Anime Weekend Atlanta
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| Anime Weekend Atlanta | |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Venue | Renaissance Waverly Hotel Cobb Galleria Centre |
| Location | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Country |  United States |
| Years in existence | 1995 to Present |
| Attendance | 8,949 paid in 2006 |
| Official Website | |
Anime Weekend Atlanta (AWA) is both the name of an anime convention geared towards Japanese animation and comics held in the Atlanta, Georgia area, and also the name of the LLC that operates it. Since the first convention in 1995, AWA has become one of the most populated/attended anime conventions in the United States. The event is held for 3 days in the fall, starting on a Friday and concluding the following Sunday.
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[edit] Early Years
AWA was formed mostly from members of a local anime club, called Anime X(which itself had ties to a local fandom group chapter of the CFO), which met monthly at various sites on the north side of the city. Held in October of 1995 at the currently demolished Castlegate hotel, it drew a greater than expected attendance helping to prompt it to continue the next year. The operations of the convention were colored by a very different attitude than they seem to be now. Early common themes included rebelling against current popular fan trends, and elements of science fiction fandom that seemed to be disagreeable to the organisers. Swipes were taken at LARPing (in particular the fans of Vampire: The Masquerade), fans who dressed up as Klingons, and the Magic: The Gathering card game. The last one is notable as for several years the former convention chair Dave Merrill would include in the opening ceremonies a sacrificial burning of a playing card.
Early AWA trends also reflected an interest in culturally peripheral entertainment mediums, including imported video games, garage kits & models, live action shows (such as sentai team tv shows and asian action films), and independent or fan made movies.
Events and initial guests were focused with more of a theme on fandom and fan community. Early guests were figures of the regional fan community and not necessarily figures in the anime and manga industry. This focus on more fan driven elements can still be seen in AWA's event schedule, guest list, and general atmosphere to this day and it distinguishes itself from many other anime conventions which focus heavily on guests of the industry.
Nearly every year, the convention moved to a different, usually larger, hotel with meeting space to accomidate growing attendance. In 1998, Anime Weekend Atlanta LLC was formed to head the business operations relating to the convention.
As AWA established itself over the first four years, its guest list expanded to include those who had worked in the industry from the 1960s to present and appearances by some of the major companies who produce anime and manga in the United States.
AWA continues to hold other fan-driven events which promote involvement the fan community (fandom) in various ways, including contests for costumes, anime music videos, and video games, other regular staples of western anime conventions. Except for video game events, the convention focus has slowly shifted away from the Magic card burnings days and the live action material until around AWA 9 when it seemed to drop off the planning entirely.
[edit] Current
AWA is noted as being in the top 10 of largest anime conventions by attendance in North America. Planning continues for AWA 13.
[edit] Trivia
- The convention has changed venues multiple times primarily to accommodate ever-increasing attendance. So far, only AWA 1 has been held within the actual Atlanta city limits.
- Three past guests have returned to AWA married to people they met at AWA. Two of the guests married eachother.
