Hanami
| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Hanami |
| Dates: | 2006-present |
| Frequency: | annual |
| Location: | Ludwigshafen |
| Type: | fan run |
| Focus: | animanga, cosplay |
| Organization: | Animexx e.V. |
| Founder: | Animexx e.V. |
| Founding Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://www.hanami-ludwigshafen.de/ |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
Hanami is a German animanga convention run by fan organisation Animexx e.V. that takes place annually in Ludwigshafen on the first weekend in May. It is named after the traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers in spring, jap. hanami, 花見, “flower viewing”. The mascots of Hanami are a drawn Sakura flower named Kurt and a Kimono wearing girl called Hana (flower).[1]
Overview
The motto of Hanami is: Con meets festival. The event strives to connect elements of regular conventions with elements of traditional Japanese festivals (matsuri) and is sometimes described as being like a mix between the German-Japanese festival Japan Day in Düsseldorf and a animanga conventions. In their program for the weekend there is room for aspects of traditional Japanese culture, like Taiko concets and other themed workshops, as well as the usual fanish showacts, fanwok workshops, cosplay competitions, games and video rooms.
Usually there are some booths with matsuri like games and for some years there has been a maid café, organized by maid cosplayers.
Since 2008 the Hanami is the venue of one of the German Cosplay Championship (DCM) preliminaries.
Since 2011 there is a grand ceremony with a parade around the city streets (in cooperation with the city of Ludwigshafen).
Since 2012 Hanami also hosts a special cosplay ball.
History
Hanami was founded in 2006 after there had been previous trouble with the organisation of Con-Neko - another animanga convention in Ludwigshafen. The first Hanami had around 400 visitors, the second one already over a thousand. Till 2011 the event took place in the culture center called “das Haus”, but by then the event had already seriously outgrown the premises and in 2012 took place in the bigger “Pfalzbau”. The event had grown to around 5.200 visitors.
2006
08.04. - 09.04.2006, Ludwigshafen
- Special Guests: Prin and Umi Konbu
- Contests:
- Showacts:
- Animexx links:
2007
05.05. - 06.05.2007, Ludwigshafen
- Showacts: Aki Yamamura (Soprano) and Matthias Gräff-Schestag (Piano), Shinji Schneider
- Animexx links:
2008
03.05. - 04.05.2008, Ludwigshafen
- Showacts: Tennogawa Taiko Group, Shinji Schneider
- Animexx links: