The Coliseum hosts the biggest anime convention in St. Petersburg history

With thousands of anime fans attending the event, it was a groundbreaking convention.

GABBY WRIGHT | SNN

On Sept. 17 there was AnimeCon in St. Petersburg where people all around cosplay as anime characters and come to a convention where there is merch, food, and photos.

AUTUMN PEELAR, SNN Staff Writer
November 9, 2022

The Florida Comic Con hosted its first ever Anime Convention at the Coliseum, on Sept. 16 and 17.  The convention held many different events such as Anime Jeopardy, the TikTok festival, a Maid Café and more. Anime fans across the bay came to indulge in the culture and prominence of anime, gaming, art and just to have a good time with their friends and family.

Many cosplayers attended and showed off their skill, one example being 27-year-old Taylor Diamond also known as Modern on Instagram.

Modern dressed as Greek goddess Persephone from the popular webtoon series Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe. She started her cosplay journey in 2020 beginning with Disney princess Merida. Then in late 2021, she began dressing up as well-known anime characters like Nejire Hado from My Hero Academia and Natsu Dragneel from Fairytale.

“My favorite thing about cosplay is getting to meet all the new people and making all my friends that I have made. I think my friend group has grown exponentially since I started attending once and I love that.” Diamond said.

Beaux Weaver known as Pirate.Queen.Cos on Instagram, cosplayed as Lizzie Hearts from the doll line and animated series Ever After High. She has been cosplaying since she was 16 years old in 2016.

“I love getting to meet new people and really immerse myself in the character,” Weaver said.

The anime convention brought in a variety of anime, comic and art fans. Luckily, there were many different art booths present that displayed their creations. Vendors at the artist alleys take years to produce the merchandise they sell at conventions, such as: prints, stickers and keychains.

Vada Thrasher was one of the many different artists present at the convention. She has been drawing since she was a little kid and she got into making art for conventions when she was in middle school. She attended local conventions like Tampa Bay Comicon and was inspired by the artist alleys there.

“I just fell in love with the idea. I was like wait, I could draw things I love and then also get to make money too. That’s amazing!” Trasher said.