Animethon - History

History

Animethon was conceived by the Banzai Anime Klub of Alberta, the University of Alberta's anime club as a public festival to promote Japanese animation and pop culture to the public and help dispel the widely-held perception of anime fans as an unpopular and disturbing fringe element. Animethon was preceded briefly by an event often referred to as the 'Mechaball', which was not publicized and did not attract a large attendance. First held in August 1994 as a single-day event at Grant MacEwan University's then brand-new City Centre campus, Animethon attracted several hundred attendees despite its short notice. Animethons II and III also featured the first commemorative t-shirt designs, in a collage artwork style initiated by Harvey Lee. 1997 saw a change in leadership both at the originating club and Animethon, and a new series of t-shirt designs produced in successive years by Daniel Ross, Ian Horner and Megan Shaw. In 1997, Animethon also began its practice of soliciting food donations for the Edmonton Food Bank and/or the University of Alberta or Grant MacEwan campus food banks. During the years 1997 to 2003, Animethon continued to follow the originating mandate to provide a free event for the general public, while expanding its attendance to an average between 3500 and 3800 people and its offerings to include discussion panels on culture and technology related to animation and manga as well as anime-related events such as a cosplay contest.

With an estimated 4,000 people in 2003, Animethon was the tenth largest anime convention in North America that year.