Ohayocon


Ohayocon is a three-day anime convention typically held during January in Columbus, Ohio, at the Hyatt Regency Columbus and the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Ohayocon's name is derived from the similarity between "Ohio", the convention's location, and Ohayou, which means "good morning" in Japanese.

Programming

The convention typically offers an anime music contest, an artists' alley, concerts, costume contests, a dealers' room, a formal ball, a masquerade, musical events, panel discussions, a rave, table-top games, tournaments, video gaming, and workshops.

History

In 2007, the Midwest premiere of occurred at the Arena Grand Theatre during Ohayocon. In 2010, crowding was a problem during the rave due to space issues. The convention shared the Columbus Convention Center with other events and only used about one-fourth of the available space. The convention's dance was moved to the convention center ballroom in 2012 to alleviate crowding issues. Ohayocon began using wristbands instead of badges to control unpaid attendance in 2014. During Ohayocon 2015, a transgender teen disappeared during the rave on Saturday night. The teen was attempting to run away and was later found safe in downtown Columbus on Tuesday. The Columbus Convention Center was undergoing construction during Ohayocon 2017, and the convention continued to use wristbands instead of badges.

Event history