dennison, Colleen Doran, Brian Drummond, Fred Perry, Deb Rabbai, Jan Scott-Frazier, Rikki Simons, Jeff Thompson, Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simons, and Toshifumi Yoshida. |
| November 7–9, 2003 | Holiday Inn Executive Center Virginia Beach, Virginia | 1,600 | Greg Ayres, John Barrett, Steve Bennett, Tim Buckley, Emily DeJesus, Robert DeJesus, Christy Lijewski, Chris Patton, Fred Perry, Deb Rabbai, Monica Rial, and Jan Scott-Frazier. |
| November 5–7, 2004 | Chesapeake Convention Center Chesapeake, Virginia | 2,368 | Greg Ayres, Steve Bennett, Tim Buckley, Emily DeJesus, Robert DeJesus, Dizzy, Tiffany Grant, Trish Ledoux, Fred Perry, Monica Rial, Carrie Savage, Jan Scott-Frazier, Michael "Mookie" Terracciano, Shawn the Touched, and Toshifumi Yoshida. |
| November 4–6, 2005 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | | Greg Ayres, Laura Bailey, Steve Bennett, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Jason Cumberledge, Emily DeJesus, Robert DeJesus, Dizzy, Jerry Jewell, Mike McFarland, Novablade Studios, Jen Starling, Renee Starling, Sonny Strait, Donnie Sturges, Michael "Mookie" Terracciano, and Danny Valentini. |
| November 3–5, 2006 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | 2,500+ (est) | Christopher Ayres, Greg Ayres, JL Brown, Luci Christian, Jason Cumberledge, Emily DeJesus, Robert DeJesus, Brian Godwin, Tiffany Grant, Mike Hall, Brittney Karbowski, Bettina M. Kurkoski, Dave Lister, Monica Rial, Doug Smith, Jen Starling, Renee Starling, Donnie Sturges, and Danny Valentini. |
| November 2–4, 2007 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | 3,249 | Christopher Ayres, Greg Ayres, Troy Baker, Eirik Blackwolf, Ron Chiu, Emily DeJesus, Aaron Dismuke, Daniel Kevin Harrison, Jerry Jewell, Michele Knotz, Bettina M. Kurkoski, Christy Lijewski, Dave Lister, Chris "Kilika" Malone, Bill Rogers, Leo Saunders, Joe Silver, Donnie Sturges, Jamie Sturges, Michael "Mookie" Terracciano, Danny Valentini, and Travis Willingham. |
| November 7–9, 2008 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | Nearly 3,500 | Christopher Ayres, Greg Ayres, Troy Baker, Emily DeJesus, Robert DeJesus, Aaron Dismuke, echostream, GPKISM, Mohammad "Hawk" Haque, Jerry Jewell, Bettina M. Kurkoski, Dave Lister, Steven Napierski, and Ananth Panagariya. |
| November 6–8, 2009 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | 3,429 | Greg Ayres, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Richard Epcar, Newton Ewell, Caitlin Glass, Mike Hall, Kyle Hebert, Steve Napierski, Tony Oliver, Fred Perry, Ellyn Stern, Donnie Sturges, Jamie Sturges, Suicide Ali, Tainted Reality, and Danny Valentini. |
| November 5–7, 2010 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | 3,788 | 501st Legion, Greg Ayres, Richard Ian Cox, Lar DeSouza, Newton Ewell, Yan "Kern" Gagne, Mary "Kite" Garren, Garth Graham, Mike Hall, Bettina M. Kurkoski, Chris Rager, Ryan Sohmer, Akemi Solloway, The Sound Bee HD, Donnie Sturges, Ryan Thompson, Danny Valentini, and Cristina Vee. |
| November 4–6, 2011 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | 4,487 | Takuya Angel, Born, Leah Clark, MC Frontalot, Kyle Hebert, DJ Hip*Starr, Jerry Jewell, Donald Kinney, Taku Otsuka, Chris Rager, Akemi Solloway, Tainted Reality, VJ ValuJet, and David L. Williams. |
| November 2–4, 2012 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | | Chris Cason, Chin Hamaya Culture Center, Mikako Joho, DJ KaKuMeI X, DJ Midget, Tony Oliver, The OneUps, Brina Palencia, Re:VB-P, Jan Scott-Frazier, The Slants, J. Michael Tatum, and Hiro Usuda. |
| November 1–3, 2013 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | | Steve Blum, Anthony Burch, Ashly Burch, Chin Hamaya Culture Center, Jonathan Coulton, Yan "Kern" Gagne, Mary "Kite" Garren, DJ HeavyGrinder, Cherami Leigh, Mike McFarland, Chris Rager, and John Swasey. |
| November 7–9, 2014 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | 7,100 | Dr. Awkward, Jessie James Grelle, Todd Haberkorn, Kyle Hebert, KristyBee!, Lauren Landa, Jason Charles Miller, Jez Roth, Sayaka Sasaki, Schäffer the Darklord, Tribe One, and Adam WarRock. |
| November 6–8, 2015 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | | Dr. Awkward, Breathlessaire, Kira Buckland, Erik Scott Kimerer, Hiroshi Kitadani, Erica Lindbeck, Erica Mendez, Professor Shyguy, RinRin Doll, Starlighthoney, Tribe One, David Vincent, and Sarah Anne Williams. |
| November 4–6, 2016 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | | Akinori Isobe, Masumi Kano, Lauren Landa, Cherami Leigh, Mike McFarland, Bryce Papenbrook, Vocamerica, and Lisle Wilkerson. |
| November 3–5, 2017 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | 6,900 | Aimee Blackschleger, Kira Buckland, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Diana Garnet, Kyle Hebert, Joe Inoue, Kyle McCarley, and Jez Roth. |
| November 2–3, 2018 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | | Greg Ayres, Caitlin Glass, haru, Lauren Landa, Amanda C. Miller, Tyson Rinehart, Michelle Ruff, Tara Sands, and Eric Stuart. |
| November 1–3, 2019 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | | Ray Chase, Robbie Daymond, John Gremillion, Hollow Mellow, Mela Lee, Max Mittelman, Michael Sinterniklaas, Paul St. Peter, and Lex Winter. |
| November 5–7, 2021 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | | Johnny Yong Bosch, Todd Haberkorn, Jill Harris, Greg Houser, Dallas Reid, David Vincent, Mark Whitten, Brandon Winckler, and Mick Wingert. |
| November 4–6, 2022 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | | Jon Allen, Morgan Berry, Beau Billingslea, Griffin Burns, Megan Hollingshead, Ezra Weisz, and Lex Winter. |
| November 3-5, 2023 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | 6,022 | David Adkins, Erik Scott Kimerer, Cricket Leigh, Dave Trosko, Wig-Wig Cosplay, Sarah Anne Williams, and Brandon Winckler. |
| November 1-3, 2024 | Hampton Roads Convention Center Hampton, Virginia | | Greg Houser, Stephanie Nadolny, Katriel Paige, Pros and Cons Cosplay, Steve Staley, Dave Trosko, David Vincent, and Lex Winter. |