Attention, all cosplay enthusiasts, gamers, comic-book junkies, and anime geeks: Your annual South Florida parties have moved to Broward County. Nobody likes to show up dressed like Wonder Woman at the wrong place, so please schedule accordingly.
Super Conventions, the company behind the festivals, has moved its Animate Miami and Magic City Comic conferences to the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center (1950 Eisenhower Blvd., Fort Lauderdale) this year. The renamed three-day gatherings that feature celebrations of anime, animation, cosplay, videogames, and comic books will take place this summer and fall, with Animate Florida running September 16 through 18 and Paradise City Comic Con happening December 9 through 11.
The company's flagship convention, Florida Supercon, will continue to take place at the Miami Beach Convention Center (1901 Convention Center Dr., Miami Beach) when it returns in July 2017.
According to Supercon staff, the changes were necessary to accommodate the tremendous growth the celebrations have seen over the past few years.
"The move to Fort Lauderdale will allow for advancements towards modernity, centrality, and an overall increase in size," says Supercon communications coordinator Sarah Mineo. "These two events will get a face-lift and take on names more fitting of a centralized location in South Florida. Animate Miami levels up to become Animate Florida. Magic City Comic Con, sharing a nickname that Miami acquired in the 1940s, becomes Paradise City Comic Con, which alludes to Fort Lauderdale's fun-in-the sun culture."
"The move will provide more space to host more exhibitors, programming, and celebrities."
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A victim of their own success, the annual conferences in Miami have enjoyed enormous audience response. To ensure there is enough space for vendors, exhibits, shows, meet-and-greets, and fans, a move was vital for the celebrations' growth.
"The last Animate event had 12,000 attendees, and the move to Fort Lauderdale will provide more space to host more exhibitors, programming, and celebrities. This Fort Lauderdale location also delivers more natural beauty for showcasing cosplay, a long-held request of cosplayers in South Florida," Mineo says.
"Paradise City Comic Con hosted 19,000 people last year, far too large for any Miami locations to accommodate while the Miami Beach Convention Center scales back on new events to accommodate the construction."
Fans of the South Florida cons need not worry about the changes. Aside from the spacious new digs and more scenic locale, everything attendees have come to know and love at the Miami-Dade events has also made the move north of the county line, along with a few surprises on tap for this year's Fort Lauderdale shows. Guests can expect to see hundreds of events, including celebrity Q&As, costume contests, videogames, comedy shows, exhibitors, and special artists.
"As always, we will have a wide variety of voice actors from shows such as Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Attack On Titan, Jimmy Neutron, Mattel's Monster High, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and much, much more," Mineo says. "We still have a bunch of guests to announce, so keep tabs on our website and social media."
There are actually three sites — animateflorida.com, paradisecitycomiccon.com, and the umbrella floridasupercon.com — that will keep you updated on the trio of events.
"Animate Florida's number one goal is to give people who have a passion for anime and animation a place to interact with like-minded people. The show has grown into a community of individuals who all support and express similar interests."
Now they'll simply have more room to play in Fort Lauderdale.