About AVCon

How AVCon Came To Be

Sometime in the late 90s, students at the University of South Australia (UniSA) discovered Japanese animation, and formed a club in which to watch it. The club was called the Adelaide Japanese Animation Society (AJAS), and students from all around gathered at weekly meetings to watch imported anime (in fact AJAS still exists to this very day and you can even go join it now!). However, in the early 2000s, renovations at the UniSA campus caused AJAS to lose their meeting room and they found themselves without a space in which to do their screenings.

Elsewhere a small collection of anime and game fans, lead by a man named Neil, would talk online and meet up to watch new shows and play games. When Neil (who was currently studying at the University of Adelaide) found out that uni clubs could book out space on the campus, specifically the Union Cinema, he quickly formed a new club called the Adelaide University Video Games Association (AUGVA, also still in existence, go join!). The true purpose of the club was mostly to gain access to the Union Cinema’s massive screen to play Soulcalibur on. Because of the small scale of the South Australian anime fandom at the time, there were a lot of members who attended AJAS and were also part of Neil’s online anime club. Since AJAS was looking for a new place to watch anime, Neil assisted his friends by setting up a new and temporary incarnation of AJAS at Adelaide University, so they too could get access to Union Cinema’s screen.

During this period many people came on Tuesday to watch anime at AJAS and then on Friday to play video games at AUGVA. Both clubs on paper were led by the same man; Neil. So he had something of an influence on the entire anime and gaming community in SA. But something else still had to happen to kick off what would become known as AVCon.

A young anime fan in Adelaide named Shane wanted to watch anime movies and bring them to the masses. He had the idea to do paid anime screening events at a local Adelaide cinema called Palace Nova. To gauge interest, Shane posted about his idea on Madman Entertainment’s infamous anime Internet message forum; the Madboards. These posts got the attention of AJAS and AUVGA President Neil, who was also a member of the Madboards. The pair got in contact over ICQ (ancient Internet messaging program). The contact Shane had for the cinema had fallen through and it seemed unlikely there was any interest in the idea. Neil suggested instead that they do the paid screening event at Union Cinema which he could get for free. But as they talked more about it, the ideas started to grow bolder.

Attention turned to Melbourne and an event that had been run by an alliance of multiple Melbourne anime clubs on the University of Melbourne campus for the last couple of years. Itself based on anime conventions happening in the US, Manifest (Melbourne Anime Festival) was a weekend long festival of anime screenings, artists, vendors and cosplay. The pair realised that they could emulate Manifest at the Adelaide University with the contacts Neil had and do their own SA anime convention. But along with all the usual anime convention activities, the resources of AUVGA could be utilised to add video gaming to the mix. The idea was brought up with various other friends in the clubs, which quickly set off a chain reaction of interest. Others started putting up their hands to help with the fledgling event. Initially meetings were open to anyone who wanted to participate and were held in places like the Central Market Food Court or outside Regency Cinema. Soon a core group of organisers solidified and split off into different roles (anime screenings, video games, art, events, financial etc).

The name was a sticking point for the organisers. Early suggestions were things like ‘Crow Con’ and ‘Con Fusion’ but the team decided not to go with the ‘con’ naming convention. Most other events around the world had con in their name and it was a bit generic. The name AVConnection had been floated a few times and was ultimately chosen, mostly because everyone was sick of discussing it. The name AVConnection (Ayvee Connection) meant Anime and Video Game Connection, but was also a play on the type of cable used at the time to plug DVD Players and Game consoles to a TV.

Now with everything in place, it was finally time to make an event happen.

AVConnection 2003 | 19-20 July 2003 | Adelaide University

After the success of the 2002 event, AVConnection returned for another year at Adelaide Uni, this time taking up multiple floors and rooms in the Union Building. Tickets were sold both at the door and through local businesses Shin Tokyo and ‘Tunza Fun’ arcaade at Tea Tree Plaza.

Advertising material produced for the event featured three small icons: a smiling girl’s face, a crosshair, and a legally distinct “space invader” sprite. Little did anyone know but the Invader icon would soon become AVCon’s most iconic branding asset.

