AnimeFest is an anime convention

Anime convention

An anime convention is an event or gathering with a primary focus on anime, manga and Japanese culture. Commonly, anime conventions are multi-day events hosted at convention centers, hotels or college campuses. They feature a wide variety of activities and panels...

 started in 1992. It is an annual four-day event held over Labor Day weekend in Dallas, Texas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

. AnimeFest is one of the oldest conventions in the country, although 1997 and 2000 were skipped. It has gone through a minor change in its name, due to capitalization, and the loss of capitalization of part of its name and the addition, and then the loss, of an exclamation point (Fest to FEST! to Fest once again).

Programming

The convention features cosplay

Cosplay

, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and science fiction...

, American voice actors from anime, artists, vendors and exhibits, panels, workshops, and gaming. AnimeFest's events focus on aspects of anime, manga, video games, and Japanese culture. AnimeFest started regularly having bands in 2001.

History

Dates	Location	Atten.	Guests

Upcoming Convention

AnimeFest 2011

September 2 - 5, 2011

Labor Day Weekend

Location: Hyatt Regency Dallas at Reunion Tower

Guests: Not yet announced.