Setsucon
Setsucon is an annual three day anime convention held during January/February at the Blair County Convention Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The convention's name comes from the Japanese word setsu, meaning "snow". It is organized by the Penn State Anime Organization (PSAO). The convention is family-friendly.
| Setsucon | |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Anime, Manga, Japanese culture[1][2] |
| Venue | Blair County Convention Center |
| Location | Altoona, Pennsylvania |
| Country | United States |
| Inaugurated | 2007[3] |
| Attendance | 2,627 in 2026[4] |
| Organized by | Penn State Anime Organization (PSAO)[2][5] |
| Website | http://www.setsucon.com/ |
Setsucon is an annual three day anime convention held during January/February at the Blair County Convention Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania.[3] The convention's name comes from the Japanese word setsu, meaning "snow". It is organized by the Penn State Anime Organization (PSAO).[2][5] The convention is family-friendly.[6]
Programming
[edit]The convention typically offers an anime music video contest, anime showings, artist alley, card-game tournaments, dance, dealer's room, Iron Cosplay, Itasha car show, manga library, masquerade, musical events, panels, tabletop gaming, video gaming, and workshops.[1][5][6][7][8] The 2008 host auction raised $1,200 and was donated to the United Way. Todd Haberkorn participated in the 2013 host auction, raising $510 for charity.[9] The host auction in 2014 raised nearly $500 for Child's Play.[10][11] Richard Epcar and Stephanie Sheh participated in the 2015 host auction, along with several cosplayers, raising $800 for Child's Play.[12] Setsucon in 2018 had over 130 hours of convention programming.[2] The 2022 charity video game tournaments benefited the National Alliance on Mental Illness.[13] Charities the convention supported in 2023 were the Colon Cancer Coalition and Jared Box.[8]
History
[edit]Due to financial issues, the convention's first year in 2007 was reduced from three days to one day.[14] In 2008, the convention expanded to two days due to additional funding.[5] In 2010 on Saturday, Setsucon reached its venues capacity limit of 900 people before noon.[15] The artists' alley and dealers' room were expanded in 2014.[1] The dance was shut down early in 2015 because of complaints including poor behavior.[12] In 2017, the convention showed never before seen clips from anime licensor Pied Piper, Inc. of the dub for Skip Beat!.[16] In 2018, the convention moved to the Blair County Convention Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania.[2]
Setsucon due to the COVID-19 pandemic was scheduled to move to April for 2021, and would also have Friday programming.[17][18][19] Instead, Setsucon held a virtual event in April, and in 2022 returned to January with a three day event.[18][19][20] The 2022 convention had COVID-19 protocols including masking and vaccination/testing requirements.[13]
Event History
[edit]| Dates | Location | Atten. | Guests |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 27, 2007 | Days Inn State College State College, Pennsylvania | 288[21] | |
| January 26-27, 2008 | Days Inn State College State College, Pennsylvania | 555[22] | D-Chan, Kyle Hebert, Dave Lister, and Chris "Kilika" Malone.[22] |
| January 17-18, 2009 | Days Inn State College State College, Pennsylvania | 599[23] | Robert Axelrod, Dave Lister, Chris "Kilika" Malone, Yuko "Aido" Ota, Ananth Panagariya, and This Place is Haunted.[23] |
| January 16-17, 2010 | Days Inn State College State College, Pennsylvania | 1,058[24] | M. Alice LeGrow, Chris "Kilika" Malone, and Vic Mignogna.[24] |
| January 29-30, 2011 | Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania | 1,057[25] | Todd Haberkorn and Chris "Kilika" Malone.[25] |
| January 28-29, 2012 | Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania | 1,088[26] | Antipode, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Kyle Hebert, Uncle Yo, and Greg Wicker.[26] |
| January 26-27, 2013 | Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania | 1,223[27] | Antipode, Martin Billany, Todd Haberkorn, Cherami Leigh, Dave Lister, Uncle Yo, and DJ Zing.[27] |