Sponsorship grew in 2003; with support from Tamarket, Madman, Activision, Borders, and Anime Anytime. The organisers stumbled on a local brand of projectors by the name of Mantaray. These projectors – shaped like stingrays – were used for both gaming and anime screenings. Unfortunately, the projectors did not work particularly well and trying to play competitive games on them were nearly impossible due to high input lag and less than stellar resolution. Each projector, likely due to their aquatic animal shape, even came with a warning label reminding users not to use them in water.

Activision donated copies of new games for free play and giveaways. One of the most interesting sponsors was a company called Making Waves, who sold the Playstation Eye Toy in Australia. AVConnection 03 featured a few EyeToy setups for attendees to try out. Executives of Making Waves even asked AVConnection organisers on Saturday if they should take an overnight flight from the UK to see the event in action.

The weekend was preceded by a Friday night J-Rock performance by band ‘reset::/0’ at the Governor Hindmarsh. Popular activities from the first year returned alongside fresh additions such as a Kendo demonstration, the Ultimate Gamer Decathlon, a Legend of the Five Rings TCG competition, AVCon’s first-ever auction, and a DDR competition called Odoru 5 DDR.

Patrons could even score a special accommodation deal at the Blue Galah hostel to stay central over AVConnection weekend.

To keep people fed, a sausage sizzle was held on both days where you could buy anime sausages (aka just regular sausages).

Madman once again supported the convention with Australian premiere screenings, including Full Metal Panic and Onegai Teacher. This time they also sent staff over to the event to take part in a Madman Entertainment panel, giving attendees the chance to learn about anime localisation ask question about the industry.

A game development panels was hosted by now-defunct Adelaide game developer ‘Ratbag’, who at the time was the only large developer to have ever existed in South Australia. Their talks inspired a whole generation of would-be game devs and set the stage for AVCon’s eventual focus on game development.

Art by Connell Wood.

AVCon 2005 | RPG | 16-17 July 2005 | Adelaide University

In 2005, AVCon adopted its first ‘official’ theme: RPG. All of the art, website, and promotional material embraced a classic role-playing game style, setting the tone for the year. There was also lore that went along with the setting and characters.

To emphasise that AVCon was as much about video games as it was anime, a new mascot was introduced this year to represent gamers. A bishounen-style humanoid male with grey hair, red eyes and devil wings. A competition was held on the official AVCon forum to name the new character, with ‘Switch’ being picked as the winner. Behind the scenes, Switch was never an official entry and was named after the piece of network equipment after no good suggestions were made. The pair of Ayvee and Switch began to star in weekly AVCon comics. With Switch in the picture, Sprite would take a backseat, appearing only in the odd AVCon comic (where he grumpily commented about being replaced) until he disappeared altogether (for now anyway).

To accommodate games rated higher than M, AVCon introduced its first MA-rated gaming room, opening the door to more mature titles.

The Festival also held its first official launch party at Mercury Cinema on the Friday night, complete with drinks and a screening of the anime movie ‘Steamboy’.

A special events sub committee is established to help create and run events of AVCon. One of the first events they came up with was a new game show titled ‘Good News Geek’ which unlike the previous year’s game show selected the entrants from well known members of the community. All contestants were given answers in advance, with the idea being that they could be funny and entertaining instead of struggling to answer obscure trivia facts. Despite their effort the event still managed to earn the title of ‘Train Wreck’. One of the event subcommittee built a life sized paper mache figure of Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion. During the show, Shinji was decapitated, and his head later auctioned off. A photo of the severed head eventually surfaced on 4chan, becoming an unexpected meme on the early anime Internet.

The cosplay competition proved so popular in 2004 that not everyone could fit into the Union Hall, so organisers set up a live link to stream the event into one of the anime screening rooms, allowing more attendees to watch. Issued with the stream caused the compeition to be delayed by 40 minutes. Meanwhile, the release of the Nintendo DS that year inspired a new form of community interaction, as fans used PictoChat to commentate on cosplays live from the audience.

Sponsors included Madman, Pulp Fiction Comics, Shin Tokyo, and MRC, while both Sony and Microsoft contributed posters and promotional cut-outs to decorate the gaming areas.

AVCon 2007 | Rock Show | 20-22 July 2007 | Adelaide University

In 2007, AVCon rocked out with a theme inspired by the rise of games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Branded as “Rock Show” – or more dramatically, AVCon 07: The Massive Damage Tour – the event embraced the energy of music and performance.

