Anime North (AN) is a not-for-profit, fan-run anime convention, held annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its major attractions, activities and events include: industry guests, fan-run panel presentations, workshops, video presentations, gaming tournaments, musical performances, dances and cosplay. The show has two shopping areas, an "Artists Alley" for artworks and crafts and a general "Vendors Hall".
The largest anime convention in Canada by attendance numbers, AN is held at the Toronto Congress Centre and the Delta Airport Hotel and Conference Centre, on Dixon Road at Martin Grove, near Toronto Pearson Airport, in the district of Etobicoke.
The convention was initially established in 1997 in Old Toronto. It moved to its current location in 2004 to accommodate its growing popularity. Initially using only a portion of the Congress Centre, it now uses the entire complex.
Programming Anime North comprises several streams of events:
panels - discussions and presentations, including fans, cosplayers and industry workshops - crafts, clothing and cultural performances - opening night concert, idol contest, a musical concert, drag show, anime improv, outdoor dance party vendors of anime-related products - a main area for commercial vendors, an "artist alley", and a flea market displays - including gundam modelling, art gallery and decorated cars guest autographs - voice actors, industry members, cosplayers photo opportunities - for cosplay attendees charity auction - benefiting The Hospital for Sick Children gaming area - both tournament and casual video rooms - curated selections of current and historical anime
Current and past Anime North conventsions have included guest speeches, gaming tournaments, dances, art-related workshops, discussion panels, martial arts displays, model contests, Go tournaments, and similar events. The event has also held a contest for cosplay crafting.
The most popular events at Anime North include the Masquerade and the J-Idol competition. Other events include the AMV contest, guest autograph sessions, the All-Star Charity Auction, the Momiji Award (with brunch), Anime Improv, "Super Hardcore Anime Wrestling" (a co-production with Great Canadian Wrestling), Beyblade North (a Beyblade tournament sanctioned by the World Beyblade Organization), and Yaoi North.
Each year, a concert is held, featuring musical performers from Japan. In 2026, the group was "I Don't Like Mondays."
One vendor section is designated Artist Alley, set aside for independent artists and craft products. Pixar director Domee Shi sold prints of her work as a teen.
Hoppouno Momiji, a fictional redhead with a taste for both anime and anything Canadian serves as Anime North's dominant mascot. Momiji's many manifestations are used on all AN clothing, badges, and other wearables. She was originally created for the convention by the Japanese artist Hyi-San.
History
Anime North was founded in 1997 by Toronto anime fan Donald Simmons, with support from seven anime appreciation fan clubs in Toronto, Hamilton, and Ottawa. Organizers planned for 500 attendees at their one-day event, with approximately 700 attending. The Michener Institute in downtown Toronto featured art, dealers, gaming, costume competition, panels, and trivia. David L. Pulver ran the Bubblegum Crisis: Before and After tournament in the gaming room, as its author.
In 1998 the convention expanded to two days of programming, and 1999 saw the addition of a third day of programming as well as a move to the Ramada Airport East Hotel, with attendance reaching 1,000. Convention organizers programmed the Japanese Anime Film Festival in 2000, which ran weekends for multiple months at Royal Ontario Museum. In 2001 AN was moved to the airport strip near Pearson Airport and was held at the Toronto Airport Marriott (attendance 2,000) and in 2002 moved to the much larger Regal Constellation Hotel (attendance 2,800).
Shortly after the 2003 convention at the Regal (attendance 5,000), the Regal closed and the convention had to find yet another new location. Since 2004, the best combination of function and hotel space available was the combination of the Toronto Congress Centre (TCC) and the nearby Renaissance Hotel in the western district of Etobicoke for additional programming. These two venues were unfortunately a 10-15 minute walk apart, although a free shuttle bus was provided to help alleviate this problem. Despite this difficulty, attendance reached a record 8,200 that year.
In 2005, Anime North added a Thursday evening badge pickup for pre-registered attendees, and changed hotels from the Renaissance to the Doubletree International Plaza Hotel, across Dixon Rd. from the TCC (attendance 9,500). Yaoi North was introduced to the event. Toronto Comic Con was scheduled in April, which observers suggested was intentional, to try and compete with Anime North. In 2006 actual programming was added for Thursday evenings; approximately 12,500 people attended that year, the first time that attendance has broken 10,000 people. AN 2008 was the 12th year of the convention with 13,300 attendees, and continues to grow every year; in 2010, the convention expanded to the Marriott Toronto Airport to host the Friday Moonlight Ball. The front section of the TCC was finally opened to Anime North attendees in 2011 (it was always closed in past years), with rooms made available for Guest of Honor panels, AMV screenings, workshops and toy and model displays. In 2012, the convention expanded to 2 more hotels, the Crowne Plaza Hotel where Go and board gaming were held, and the Radisson Suites Hotel where Café Nocturne and Café Aurora Zero were located, which made in all 5 hotels in the area where Anime North operated, in addition to the Toronto Congress Centre. That year, attendance exceeded for the first time the 20,000 mark, with 22,385 paid attendees.
In 2015, the North Building of the Toronto Congress Centre was opened for Anime North to hold its Main Events room for concerts, the Masquerade and other very large shows. In 2016, the Moonlight Ball moves to a new venue, the Airport Holiday Inn Hotel.
In 2017, the North Building hosted the Conservative Party leadership election at the same time as Anime North.
In 2019, Kaeru Idols were the first idol group to host a live debut and performance at the Anime North Headquarters in Skyline A at the Delta Hotel.
Anime North was cancelled twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 with virtual events held. The following event took place on July 15–17, 2022, having been pushed back from its usual May scheduling due to Omicron variant.
In 2023, Anime North inaugurated a Friday night flea market, or "nominoichi" in the South Hall. That same year, registration was moved to the North Hall. 2024 was the last year of events held at the Sheraton.
Attendance cap
Anime North has considered implementing an attendance cap to address overcrowding issues. Such a cap was enacted in 2012; a decision made in fall 2011 confirmed it.Notice to Attendees: Attendance Cap to be Enacted in 2012, Anime North website. Citing long lineups and overwork of staff and volunteers as the main reasons for capping attendance in 2012, they countered (compensated) this announcement by proclaiming pre-registration for the con to be opened on January 2, 2012, giving a large amount of time for fans to plan ahead their convention trip.
In 2012, weekend passes sold out and none were available for purchase at the door. The convention had capped the sales of passes to full weekend, and single day passes for each day.
Anime North 2012 had a daily cap of attendees, as did 2015. Alt URL In 2020, the daily cap was lifted to attendees. In 2026, the cap was set at . Convention history Dates Location Attendance Guests Note: attendance listed is based on number of paid attendees until Anime North 2016, and on warm bodies as of Anime North 2017.
See also Anime Revolution
References
External links
Official website