# Ai-Kon

Ai-Kon is an annual three-day anime convention held on a weekend during the month of July in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Ai-Kon was first held at the University of Manitoba in 2001 and is currently held at the RBC Convention Centre. The convention's name is a blend of the words ai (Japanese for love) and convention and is derived from its slogan "For the love of anime". The word ai was also chosen to play on the fact that the club had a magazine they called Anime Injection.

## Programming

Ai-Kon provides a wide variety of on mandate programming put on by committee staff, members of the community, guests and industry partners. Streaming/showing rooms run 24-hours during the conventions featuring titles in both Japanese and English languages. Alongside anime, the convention also hosts many video game and Japanese culture related activities.
Additional convention events include:
* Marketplace: Dealer's Room and an Artists Alley
* Cosplay events: Cosplay Contest, Cosplay Skills Faire, workshops
* Gamer's Lounge: no entry tournaments, various video games stations, tabletop gaming area, charity event for Extra Life
* Music: Saturday Dance, Dance Showcase
* Panels and workshops: Guests, staff, cultural workshops, fan based/ members of the community, industry, game shows, fashion shows
* Other attractions: Cultural room, Maid Cafe, Gundam Builders World Cup National qualifiers, Tamiya mini 4awd stock car tournament, pop-up partnered experiences, art auction

## History

Ai-Kon was first held in July 2001 at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and was run by the University of Manitoba Anime Club (UMAnime). The founding members were the club's executive staff, Kristjanna Thorarinson, Riki Lecotey, Kwan Fu Sit, Tong Lin, Cathleen Ma, Tim Groner, Geoff Wright, and Jeff Agapito. At the time the club held one-day events but they had so many things planned that summer, the club decided on making it a two-day event but added a dance on Friday evenings, making it a 3-day convention. In 2002 the event went on hiatus for one year, due to changes within the club, and in July 2003 a second Ai-Kon was held at the university.
Today, Ai-Kon is a non-profit organization that is run by a volunteer committee. It continues to be held annually in Winnipeg each summer.
In 2011, as a celebration of the 10 year anniversary, Ai-Kon held a one-day event in January called "The Ai-Kon Winter Festival". This one-day event is now held annually in February under the name "Winterfest".