To promote the theme, an 11-page comic starring Ayvee and Switch was released on the AVCon website and forums in the lead-up to the weekend. (Some of these comics still survive today on AVCon’s Facebook page.)

Alongside the usual anime screenings, 2007 expanded its offerings to include live-action Japanese dramas and even episodes of the cult hit YuGiOh: The Abridged Series. The convention also debuted its first Fruits fashion parade, inspired by Harajuku street fashion, showing that AVCon was about much more than just cosplay. A Rock Band competition is held on stage called Rock Out!

Members of AVCon’s sister event, Manifest, come over from Melbourne and run AVCon Idol, an anime karaoke competition.

Vorpal Con, a tabletop gaming convention created by original AVCon staff, runs on the university grounds complementary to AVCon. Vorpal Con staff contribute an event to AVCon programming titled “Baron Munchausen AVCon Remix,”; the exact specifics of this strange event have since been lost to time.

Other creative events included Iron Artist, run by the Australian graphic novel anthology OzTaku, where AVCon attendees competed in live art battles against professional artists on stage. Cosplay Chess made its debut, transforming cosplayers into living chess pieces while the players commanded them around the board. A live stage event titled “It’s Dangerous to Go Alone, Take This!” attempted a “Thank God You’re Here” improv style show – and, true to tradition, descended into a familiar Game Show Train Wreck.

An ambitious interactive game called ‘Capture the Guitar’ runs throughout the convention. A giant papier-mâché guitar prop was carried around by an attendee who signed their name on it, changing hands whenever someone successfully challenged that holder to a game of rock-paper-scissors. The aim was to carry the guitar for as long as possible to be crowned the winner – but the game takes a disapointing turn when the prop seemed to disapear midway through the festivities, only to be later discovered damaged and abandoned in a bathroom stall.

Sponsors for 2007 included Shin Tokyo, Madman, Easy Games, Pulp Fiction, and HYPE>> Magazine.

Logo by Julian Austin, art by Erin McGregor.

AVCon 2009 | Heroes Vs. Villains | 24-26 July 2009 | Adelaide Convention Centre

After years of steady growth, 2009 marked a turning point for AVCon. With attendance continuing to rise year on year, the organisers knew it was time to move beyond the university halls and into a purpose-built event venue. Plans had been in motion since 2008, and now for the first time, AVCon would be hosted at the world-class Adelaide Convention Centre. With the move away from the Uni, expectations were high, and the organisers knew they needed to make 2009 the biggest event ever!

The theme for the year was Heroes vs Villains. According to lore, AVCon city is threatened by “A Worldwide Evil Syndicate of Minor Exploits” (A.W.E.S.O.M.E.) led by the villainous Switch. After stealing the Dolorean Diamond to power his doomsday device, the Azurean Crusher MkII, it was up to Ayvee – a mild-mannered librarian by day, superhero by night – to save AVCon City and all of Avconia.

Sponsors included Network 10, TAFE SA, Madman Entertainment, Pulp Fiction Comics, and Gametraders.

The larger space featured many more free-play games and game tournaments like Ultimate Gamer, Smash Brothers Brawl, Halo 3, Soul Calibur IV and Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.

Tournaments weren’t restricted to consoles; PC LAN tournaments ran all weekend, like Team Fortress 2 and Starcraft.

Of course, a full selection of Anime screenings ran over the weekend.

Other content included the Lolita, Fruits and Kimono Katwalk, a new game show based on ‘Spicks and Specs’ called ‘Tentacles and Mechs.’ Panels on Asian ball joint dolls, travelling to Japan, Warhammer 40k, popular anime website Anime News Network, AMVs and AMV editing, live ‘Iron Artist’ drawing and even Yaoi and Yuri panels.

For the first time, Adelaide held a leg of the Madman National Cosplay Championship.

AVCon’s interstate sister events, SMASH! from Sydney and Manifest from Melbourne, ran content in the form of SMASH Karaoke room and Manifest Cosplay Chess.

Indie development returned bigger than ever, this time in a section officially christened the Indie Games Room. It is supported by – TAFE SA, Flinders Uni and Holopoint Interactive.

