While we take the time to enjoy a well-earned Thanksgiving break, let’s take a look back at everything that’s happened so far this year. All the things you’ve done, all the classes you’ve attended, but, most importantly, the conventions that have passed. Summer was over before the school year started. Denver Comic-Con and Fort Collins Comic-Con were in August, followed with Nan Desu Kan (NDK) in September. With each new convention, nerds and otakus alike flocked to various parts of Colorado dressed in the cosplays they worked hard to put together or bought to save time. Either way, fans came together to showcase their love for the shows and other things they love from pop culture.

There is still more conventions to come, though. Animeland Wasabi-Con recently announced the date and location for their convention on their website. On February 10-12th, Wasabi-Con will take place at the Crowne Plaza DIA Convention center.

Also, for the convention newcomer, Colorado Animefest will be having their second convention on March 24-26th at the Renaissance Denver Stapleton hotel.

Wasabi hasn’t announced any updates to guests or panels yet, but the convention has been around for a lot longer than Animefest and should promise to be an exciting time if you’re looking for the next convention to cosplay your favorite characters.

Animefest has started announcing guests now and promises to be just as fun as last year. Last year, the convention brought Matt Mercer from Geek & Sundry’s Critical Roll show, where he plays the DM for a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. He’s also done a lot of voice acting work.

This year, the convention has announced three guests so far. Caitlin Glass, who voiced Winry Rockbell in Fullmetal Alchemist’s dub as well as Cammy from the Street Fighter franchise, will be at the Con. She’s also known for directing Ouran Highschool Host Club as well as voicing the main character.

Another guest this year is Erica Mendez, who has voiced Ryuko Matoi in Kill la Kill as well as Nico in the Love Live! franchise. The other guest announced so far is Karen Strassman, who has voiced Soi Fon in Bleach and Fiora in League of Legends.

With those announced so far, Colorado Animefest looks like it will have another fun year. Animeland Wasabi-Con will announce over the course of the coming months, so Con-goers can plan whether or not they are going to both conventions or one over the other.

Since the conventions are coming up soon, the best thing to do with time off and winter break coming up will be planning your next cosplay as well as budgetting how much money you will need for either convention.

There is nothing posted for Wasabi-Con yet, however, ticket prices for Animefest are going for around $45 right now. Rooms at the con hotel can go for around $75. You’ll need to plan to have food or bring snacks to your room, so excluding what you save to buy things at the convention, the overall cost of attending should be around $150 plus what you decide to buy there.

The easiest thing to do, however, is to go with friends and split a room, which can make the cost go down drastically. The advantage is that you can spend more money on the things you want, and everyone loves to save money.

After saving money for the convention experience, the next thing is looking at what to either make or expect at the coming to a convention. As with most anime cons, there will be a lot of Fairy Tail, One Piece, Danganronpa, and Kill la Kill cosplay. With the new anime that have come out this season, though, fans might also cosplay from shows like Izetta, FlipFlappers, and some of the new characters in Bungo Stray Dogs. Another popular thing for people to cosplay lately is Undertale and RWBY characters. With the popularity of Overwatch as well, fans can expect to see some cosplays of their new favorites.

If you can’t afford the time or money to make your own cosplay, there are plenty of ways to save money or do simple cosplay. The easiest thing to do, and a common choice for cosplayers, is sports anime shows such as Haikyuu!! and Free! You can find costumes from either show on Amazon for around $20-$40, depending on how in-depth you want to go. If the cosplay calls for a wig, though, a good wig will cost around $40. This, however, will take less time to put together, and most often is cheaper than some of the really nice cosplays you see that you know people put together.

Whether you go to cons for the atmosphere, to be with people who share common interests, to see others cosplays or to buy the specialty goods that are hard to find elsewhere, look forward to Wasabi and Animefest. Both conventions will take place next year, with Wasabi early on and Animefest closer to summer, but there are a lot of fun things you can do. The best thing is to try and get a group together to go with rather than flying solo since conventions are more fun, and cheaper, in larger groups. There’s always meet ups planned for people at conventions if you plan on making a popular cosplay, or you can make a day of working on cosplay with friends over the holiday season. Conventions are always a good way to spend time and meet new people, and with two conventions coming up soon, there’s no better time than now to start working on or order your cosplay before the con season begins again.

Collegian writer Kevin Avis can be reached at blogs@collegian.com. Leave a comment!!