Atlanta-area folks! Are you just now starting to kinda miss the fun and chaos of DragonCon? Never fear, because there’s a con that’s conveniently held right when you get your strength back from battling crowds. Anime Weekend Atlanta starts on September 24th this year, so you can experience the magic of waiting in an hour-long line again! Yay! As an avid gamer, it’s an important part of my geek calendar for the year.
Anime Weekend Atlanta, or AWA for short is one of the largest fan conventions in Atlanta with over 20,000 attendees in 2014. That’s nearly a third of a DragonCon, for those keeping score at home, aka a whole lot of people. Taking place in the Renaissance Waverly Hotel and Cobb Galleria Convention center, AWA is super convenient for geeks in the northern suburbs of Atlanta.
AWA takes its name very seriously, making anime the #1 priority on its schedule.
That being said, I’m a very, very casual anime fan and I still manage to have an awesome time each year. The amount of programming put on at AWA is staggering, including topics such as crafting, cosplay, drawing, board gaming, video gaming, Jpop, dolls, toys, fashion, and plenty of subjects not typically covered by the DragonCon collection of tracks. My favorite programming is comedy-based, so I tend to look for panels with titles like “The Worst Anime”.
That being said, I’m a very, very casual anime fan and I still manage to have an awesome time each year. The amount of programming put on at AWA is staggering, including topics such as crafting, cosplay, drawing, board gaming, video gaming, Jpop, dolls, toys, fashion, and plenty of subjects not typically covered by the DragonCon collection of tracks. My favorite programming is comedy-based, so I tend to look for panels with titles like “The Worst Anime”.
Your best friend, the line...
One big feature of the con is the SOUND. They take their sound systems seriously, and the amount of speakers wheeled in for the event is staggering. There are plenty of musical guests, so if you want to attend some of the most unique concerts around, now is your chance! At the very least, you’ll be able to hear the panelists from the back of a giant convention hall.
Beware of popular panels!
 I found the princess! Take that, Mario! | Since this is an anime convention, it should come as no surprise that the cosplay is On. Point. The best places to walk around and gawk are the hotel lobby and the galleria walkways. |
My favorite food at the con is supplied by the food trucks, so get yourself in line for a hotdog. If you can’t give up the food court experience, there’s always the Galleria Mall as well as the full-sized Cumberland Mall (especially handy if you forget to bring some crucial piece of cosplay).
Fine food truck dining!
There are plenty of late-night activities-if you’ve got some extra dough after visiting the dealers, there’s a formal ball on Friday ($35-$45 at the door). If you want to attend, bring your best black tie attire-they really, really won’t let you in if you aren’t in dress code. Saturday boasts the one big “party”, and I’ve heard rumors that the line is super short (no guarantees for this year, of course). I hope to make it to the Bebop lounge, which plays nothing but jazz music; it’s a welcome break after all those blaring anime themes. There are also “adult” panels which I hear get very entertaining. I mean, so I’ve heard…
So, so many games for sale!
| Other fun features include a crowded-but-not-TOO-crowded dealers hall, Super Happy Fun Sell (a big garage sale full of discount, gently-used geeky merch), a quiet Manga library where you can read to your heart’s content, a maid café where ruffle-y servers bring you games and snacks, a fashion show, and an arcade. I promise to get plenty of cosplay pictures this year, so get ready cosplayers! |  Plenty of Sailor Scouts roaming the halls... |
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