You could stop for a bite to eat with cute maids at the new Maid Cafe dubbed ‘Ichigo Ke-Ki’ (Strawberry Cake) Cafe.

Achievements were all the rage, and the AVCon 2009 booklet listed several that could be accomplished by doing certain tasks around the festival.

2009 also saw the birth of one of AVCon’s quirkiest collector’s items: the sideways hoodie. Due to a misprint, official hoodies were produced with the back design rotated 90 degrees. Corrected versions were printed later, but the originals became treasured oddities for longtime attendees.

The move to the Adelaide Convention Centre paid off, with attendance doubling compared to the final university event. AVCon had officially established itself as the largest anime and gaming event in the Southern Hemisphere.

Art by Serio555.

AVCon 2011 | Retro | 22-24 July 2011 | Adelaide Convention Centre

AVCon 2011 marked a major milestone: the 10th AVCon event. To celebrate, the theme was “Retro,” with plenty of pixel art dominating the convention’s look and feel.

The official AVCon forums, which had been running on PHPBB since 2004, were wiped as the team migrated to vBulletin 4. Countless memories were lost in the transition – though fragments can still be found on the Wayback Machine archive. Around this time, AVCon also experimented with creating its own short-lived podcast.

Like the year before, Team AVCon put a challenge out to attendees: if pre-reg sales hit 3,000, promotions coordinator Dustin Wilson would appear in a pretty maid dress. The goal was met, Dustin donned the dress, and the spectacle became one of the most memorable moments of AVCon history. In true AVCon fashion, the dress itself was later auctioned off for $2,500.

This is the first year AVCon officially has guests attending that host panels and do attendee meet and greets. The initial guests were Jade Gatt and Ryan Lappin, former hosts of the popular Australian kid’s show ‘Cheez TV’. The pair gave talks about their time hosting the amazingly popular kids TV show and how the early anime on their show (such as Pokemon, Digimon, Yugioh and Dragonball Z) helped create the early 2000s boom in anime fandom.

Thanks to a community crowdfunding effort, AVCon was also able to host Martin “LittleKuriboh” Billany, the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series and the pioneer of the entire abridged series phenomenon. His Australian tour that year included appearances at SMASH! in Sydney, Manifest in Melbourne, and of course AVCon.

AVCon’s principal sponsor this year was Australian ISP iiNet. Other sponsors include Eleven (digital channel of Network 10), Madman Entertainment, Siren Visual, Pulp Fiction Comics, Alchemy E-Coustics and the return of Shin Tokyo.


After the convention, the team at AVCon also ran content at Adelaide’s annual OZAsia festival which was heavily promoted as ongoing AVCOn content.

AVCon 2013 | School Days | 12-14 July 2013 | Adelaide Convention Centre

AVCon 2013 opened with the Australian premiere screening of Evangelion 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo.

Guests that year included Spike Spencer (voice of Shinji Ikari in Evangelion), Chris Cason (Mr. Popo in Dragon Ball Z and Gluttony in Fullmetal Alchemist), and world-famous cosplayer and model Jessica Nigri, whose appearance drew a lot of hype.

Early in 2013, AVCon teamed up with Espionage and Retrospekt for an event called ARCADE ALLSTARS!

This year’s theme was “School Days,” inspired by slice-of-life high school anime. Staff leaned into the concept by donning AVCon High School attire and taking on the title of “prefects.” Staying in theme, AVCon also hosted a pre-event called the AVCon Prom, which became the first incarnation of what would evolve into the AVCon Ball.

While previous AVCons had opened with a performance, 2013 took things to a new level. The Opening Ceremony to usher in that year’s event could be called nothing less than a spectacular. More than 18 months in the making, work was started on it months before the previous year’s AVCon was even run! The project was the brainchild of Daniel Thompson-Hoare, who served as executive producer. To bring it to life, AVCon assembled a professional creative team including a director, multiple choreographers, costume and makeup staff, professional actors, and dancers.

The performance was split into three acts, set to music drawn from across anime, gaming, and pop culture. It featured elaborate stage builds, advanced AV equipment, and spectacular lighting effects. In total, the opening ceremony lasted for over an hour – a scale of production not seen at a pop culture event in Australia before or since. The only snag was that during the final song of the finale, when tech staff accidentally kick a power cable out, causing a catastrophic power loss to the stage. Fortunately, the official recording on YouTube edits around the moment seamlessly, leaving only the intended spectacle preserved.