| January 25-26, 2014 | Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania | 1,364[28] | Antipode, Leah Clark, Richard Epcar, Todd Haberkorn, Kambrea Pratt, Thom Pratt, Ellyn Stern, Alexis Tipton, Uncle Yo, Greg Wicker, and DJ Zing.[28] |
| January 24-25, 2015 | Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, Pennsylvania | 1,653[29] | Antipode, Richard Epcar, Rusty Gilligan, Stephanie Sheh, Ellyn Stern, Uncle Yo, and DJ Zing.[29] |
| January 30-31, 2016 | Toftrees Golf Resort & Conference Center State College, Pennsylvania | 975[30] | Antipode, Chris Bevins, DJ-R, Natalie Rose Hoover, Rachel Robinson, Uncle Yo, and DJ Zing.[30] |
| January 21-22, 2017 | Toftrees Golf Resort & Conference Center State College, Pennsylvania | 929[31] | Antipode, Kira Buckland, DJ-R, Ralph "Ralfington" Edward, Erica Lindbeck, Keith Silverstein, and Uncle Yo.[31] |
| January 27-28, 2018 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | 1,249[32] | Antipode, Leah Clark, Amber Lee Connors, Daman Mills, Micah Solusod, Lex Winter, and DJ Zing.[32] |
| January 26-27, 2019 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | 1,258[33] | Antipode, Awesomus Prime, Brianna Knickerbocker, E. Jason Liebrecht, Elizabeth Maxwell, and Lex Winter.[33] |
| January 25-26, 2020 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | 1,438[34] | Antipode, Awesomus Prime, Kohei Hattori, Billy Kametz, Faye Mata, TiA, and Lex Winter.[34] |
| April 10-11, 2021 | Online convention | Antipode, Awesomus Prime, Heroes 4 Hire, Sarah Natochenny, and Lindsay Seidel.[19] | |
| January 28-30, 2022 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | 1,272[35] | Antipode, Awesomus Prime, Heroes 4 Hire, Brittany Lauda, n00neimp0rtant, Otaku Ongaku, Matt Shipman, ThaGataNegrra, and Lex Winter.[35] |
| January 13-15, 2023 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | 2,038[36] | Antipode, Awesomus Prime, Aaron Dismuke, Kohei Hattori, Heroes 4 Hire, Sarah Wiedenheft, Lex Winter,[36] and Fake Idol Project.[8] |
| February 2-4, 2024 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | 2,380[37] | Antipode, Chris Hackney, Heroes 4 Hire, ThaGataNegrra, Lex Winter, and Anne Yatco.[37] |
| January 31 - February 2, 2025 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | 2,383[38] | Antipode, SungWon Cho, Caitlin Glass, and Lex Winter.[38] |
| January 30 - February 1, 2026 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | 2,627[4] | Antipode, Awesomus Prime, Bill Butts, Ryan Colt Levy, Reagan Murdock, Uncle Yo, WildSpice, and Lex Winter.[4] |
Setsucon Anime Autumn Alley
[edit]Setsucon Anime Autumn Alley is a one-day event held in October at the Hyatt Place State College in State College, Pennsylvania.[39]
Event History
[edit]| Dates | Location | Atten. | Guests |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 4, 2025 | Hyatt Place State College State College, Pennsylvania | 562 |
Associations
[edit]Setsucon is a member of the International Otaku Expo Association (I.O.E.A).[40]
Setsucon has sponsored a Costume Contest at Schlow Centre Region Library's BookFestPA event, run during the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.[41]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Klose, Jason (January 24, 2014). "Setsucon opens doors to fans of anime". Center Daily Times. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ a b c d e Hicks, Cherie (January 19, 2018). "Celebrating anime culture: Convention outgrows State College and moves to Altoona this year". Altoona Mirror. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
- ^ a b Cowan, Laramie (26 January 2019). "Annual anime convention returns to Blair County". WJAC. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
- ^ a b c "Setsucon 2026 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
- ^ a b c d Burnham, Caitlin (January 28, 2008). "Fans tap into animated identities". The Daily Collegian. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
- ^ a b Drumm, Amanda (January 17, 2020). "Anime abounds". Altoona Mirror. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
- ^ Bickel, Chris (January 15, 2010). "Anime convention visits State College". The Daily Collegian. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
- ^ a b c Keith, Cati (January 14, 2023). "Anime-zing weekend: Setsucon convention brings revenue, fun". Altoona Mirror. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
