SunnyCon Anime Expo 2017!
15th June 2017
We’ll be returning to SunnyCon Anime Expo once again on 16th – 18th June at St James Park, Newcastle Upon Tyne!
As always you’ll be able to find us in the Artist Alley along with a ton of other amazing artists with stacks of comics, art prints, and more. SunnyCon Anime Expo is the rebranded bigger and better form of our favourite local convention. We’ve exhibited at SunnyCon from their very first show back in 2012 and it’s always an amazing weekend and the origin of our butt sketches! The show itself is filled with artists, geeky merch stalls, retro gaming, contests, cosplay, talks & panels, and Japanese culture. This years guests include Pokemon’s Jesse and James (Team Rocket), and Bryce Papenbrook (Attack on Titan/Sword Art Online/Miraculous Ladybug).
For V.I.P. attendees you’ll be receiving an art book featuring artwork from angelKat and a whole host of other artists – this years theme was humanised/gijinka versions of local landmarks which was a lot of fun to work on – I hope that you all enjoy the art too!
Where To Find Us
Check out the “How To Find Us” map below, and be sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram as I’ll be posting updates on both of those during the run up to the show and during the show itself including cosplayer photos, tweeting about silly con happenings, recommendations on stalls to visit, geeking out over the bits of the show we get to see from behind our table, and perhaps some convention exclusive deals for our followers!
For those who can’t make it to the show, we’ll (hopefully) be recording some videos of the weekend for our new YouTube channel to share with you too.
In the run up to the show I am taking commission pre-orders to be picked up at SunnyCon with a discount available – check out the image below for more info. The cut off point for these will be Sunday 11th June, after that I can’t guarantee that the art will be ready in time before the show. This is simply because the week of the convention itself Mon-Thurs is a mad dash of last minute preparations, and stressing over whether we’ve forgotten anything.
First Time?
For those attending SunnyCon Anime Expo for the first time, here are some of our best tips to make the most out of your weekend!
- First and most important: make sure that you take breaks to get at least 2 proper meals per day and get enough sleep each night – your body will thank you for it and it’ll help you avoid the dreaded con-flu.
- Second and just as important: keep a bottle of water with you as you wander the aisles. It may not feel like it but convention halls are busy, warm, and cramped places at times so staying hydrated is a good idea.
- Take cash with you – there are ATM’s in the building but they often run out of cash early in the weekend due to demand, we can take card at our table but a) not all sellers at the show can and b) 4G internet connections in venues like St James Park aren’t reliable enough to say with 100% confidence that they’ll always work.
- Make sure that your cash and valuables are stored securely. In a hall filled with a lot of people, sadly there’s always the chance of someone with sticky fingers being around, or in more innocent situations it’s very easy to get distracted and leave your valuables behind (the amount of people I’ve had to chase after with wallets, phones, cameras, etc. after they’ve left them on my table is scary). So always make sure that you know where your stuff is.
- SunnyCon staff usually do have a cloakroom where they store things securely for cosplayers and attendees – I’m not 100% sure on details but if you have something you’d rather not lug around, it doesn’t hurt to ask a staff member or volunteer for more info!
- Newcastle is our home turf and if there’s one thing we love about our city it’s the wide variety of cheap yet tasty food options within walking distance! We highly recommend The Coop (a very nice chicken place), Kaspas (ice cream… lots of ice cream), ZaZa Bazaar (a world buffet which always reminds me of Blade Runner), etc. Seriously if you’re stuck or need directions head to our table and we’ll happily give you more recommendations!
- If you’re attending with friends/family – make sure that you all have each others phone numbers, fully charged phones, and when you arrive agree on a meeting spot should you get separated. SunnyCon is deceptively easy to lose people at so it’s always best to prepare for that possibility.
- Don’t be afraid to say “Hello” – whether it be to stall holders, cosplayers, other attendees, or even us artists – for the most part we don’t bite and we’re all just big geeks anyway.
- That said – cosplay is not consent. It shouldn’t have to be said but whether someone is in cosplay or not a) don’t touch people without their consent b) don’t take photos of cosplayers without their consent – especially when they’re eating or relaxing. It may seem harmless but it’s generally considered to be bad manners and doesn’t get you a good photo anyway.
- Take some time to check out the Artist tables -I’m pretty biased about this of course, but the artists at SunnyCon are some of the friendliest people ever and will happily geek out with you. Best of all, each artist is unique and you’ll probably not find their stuff elsewhere so it’s your best chance to find something awesome and unique that you can take home to remember your weekend with.
- The best advice I can give, however, is be safe and have fun. That’s really what SunnyCon is all about – geeking out with new and old friends and perhaps getting some new art and comics to bring back home!
As always, if you’re attending SunnyCon Anime Expo I hope to see you there – be sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram – and enjoy the show!
Until next time!
Davy