SunnyCon 2012

Written by Ross Locksley on 24 Mar 2012

March 24th birthed a new convention for anime fans in the UK; SunnyCon. Set in Sunderland in the North East, SunnyCon is a small convention principally organised by our site Sponsor Tucky's Anime, and in particular Michael Tuckwell. Given how starved this area is for an anime event, it was a pleasure to attend and lend our support to what we hope will be a long running series of conventions.

SunnyCon took place in the Crowtree Leisure Centre right in the middle of town, making access very easy. The facilities were spacious and easily held the 1,000 visitors we were told had descended.

The main hall held a modest but very varied dealers room (with Animez, Kamika-Z and Genki Gear among others), the main stage area and the Replay gaming area, which featured some classic hardward playing vintage games. Some of the events, such as the blogging panel with Anime Picks Editor Gina Lucia were held in the squash courts, which made for some amusing aesthetic effects at times.

Dealers Room
Featuring cosplay weapons stores, toy stands, sweet shops and independent artists, it was the main hub of activity for much of the day - I picked up a couple of figures while I was there, one of which will find its way to one of our writers on his birthday!  

Events
I managed to catch a number of events at the show, including the aforementioned Blogging Panel, which touched on tips to getting started, promotion and forward planning, and it genuinely seemed to help some of the audience which is to be applauded. Gina herself was very professional and hopefully we'll see more of the same at other conventions.

Other items I caught were a very interesting "audience with" event featuring Veronica Taylor (aka Ash Catchum of Pokemon fame) who delighted in reliving her favourite lines from the series and answering questions from what appeared to be a very large and appreciative number of fans. I also caught Yoshiko Moss who covered the history of the tea ceremony in Japan - she was very clear, entertaining and certainly worth watching if you can find her at other conventions in the UK.

Other entertainment
The convention itself was very good natured, and there were large number of cosplayers on-hand to make the day more entertaining. One of my own personal guilty pleasures was stepping outside to watch the reaction of the locals to characters such as Tifa Lockheart, Pikachu and Zelda's Link walking around town.

A special mention has to go to the catering table which provided traditional Japanese snacks in the main hall, and some excellent coffee. I don't know what was in it, but it certainly helped the day along!

For one day only?
Sadly I could only attend the event for one day, but from what I was able to see, the event was well run, had an excellent location and a great atmosphere. If I could make any recommendations it would be to beef up security. I was able to walk in and claim entry without any ID or even stating which of the sponsors I was, and I spoke to a few stall owners who had items taken from their stands. Nothing that couldn't be sorted out with a few extra gophers though.

For any convention, the organisation, atmosphere and range of activities on offer was excellent. For a first attempt however it was quite outstanding. If you can get to Sunderland for the next event, I'd strongly urge you to do so. It isn't grim up North.