Sponsorship was once again led by Internode as principal sponsor, with Adelaide Convention Centre, South Australian Chinese Weekly, and Shin Tokyo also returning. Digital channel GO! (part of the Nine Network) joined as a sponsor for the first time. Razer contributed PC accessories for prizes, while Nintendo Australia made a splash by giving away an exclusive Monster Hunter limited edition 3DS on the event floor.

In the gaming space, StreetGeek returned with PC hardware for the LAN, while ARENA Internet Café introduced eSports to AVCon for the very first time.

To keep the community connected, AVCon launched the AVCon Social Club Facebook group, a semi-official page where Team AVCon can share updates while fans post their own memories, questions, and experiences.

Art by Tarale.

AVCon 2015 | Detective Agency | 17-19 July 2015 | Adelaide Convention Centre

This year’s theme is Detective Agency. Ayvee is cast as an old-school detective, while Switch is the nosey reporter. There is a mystery to solve at AVCon 2015, and clues have been left all over the convention floor. At certain times throughout the event, Ayvee and Switch would discover clues and expand on the mystery, acting out interactive events for attendees. There was also the AVCon villain stalking the grounds. Could you solve the mystery before Ayvee and Switch could? (Hint: shockingly the culprit turned out to be the AVCon villain)

The AVCon Ball returned in style as the Mysterious Masquerade Ball, complementing the detective theme with a night of masks, mystery, and dance.

Major sponsors in 2015 included the Nine Network, Adelaide Convention Centre, Turner Software, Shin Tokyo, Madman, and UniSA. Minor sponsors were Fresh FM, ASMODEE, VR Distribution, Cosplay Sentinels, and Plantronics Gaming.

2015 guests include local cosplayer Eve Beauregard, International Cosplayer Yaya Han and American voice actress Jennifer Hale (voice of female Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect series).

This year also marked the point where tabletop gaming became a major focus at AVCon, alongside anime and video games. The festival floor now featured TCG and board game tournaments, free-to-play areas, and RPG sessions, cementing tabletop as a permanent part of the AVCon experience.

AVCon hosted the first-speed running marathon of AuSpeedruns at AVCon 2015. AuSpeedruns would go on to become Australia’s premiere speed running group, putting on their own yearly event to raise money for charity (ASM) and attending events like PAX Australia and Dreamhack.

Art and design by Jaimie Wearne.

AVCon 2017 | Winter Festival | 21-23 July 2017 | Adelaide Convention Centre

The theme of AVCon 2017 was “Winter Festival,” accompanied by a creative short story inspired by Japanese folk tales to explain the lore. A wandering warrior for hire (Switch) is retained to protect a small village in the middle of winter. He comes across a beautiful crane caught in a hunter’s trap, but is unable to bring himself to kill it; instead, he frees the bird. Later, a mysterious young woman (Ayvee) visits the village and weaves beautiful rolls of cloth for the village to trade for supplies and medicine. Switch discovers Ayvee was the Crane he spared, and that every night she plucks her own feathers to create the cloth. Upon this revealation, Ayvee disappears never to be seen again. The villagers hold a yearly Winter Festival in her honour.

To build excitement, members of Team AVCon began writing blog posts in the lead-up to the festival, giving fans an inside look at the work, planning, and people behind the scenes.

AVCon 2017 opened on Friday night with a premiere screening of A Silent Voice.

Major sponsors included Nintendo, Madman Entertainment, UniSA, Shin Tokyo, Hanabee Entertainment, the Adelaide Convention Centre, and the City of Adelaide. Minor sponsors featured the Japan Foundation, Eckersley’s, CDW Studio, Cosplay Sentinels, Oaks Hotel and Resorts, and The Big Game Theory.

Guests this year include international voice actors Quinton Flynn (voice of Raiden in the Metal Gear series and Kon in Bleach), Jen Taylor (voice of Cortana in the Halo series and Princess Peach in Super Smash Brothers Melee) and Steve Downes (voice of Master Chief in the Halo series) as well as Internet personality Chris Pope.

