zenkaikon recap
I wanted to write about my time at Zenkaikon last weekend and make some notes for myself for next time, but I have been really tired after getting back so this is coming out a little later than I originally intended. Please note that this isn't a comprehensive review of the convention itself and is just a recap of my personal experiences. I'm not a professional convention reviewer, just a little guy who likes to play dress up and scream about the things I like on the internet.
I consider Zenkaikon to be my home convention, even though it's about a 90 minute drive from where I live. Of the cons I've been to, it's the one that feels most like home for me. It's a smaller (estimated 7,000+ attendees this year) convention, and the culture is very welcoming and chill. There's a big queer and trans community with no shortage of panels specifically for us, and I've just always felt a sense of belonging here. The convention also seems to have good relationships with the city and the local businesses, which understandably isn't always the case.
The convention is also run very well and their staff is receptive to feedback. This year they made several significant changes, such as splitting the venue between the Lancaster County Convention Center and the Holiday Inn and moving some of the major event spaces around to improve flow in the busiest parts of the main convention center. I thought the changes were positive and effective overall, but I do understand and agree with some of the criticism they've received for these changes.
One of the best things about the convention center is its location in the downtown area of Lancaster, which is both scenic and full of really cool local businesses and great food. This year I tried to save a little money on food by packing enough food for my breakfasts and one other meal plus snacks per day on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but I brought too much and wish I'd gotten to eat out more. Next year if I can justify the additional food expense, I might limit it to breakfasts and maybe one or two meals to divide up throughout the weekend. We also ate at Sheetz on Thursday and Sunday on the way to and from the con, which is always a good time. I might live in Wawa country, but I'll always be team Sheetz.
Thursday is always a relaxing day 0 at Zenkaikon: we checked into our hotel room, turned on the Food Network and unpacked, took some cosplay photos, picked up our badges, and got dinner at the Lancaster Southern Market which is like a food court. I wanted to make sure I ate a vegetable after my deep-fried lunch at Sheetz, so I got a poke bowl.
Friday I had planned to wear Jem all day but ended up wearing Mariko again because I didn't want to walk in heels all the way to the Holiday Inn to watch my friend Horror Queen Cosplay's panel on references and research for cosplay. I met up with Flora and Jen on my way over and we had lunch at Silantra, and thankfully Horror Queen's panel ended early so I was also able to catch my friends' panel on transgender representation in anime right next door. They were both good panels!
After the panels I finally went back to the room and changed into Jem. I think I'm going to retire her after this convention because my body and sewing skills have changed a lot over the years since I made her almost a decade ago. I needed to borrow some safety pins from Flora to make the belt fit properly, and rhinestones are constantly falling off of it every time I wear it. But I thought she was a good cosplay to wear for the idol fest! Because Jem is kind of an idol too.
Saturday I wore my Unimarucorn tamagotchi cosplay! I tried to attend my friend's panels about food in anime and pop culture and where to find them locally, but it was so warm that I started to feel sick and had to dip out early.
Afterwards I met up with my journaling group and we got some photos and had a late lunch at the Plough, which is the restaurant in the lobby of the Marriott connected to the convention center. I've been thinking about the tomato bisque I had at the marketplace in the Gaylord during Magfest for months so I ordered their tomato bisque and a pear cocktail. It was great, a little spicy and exactly the right amount of food for me.
I needed to change into a cooler costume for the masquerade but didn't have time to change my makeup after lunch, so I ended up wearing Maria with the very uwu kawaii makeup I did for Unimarucorn.
The masquerade was really good! Uncle Yo wasn't available to MC it due to a scheduling conflict, but we had Mikal Mosley instead who was fantastic. I wish I'd gotten to attend one of his several cosplay panels that happened throughout the weekend, but I ended up not having time. I like Uncle Yo and feel that he is a staple to the Zenkaikon community, but I wouldn't be mad if Mikal came back to MC again. There were a lot of great skits and costumes this year, and FLORA WON AN AWARD YESSS GO FLORA!!! She won third in the intermediate division of the hall cosplay contest. I'm so excited for her!!!
Sunday I went to the con in casual clothes and didn't even take a selfie of my outfit. I went to a cosplay panel about wigs, contacts, and makeup because I'm curious about wearing contacts with my cosplays. I need to go to my eye doctor before I look into that, but the panel was really informative. I also did a little shopping in the exhibit hall. I bought a really cute Sailor Moon crane game-themed ita bag from XXTRA Pastel Shop and also a few gifts for my friends and partners. I also finally got to say hi to some of my friends on staff in cosplay HQ before we drove back to Sheetz for a late lunch and went home.
This post is getting a lot longer than I expected, so I'll wrap it up with a few final thoughts. Zenkaikon was really great, and it inspired me to start planning a new cosplay that I'd like to bring to compete with next year (I'll write about this in its own post later). Attending Zenkaikon is always such a refreshing experience for me because for a convention as small as it is the programming is always fantastic, the community is so kind and welcoming, and the hall cosplay and masquerade participants always bring their best stuff.
And the food!!!!! I didn't even talk about the bistro a couple of doors down from the Mariott that has a bakery whose chef apparently won Chopped Sweets???? I'll try to write about that next year if I'm still keeping up with this website. I'll definitely still be attending Zenkaikon again, that's for certain.
Now if you'll excuse me, I just received a book from my friend Char Reed in the mail and I need to unbox it like yesterday.
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