Home » Cosplay, Conventions and COVID

Cosplay, Conventions and COVID


on March 11, 2020, the country enter a new reality

With large gatherings of people being discouraged or banned in many places, many conventions cancelled or postponed. The weekend of the 15th, Emerald City Comic Con, Naka-kon and 24 other conventions across the country shut down. Some conventions have attempted to move to virtual events, but the experience is often quite different and lacks the same level of excitement and engagement as an in-person event.

PERSONAL STORIES

  • Mae Mae Twin

    There a lot to this to be honest. It’s made me step back and see that I definitely spent a lot of money and time cosplaying so I’m trying now to be conscious of what I consume to make the costume now and also direct funds for others things. I still want to make cosplay…

    More

  • Blue.Eyed Cosplay

    During the peak of the pandemic, my congoing went down to attending no in-person cons but I continued to attend virtual cons. However, the virtual cons never gave me the same feeling as attending one in person did. So I was becoming more excited to attend in-person cons again. As for cosplaying, the pandemic actually…

    More

  • KōgiHime Cosplay

    The pandemic severely affected my energy levels. Not sure if it me getting older, but my social threshold is much lower. I get tired quicker. I give myself a lot of grace, it was hard at first but I lowered my expectations of what is possible for me. Add more time to projects and decide…

    More

  • faerie_fingers

    I started a huge project at the beginning of lockdown, and I used its completion as incentive to get back into competing as the world began opening up again. Should it have taken nearly 3 years to make? No, but I will blame the anxiety, distance learning and working, lack of personal space and free…

    More

  • Veijanikita

    It’s made a big difference. I spend more time on my projects and am overall less motivated to crunch. I build less for other people than I used to. I go to less cons than I used to, but am starting to up that again. My partner and I still mask indoors at conventions even…

    More

  • Dio maxwellE

    I havent been to a con since 2020 and even though things opened up a lot this year, I didnt go to pretty much any. I was at Fanime every year without fail since like 1998? (The final year it was at foothill college, anyhow, with a $5 weekend badge!) But just being in thickly…

    More

  • Spidereyezzcos

    To be honest, the pandemic has truly affected my going to conventions. I have a disease in which affects my blood vessels located in the brain and optic nerve which can cause aneurysms any time. I have not left my home since 2020 because this pandemic targets my disease as well as the vaccine targeting…

    More

  • REBECCA

    Prior to the pandemic I was satisfied with attending cons in my cosplay and just being seen at the event but ever since the pandemic I’ve been focused on social media and how to capture photos and videos of my costume in an eye catching way. Now I build friendships online and not just in…

    More

MEDIA

  • Comic-Con Is Live And In-Person Again And Yes, That Means Cosplayers Are Back. Why They’re So Excited

    By Mike Roe San Diego’s Comic-Con International — and all the cosplaying fans — is back this week for the first time in three years. Cosplayers have been some of the most excited fans as live events start to return. They’ll be holding court and taking photos with onlookers at the con, which regularly draws…

    More

  • All dressed up with nowhere to go: Cosplaying in the pandemic

    By Lauren Orsini JUNE 25, 2021 It took Michelle Anderson a month to create her E3 2019 outfit. It took her another hour to put it on. She wore a wig with red Afro puffs, an army-green tactical vest and fake bloodstained bandage. She completed the look with medical gloves and a mask looped around her…

    More

  • Jarod Nandin, the World of Warcraft South Park Cosplayer, Dies

    By Joseph Knoop Jarod Nandin, a member of the Blizzard fan community known for his South Park World of Warcraft cosplay, has died. BlizzCon host Michele Morrow, who met Nandin in 2013, shared the news on Twitter Sunday afternoon, adding that Nandin had died due to COVID-19. “Today the @warcraft and greater @blizzard community lost one of…

    More