True to AVCon tradition, 2017 also had its share of quirky legends. Throughout the weekend, an ordinary wooden stick was randomly picked up and used in ceremonies and events, appearing in the Opening Ceremony, Quiz Night, and even as the gavel during the closing auction. Attendees developed an unexpected cult love for the “AVCon Stick,” and when it was made the final auction item, it sold for $1,200.

As the 15th anniversary of AVCon, the closing ceremony also featured a retrospective, celebrating the festival’s history and evolution since its humble beginnings in 2002.

Art by Jaimie Wearne. Mascot design by Alexis Harris.

AVCon 2019 | Join The Party | 5-7 July 2019 | Adelaide Convention Centre

The theme for AVCon 2019 was Join the Party—not an invitation to a birthday, but a reference to joining a party of adventurers on an epic journey or quest. Unlike previous years with a fantasy theme, both Ayvee and Switch were characterised as magic users. Switch was a pyromancer (descended from a fire demon), while Ayvee was a hydromancer (descended from a water goddess). Additionally, Ayvee was canonised as having a pet lizard that Switch didn’t like – a detail that has not come up since.

Major sponsors included Nintendo, Madman Entertainment, Shin Tokyo, UniSA, the Adelaide Convention Centre, and Good Games. Minor sponsors were Oaks Hotel and Resorts, Eckersley’s, and Arda Wigs.

AVCon 2019 introduced a new program called the AVCon Avengers, featuring local up-and-coming cosplayers who ran panels and promotions.

Guests for AVCon 2019 included international voice actors Paul St. Peter (voice of Wormmon in Digimon and Xemnas in Kingdom Hearts) and D.C. Douglas (voice of Albert Wesker in Resident Evil and Yoshikage Kira in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure).

Art by Alana Plume.

AVCon 2021 | Ultimate Fighter | Cancelled

It was not clear going into 2021 how much longer the COVID-19 pandemic would continue, and how it might affect South Australian life during the year. Although more lockdowns loomed, the process of organising a 2021 event began, albeit in a limited capacity.

AVCon was able to host a successful event at The Gallery early in the year called AVCon Ball: Championship Edition.

Due to financial issues stemming from the cancelled 2020 event, this year’s AVCon was planned to be run at the smaller and cheaper venue of Morphettville Racecourse for 2021. The racecourse was not strictly suited to hold an event like AVCon and due to its ties to horse racing and gambling, sparked some controversy in the community.

The theme for 2021 was set to be Ultimate Fighter, which had also been teased as the theme for 2020. It was to be a tribute to tournament fighter video games and battle anime.

Planned guests included popular Australian YouTubers The Boys—JoshDub, Mully, and SmashingVR. Adelaide special effects artist and stop-motion animator Michael Cusack had scheduled talks about his company ANIFEX and the history of animation in South Australia. Andy Trieu, host of SBS PopAsia, was set to discuss the sudden surge in K-Pop popularity. Local cosplayers HenchWench and Scrap Shop Props had presentations planned on prop building.

Mere weeks before the event, Adelaide went into lockdown again. Team AVCon realised that, even if restrictions were lifted in time, the logistics, precautions, and other factors necessary to run the event safely during COVID would be too overwhelming. Team AVCon was forced to call off the event for the second year in a row.

During the COVID period, however, a new mascot joined Ayvee and Switch. Design Coordinator Alexis Harris created a petite, pink-haired, anime-inspired humanoid female to represent the AVCon Maid Cafe. Much like what had been done to name Switch two decades earlier, a competition was held to name the new character. This resulted in the new mascot being given the moniker ‘Juliette’ (an Australian breed of Strawberry).

Art and design by Alexis Harris.

AVCon 2023 | 21st Birthday | 21-23 July 2023 | Adelaide Convention Centre

With worldwide lockdowns in the rearview mirror and Team AVCon having spent a year recuperating, AVCon finally returned to the large-scale festival it had been before COVID.

Although a few AVCons were missing from the covid years, 2023 marked the 21st year anniversary of AVCon’s debut in 2002. Thus, the theme for 2023 was 21st Birthday.

In all marketing and promotion, Ayvee and Switch were now joined by Juliette, outside of her previous status as maid cafe mascot. This year instead of taking on roles, the trio got to be themselves—no warriors, mages, robots, pirates, ninjas, birds, detectives, reporters, rock stars, or space adventurers! Official art showed the trio in their own clothes, holding a birthday cake and balloons.