- ^ Beatty, Lily (January 28, 2013). "Anime lovers unite at convention at Penn Stater". The Daily Collegian. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
- ^ Faraji, YaaAsantewaa (January 29, 2014). "Penn State-made Anime Convention 'Setsucon' grows in size". The Daily Collegian. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
- ^ Aamesh, Waiss David (January 23, 2015). "Anime, cosplayers on display this weekend at the ninth Setsucon convention". The Daily Collegian. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- ^ a b Aamesh, Waiss David (January 26, 2015). "More than 1,200 turn out for Setsucon at Penn State". The Daily Collegian. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ^ a b Pollock, Hannah (January 29, 2022). "Anime paradise: Setsucon returns to Blair County Convention Center". Altoona Mirror. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ "Setsucon changes to a one-day event". AnimeCons.com. November 12, 2006. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
- ^ Bickel, Chris (January 19, 2010). "PSAO anime event draws large crowds" (PDF). The Daily Collegian. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
- ^ Ferreira, Samantha (February 26, 2017). "Pied Piper Releases Three New Skip Beat Dub Teasers Delays Release To June". Anime Herald. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
- ^ "Setsucon 2021 - Celebrating Anime in Altoona This April". Anime News Network. September 24, 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
- ^ a b Hazra, Adriana (January 24, 2021). "Setsucon Cancels In-person Event, Switches to Virtual Event in April". Anime News Network. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
- ^ a b c "Setsucon 2021 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
- ^ Davidson, Danica (9 April 2021). "Setsucon Is Going Virtual This Weekend -- And It's Free!". Otaku USA Magazine. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
- ^ "Setsucon 2007 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
- ^ a b "Setsucon 2008 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
- ^ a b "Setsucon 2009 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
- ^ a b "Setsucon 2010 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
- ^ a b "Setsucon 2011 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
- ^ a b "Setsucon 2012 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
- ^ a b "Setsucon 2013 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
- ^ a b "Setsucon 2014 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
- ^ a b "Setsucon 2015 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
- ^ a b "Setsucon 2016 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
- ^ a b "Setsucon 2017 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
- ^ a b "Setsucon 2018 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
- ^ a b "Setsucon 2019 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
- ^ a b "Setsucon 2020 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
- ^ a b "Setsucon 2022 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
- ^ a b "Setsucon 2023 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
- ^ a b "Setsucon 2024 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
- ^ a b "Setsucon 2025 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
- ^ "Setsucon Anime Autumn Alley 2025 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved October 6, 2025.
- ^ "Member Expo List". International Otaku Expo Association. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
- ^ "Setsucon Teams Up with Schlow Library for the 2021 BookFestPA Costume Contest". Anime News Network. June 22, 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
Other Related News Articles
[edit]- Anime fans gather at Penn Stater for Setsucon Center Daily Times, Retrieved 24 January 2021
- Anime enthusiasts gather Setsucon convention wraps up today Altoona Mirror, Retrieved 17 February 2018
- 'Setsucon' anime convention brings Japanese culture to Central PA WJAC, Retrieved 4 February 2020
- Anime convention coming to Altoona this weekend WJAC, Retrieved 23 January 2021
External links
[edit]List of anime conventions in North America | |||||||||
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