Nekocon 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...

 held annually in the Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...

 area of Virginia, traditionally on the first weekend in November. The word 'Nekocon' comes from a combination of the Japanese word 'neko' meaning cat and 'con' as an abbreviation of 'convention', and was chosen for the common association of catgirls with anime as well as Nekocon's mascot, Reiko.

Originally founded in 1998 in Virginia Beach, a birthplace for many similar anime conventions, it has been held at many locations in the Hampton Roads area as the size of its attendance outgrows available space. In 2005 the convention's ownership changed hands from Chibi Neko Entertainment to WaruiNeko Entertainment, and the convention moved to the brand new Hampton Roads Convention Center and the adjacent Hampton Coliseum

Hampton Coliseum

The Hampton Coliseum is a multi-use cultural, entertainment and sports arena in Hampton, Virginia. Construction on the arena began on May 24, 1968 and the venue opened in 1970 as the first large multi-purpose arena in the Hampton Roads region and the state of Virginia, opening a year prior to...

 in Hampton, Virginia

Hampton, Virginia

Hampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...

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Events

Nekocon features many events common to anime conventions. Voice actors, directors, industry producers, and other figures of the anime entertainment industry make appearances and hold question and answer panels.

Events also include a 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...

 contest, karaoke

Karaoke

is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...

, video rooms to watch non-stop anime, anime music video

Anime music video

An anime music video is a music video consisting of clips from one or more animations set to an audio track ; the term usually refers to fan-made unofficial videos. An AMV can also be a set of video game footage put together with music which is known as a GMV...

 (AMV) contest, dances, as well as panels and workshops where attendees can learn new things, consult with others about anime and Japanese culture, and meet and discuss topics with guests.

NekoCon also offers a chance to participate in an anime themed LARP, and RC Racing.
In 2011 they are hosting The Iron Man of Gaming Championship by Screwattack

ScrewAttack

ScrewAttack . is a video game-related website that showcases original entertainment for an audience of video game enthusiasts. Its content is also shown on GameTrailers and IGN...

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Event history

Dates	Location	Atten.	Guests

†† October 26, 2000: Sony's PlayStation 2 launch pinched attendence

External links

• Nekocon official web site