While AVCon 2023 returned to the Adelaide Convention Centre, the event had to be scaled down. For the first time AVCon was without its popular Quiz Night due to lack of space, and the main stage was only utilised on Sunday for the cosplay competition, guest panels, the auction, and the closing ceremony.

On the bright side, 2023 boasted the largest Artist Alley in AVCon history, featuring over 100 artists. It also introduced a manga library for attendees to relax and read, as well as a tattoo section offering nerdy tattoos.

For the first time, AVCon featured both American and Japanese talent as guests. Lisle Wilkerson (voice of Nina Williams in the Tekken series and Joy in Shenmue) and Japanese animation director Hiroshi Nagahama (director of the Mushishi anime series) attended in person.

Virtual guests were also a highlight, with online panels by Japanese voice actor Toshio Furukawa (Piccolo in Dragon Ball Z and Portgas D. Ace in One Piece) and Shogo Sakata (Aki Hayakawa in Chainsaw Man). A special virtual AstroBoy panel featured original cast members from the 1980s English dub: Patricia Whitely (Astro), Becke Wilenski (Uran), Bob Gonzalez (Daddy Walrus), and Jay Rath (Skunk).

Major sponsors for 2023 included Shin Tokyo, UniSA, the Adelaide Convention Centre, Adelaide City Council, Good Games, Lumin’s Workshop, and Team Cherry.

Later in the year Team AVCon collaborated with Rundle Mall Plaza to host a mini convention for Video Game Week. This event featured artists, indie game developers, tabletop activities, and a mall-wide scavenger hunt.

In December, Team AVCon launched its first Artist Christmas Market on the top level of Rundle Mall Plaza. The market showcased Adelaide-based artists selling unique crafts and art just in time for holiday shopping.

Team AVCon also launches their own charity effort in conjunction with the Christmas Market, called Games 4 Kids. The charity’s aim is to raise money to buy gaming equipment for the Adelaide Women’s and Children’s Hospital. Donations were taken and all proceeds from the christmas market were put toward this cause, resulting in the donation of four PlayStation 5 consoles to the hospital.

Art and design by Faewisp.

AVCon 2025 | AVCon Rangers | 5-6 July 2025 | Adelaide Showground

This year the AVCon ball was held at the Rob Roy Hotel in the Queen Street Ballroom. Named ‘The Dungeon Master’s Grand Gala’ it took a more Dungeons and Dragons vibe. At the ball you could learn to ballroom dance, play some game, have a beverage and learn about a few upcoming secrets about AVCon 2025.

At the 2024 Rundle Mall Plaza ‘Power Up’ event, it was revealed during a launch presentation that the 2025 theme would be AVCon Rangers, inspired by classic tokusatsu shows Super Sentai and Power Rangers. Think colourful spandex, dramatic poses, explosions, rubber monsters and giant robots.

Switch was revealed as the Red AVCon Ranger, Ayvee as the Green AVCon Ranger, Juliette as the Pink AVCon Ranger, and Wayville as the Yellow AVCon Ranger. It was also announced that Sprite, the koala mascot last seen in 2005, had returned as the Blue AVCon Ranger.

AVCon 2025 was to return to the Adelaide Showground, this time expanding to both the Jubilee and Wayville Pavilions and 16000m2 of floor space, making it the largest AVCon ever.

This year also marked the debut of the four-day AVCon Festival, which began on Thursday 3rd of July with the Mighty Knowin’ Power Quiz Night. Held in the Royal Banquet Room at the Adelaide Showground, over 200 fans turned up to take on the AVCon Quiz Masters, with a team of strangers who joined forces on the night ultimately taking the crown.

On Friday 4 July, AVCon partnered with Hoshi Events for an official pre-party anime rave at the Lion Arts Factory, where AVCon fans danced the night away with local and interstate DJs.

The weekend brought the last two main Festival days with AVCon proper. All the favourite activities returned including panels, workshops, video game freeplay, tournaments, arcade, VR, retro gaming, the Indie Games Room, tabletop gaming (TCG, RP, board games, wargaming), Artist Alley, exhibitors, maid café, cosplay, community groups, stage shows, screenings, the art zone and themed photo walls.