### Event history

| Dates | Location | Attendance | Guests |
| July 20–22, 2001 | University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Manitoba | 500 | Richard Kekuhuna (DVD Producer for Bandai entertainment) |
| July 25–27, 2003 | University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Manitoba | 700 | |
| July 30 – August 1, 2004 | Sheraton Hotel Winnipeg, Manitoba | 1,000 | |
| August 12–14, 2005 | Winnipeg Convention Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba | 960 | |
| July 21–23, 2006 | Winnipeg Convention Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba | 1,100 | |
| July 27–29, 2007 | Winnipeg Convention Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba | 1,551 | Greg Ayres and Vic Mignogna |
| July 25–27, 2008 | Winnipeg Convention Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba | 1,825 | Chris Ayres, Greg Ayres, and Johnny Yong Bosch. |
| July 24–26, 2009 | Winnipeg Convention Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba | 2,180 | Caitlin Glass, Tiffany Grant, and Jan Scott-Frazier. |
| July 16–18, 2010 | Winnipeg Convention Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba | 2,365 | Greg Ayres, Monica Rial, Kirby Morrow, Christopher Ayres |
| January 15, 2011 (Winter Festival) | Winnipeg Convention Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba | 623 | |
| July 15–17, 2011 | Winnipeg Convention Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba | 2,575 | Greg Ayres, Eric Vale, Christopher Sabat, Johnny Yong Bosch |
| July 20–22, 2012 | Winnipeg Convention Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba | 2,785 | Christopher Sabat, Monica Rial, Brina Palencia, Todd Haberkorn, Greg Ayres |
| January 12, 2013 (Winterfest) | Winnipeg Convention Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba | | |
| July 12–14, 2013 | Winnipeg Convention Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba | 3,148 | Chris Patton, Sarah Sullivan (Representative from Funimation), J. Michael Tatum, Greg Ayres |
| February 8, 2014 (Winterfest) | Winnipeg Convention Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba | | |
| July 11–13, 2014 | Winnipeg Convention Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba | 3,194 | Christopher Sabat, Richard Ian Cox, Greg Ayres, Johnny N Junkers (Cosplay Guest), The 404s |
| February 28, 2015 (Winterfest) | Delta Winnipeg Hotel Winnipeg, Manitoba | | |
| July 17–19, 2015 | RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg (Re-named) Winnipeg, Manitoba | 3,636 | The 404s, Greg Ayres, Eric Vale, Vickybunnyangel, Terri Hawkes, Ian Sinclair |
| February 27, 2016 (Winterfest) | RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg Winnipeg, Manitoba | | |
| July 15–17, 2016 | RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg Winnipeg, Manitoba | 4,067 | Bryce Papenbrook, Cherami Leigh, Greg Ayres, Josh Grelle, Sonny Strait, Yume & Kitsuri Cosplay, The 404s |
| February 25, 2017 (Winterfest) | RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg Winnipeg, Manitoba | | The 404s |
| July 21–23, 2017 | RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg Winnipeg, Manitoba | 3,973 | Arda Wigs Canada, The 404s, Greg Ayres, Mike McFarland, Nathan DeLuca, Shushuwafflez, Christine Cabanos, Cristina Valenzuela, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Joshua Seth |
| February 24, 2018 (Winterfest) | RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg Winnipeg, Manitoba | 1,951 | Japanese Cultural Association of Manitoba, The Escape Hatch, Nintendo, Video Games Live |
| July 27–29, 2018 | RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg Winnipeg, Manitoba | 5,170 | KujaOnii & Lady Zero Cosplay, The 404s, Greg Ayres, Ray Chase, Max Mittelman, Josh Grelle, Robbie Daymond, Japanese Cultural Association of Manitoba, Extra Life |
| February 23, 2019 (Winterfest) | RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg Winnipeg, Manitoba | 2,260 | Seishun Youth Academy |
| July 26–28, 2019 | RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg Winnipeg, Manitoba | 5,906 | Micah Solusod, The 404s, Greg Ayres, Luci Christian, Monica Rial, Sarcasm-hime, Crunchyroll, Scott “KaiserNeko” Frerichs, Curtis “Takahata101” Arnott, Anthony “Antfish” Sardinha, Nick “Lanipator” Landis, Jerry Jewell, Japanese Cultural Association of Manitoba, |
| February 22, 2020 (Winterfest) | RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg Winnipeg, Manitoba | 2,297 | |
| July 24-26, 2020 (Ai-Kon Online) | Virtual | | The 404s, Crunchyroll |
| February 27, 2021 (Winterfest Online) | Virtual | | Greg Ayres, Mike McFarland, The 404s, Crunchyroll |
| July 22-24, 2022 | RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba | 8,428 | Greg Ayres, Kaiji Tang, The 404s, Rock M Sakura, Veronica Taylor, Terri Hawkes, Bryson Baugus, Crunchyroll |
| July 14-16, 2023 | RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba | 10,533 | Greg Ayres, Lucien Dodge, Erica Mendez, Zeno Robinson, Mike McFarland, A.K. WIRRU, Ben Diskin, Ryan Colt Levy |
| July 12-14, 2024 | RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba | 10,633 | Greg Ayres, Bryce Papenbrook, Zach Aguilar, Trina Nishimura, Lex Lang, Kitsurie, Alexandre is Fluffy, The 404s |

## Mascot

Aiko is a fictional cheerful, stylish, energetic anime girl with pink hair and blue eyes. Her various incarnations coordinate with the convention's yearly theme. The mascot is selected annually from an open contest. Aiko's many manifestations are used on convention promotional materials, clothing, badges, and other wearables. Doug is Aiko's fictional younger brother and likewise the Winterfest mascot. He is portrayed as younger, mischievous and playful with white hair and blue eyes.