Ai-Kon is Manitoba's premiere anime convention held every summer in Winnipeg, MB, Canada! Not unlike many other anime conventions, Ai-Kon had its humble beginnings as an open-house event organized and run by an anime club at the University of Manitoba. The upstart convention turned out to be a success in bringing together anime fans of all sorts in Manitoba. After going on an organizational hiatus for one year to assess the potential future of this one-time gathering, Ai-Kon has been an annual event ever since.
 

Originally held at the University of Manitoba campus, the growth of the convention necessitated a move to a larger, more accessible facility - first the Sheraton hotel in downtown Winnipeg, and then to its current location at the Winnipeg Convention Centre. Once a UMAnime sanctioned event, Ai-Kon is now run by a nonprofit organization consisting of an independent board of volunteers who are dedicated to making the convention an enjoyable, memorable time for all who attend.
 

Ai-Kon is a three-day event held during the summer, which runs around the clock from start to finish. Other than our focus on Japanese animation, culture and closely related media, the convention has branched off to include other events that have varying amounts of overlap with our attendees' interests. We host many anime convention staples, such as the cosplay masquerade. a music video contest, game shows and a video games lounge with tournament prizes. Vendors and artists from here in Winnipeg as well as across the country come to showcase and sell their wares. Thanks to the diverse range of anime fans in our area, with each passing year we've been able to host more panels and other events than ever! We've had Japanese tea ceremonies, Aikido demonstrations, tutorials on the finer points of Go and community meets for collectors of Asian ball-jointed dolls. Really, we have so much of the latter here, it's kind of unsettling! 
 

Thanks to the continued support of these various groups in and around Manitoba, we have been successful in our efforts to bring an assorted mix of entertainment, information and merchandise that has something compelling for everyone at the con.