AVCon also expanded its streamer presence, taking the popular streamer stall from 2024 and turning it into the Streamcast Studio, in collaboration with the Twitch Adelaide Community. Featuring a stage and two streamer booths, it featured non-stop live content across the whole weekend by streaming personalities from all over Australia. AVCon also launced its innaugral AVCon Creator Program, initially just to recruit Streamcast talent. It quickly grew beyond expectations, with over 130 creators signing up from across the country. Participants included streamers, cosplayers, podcasters, YouTubers, models and even a Rubik’s Cube speed solver. Throughout the weekend, Streamcast Studio raised over $15,000 for charity partner Game On Cancer.

Sprite the Koala returned in a new role as the mascot for the AVCon Kids Zone. Unlike his grumpy early-2000s version, this Sprite was cheerful and family-friendly. A walkaround Sprite costume was produced to delight young attendees, while a range of official Sprite plush toys proved popular at the merch stand. Kids under 12 continued to receive free entry, and the Kids Zone featured a ball pit, face painting, cardboard prop-making, clay Pokéball modelling, LEGO building, colouring activities, games, and storytime hosted by Libraries SA.

Card game fans were treated to the ‘Elder Dragon Summit’, AVCon’s very own Magic: The Gathering Commander Festival run in partnership with Good Games Adelaide. Players could learn the format, earn points through by playing games, and then redeeming them for exclusive prizes such as AVCon-branded deck boxes, binders and playmats.

Inktaku Alley returned bigger than ever, this time featuring three local tattoo studios inking nerd-inspired tattoos all weekend.

Guests this year included Henry Thurlow (an American animator and animation director working in Japan on shows such as One Piece, Attack on Titan and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure), the cast of Deerstalker Pictures’ YouTube series 1 For All, animators Clarice Tan and Laurie Fox, story artist Tom McKinnell from Princess Bento Animation (Hazbin Hotel, Smiling Friends), and Australian actor and PopAsia host Andy Trieu. Cosplay guests included 2025 World Crown Champion of Cosplay Henchwench, as well as Scrap Shop Props and Slightlyvillainous.

The Screening Room, sponsored by Sugoi Co, featured anime films and shows, the AMV competition, AVCon Creator content, local indie animations by local club Squish Squash, works by Henry Thurlow and Princess Bento, plus a special run of 1 For All shorts.

Sponsors for 2025 included Shin Tokyo, Illustris Modelling & 3D Printing, Good Games, Table Top Warfare, VR Distribution, Sugoi Co, Chaosium Inc and Edge Studio.

AVCon After Dark returned with more late-night adult-orientated entertainment. With licensed bars, the Midnight Lane art market, exhibitors, mature gaming, and open art spaces. To match the theme, After Dark introduced its own mascot, Amethyst – a playful, curvy, mature-themed character with purple hair who featured in the branding, T-shirts and prints (with a limited 18+ edition for collectors). This allowed AVCon’s established mascots to remain seperate and family-friendly, while giving After Dark its own distinct identity.

This year After Dark introduced the Mature Cosplay Parade, alongside more relaxed rules on what could be worn for cosplay at the After event. Panels explored topics such as spicy art, yaoi, cosplay life drawing, shibari (a type of Japanese bondage art), adult content platforms, 18+ fanfic readings and late-night “hear me out” stories. The program once again culminated in the fan-favourite Cirque du Cosplay Burlesque spectacular, closing out the night in spectacular fashion.

After Dark also welcomed its first special guest: cosplayer CC Viper, who not only posed for the cosplay life-drawing session, hosted a panel on creating adult content, spearheaded the mature cosplay parade, she also headlined the popular burlesque show.


In September AVCon partnered with Rundle Mall Plaza again for Power Up, a small mini convention meant to promote National Video Game Day and the selection of retail partners at RMP.

Sprite the Koala took part in the annual Mascot competition at the Roydal Adelaide Show.

Design by Kenneth Ng. Artwork by Mai.

AVCon 2026 | Rhythm☆Revolution | 4-5 July 2026 | Adelaide Showground

Get ready for the Rhythm☆Revolution! Idols, Kpop, dancing, music rhythm games and more! What else does Team AVCon have cooking for 2026? Stay tuned to find out!