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A chibi Lindsay holds a letter and says "Ohayo gozaimasu!"Happy Holidays! We wish you and yours a new year filled with every delight.

  • You can still book a room on-site at the Hyatt as part of our group—don’t wait!
  • After discussing with our staff and service provider, we have returned the Fantasy Ball to the schedule! You can always view the list of Signature Events to see what will still be offered at Ohayocon 22.
    • We’re still offering a full panel schedule, electronic and tabletop gaming, the arcade, cosplay photoshoots, special guest events, Dealers Room and Artist Alley, and other Ohayocon staples you know and love!
  • As usual, we expect to have a tentative program schedule available a few weeks before the convention.
  • The staff application is still available! If you would like to join us in bringing unforgettable experiences to fellow anime and pop culture fans, please consider applying! We’re also specifically looking for a new Marketing Department Head, which is a leadership position.
  • Cosplayers, Expo applications are available for the Craftsmanship and Performance divisions and are due Jan. 31. Experienced cosplayers may apply to judge the Cosplay Expo also until Jan. 31.
  • Gamemasters, you can submit events for the tabletop room until Jan. 31.

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A chibi Lindsay holds a letter and says "Ohayo gozaimasu!"It’s about three months to go now! We have some updates for you.

  • It’s the last three days for $65 pre-sales! The price goes up on Nov. 20—don’t miss out on the deal! (You can also read our COVID-19 policy and Q&A page.)
  • Due to the pandemic, we have removed certain large-group events from our schedule, including the dances and the Fantasy Ball. We expect these events to return in 2023. You can view the list of Signature Events returning for Ohayocon 22. If you have questions about what is available, we welcome you to contact us.
    • That said, we’re still offering a full panel schedule, electronic and tabletop gaming, the arcade, cosplay photoshoots, special guest events, Dealers Room and Artist Alley, and other Ohayocon staples you know and love!
  • Panelists, the panel application is due Nov. 27. Compensation is available and based on the number of approved events you host.
  • Dancers, the application for the Dance Contest is available now. The deadline has been pushed back to Dec. 11, but don’t wait!
  • We’ve opened the application for new staff members! We offer a lot of benefits to our general staff members, and it’s a great way to cut some of your costs and still see your favorite events while helping others. We look for warm, friendly people who work hard and party harder. All the requirements, good qualities to have and benefits are available for you to read on the Staff page. Outside of pandemic times, we have also historically offered opportunities to have fun together during other times of the year, such as staff retreats, group trips to other conventions and Renaissance fairs, and other enjoyable events.
  • Cosplayers, Expo applications are available for the Craftsmanship and Performance divisions and due Jan. 31. Experienced cosplayers may apply to judge the Cosplay Expo also until Jan. 31.
  • Gamemasters, you can submit events for the tabletop room until Jan. 31.

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The Hyatt Regency ColumbusWe’re happy to announce that our room block at the Hyatt Regency Columbus is now open! You can book your room now to receive the group rate. Please double-check our new COVID-19 policy before booking so you know what to expect upon arrival. We know you’ve been waiting eagerly for this, and we appreciate your patience while we worked out the details and can’t wait to see you in February!

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A chibi Lindsay holds a letter and says "Ohayo gozaimasu!"Happy fall! We have a few updates about Ohayocon for you. We have announced our COVID-19 policy, which includes showing proof of vaccination or a negative test as well as requiring most people to wear a mask. We also wrote a questions and answers resource that explains the policy in further detail. (The policy always supersedes the Q&A page.) Agreeing to follow our COVID-19 policy is part of the registration form when you purchase your badge, so please read it and contact us if you have questions.

We’d like to remind you that $60 pre-sales ends on Oct. 19! The price will increase by another $5 on the 20th.

We have finalized agreements with some special guests, and we’re preparing to make announcements about them in the near future. You will find those announcements on our social media (Facebook, Twitter) and here on our website. Finally, some announcements about participating in Ohayocon:

That about does it! As always, if you have questions or need to contact us, please reach out.

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A chibi Lindsay holds a letter and says "Ohayo gozaimasu!"We’re happy to announce pre-registration for Ohayocon 22! Today through Sept. 19 you can purchase your weekend badge for the best price of $55! Everything you need to know about admission and registration (including Covid-related information) is available on the Pricing & Admission Info page. We’re still working out hotel deals; we’ll let you know when they’re ready.

Some other announcements:

  • Artists, the application for Artist Alley is available now through August 30. You can learn more on the Artist Alley page.
  • Panelists, your application is due Nov. 27. Where do I sign?
  • Cosplayers, the Expo application will be available Oct. 1st. (And here’s a little secret: the Ohayocon 22 theme is “magical creatures” with a cottagecore style.)
  • Finally, if you are entitled to a comp badge (say, if you won a giveaway or contest), you should have received an email with instructions on how to claim it. If you did not receive an email but you believe you should have a free badge, please contact us.

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We would like to offer a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported and attended our first online event. It has been a very long year, but we’re here to stay! Right now, we have not made any decisions about Ohayocon 22 but we can tell you that the dates are January 14-16, 2022. (The dates are very likely changing; we’ll have an announcement as soon as contracts are signed.) If we can have large gatherings by those dates, then Ohayocon 22 will be in the usual place, the Hyatt Regency Columbus. (But officially, we cannot recommend making a reservation yet.)

If you need to contact us, please feel welcome to do so via our contact form. See you later!

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Join the server!

Join our server on Discord

Haven’t met us yet? We’re on the Official Ohayocon Discord Server. See you soon!

J-pop/K-pop Dance Competition entries open

Are you the best J-pop or K-pop dance crew? Prove it! Send us a 2-4 minute video of yourself, your duo, or your whole crew breaking it down for us and you could win! Entry requirements and rules are available on the Signature Events page. Best of luck!

Cosplay Expo performance, craftsmanship and judge applications available through Dec. 31

No Ohayocon would be complete without the Cosplay Expo and for 2021 we are going virtual! All the information you need to know, and various registration forms, are available on the Cosplay Expo page. Good luck!

Don’t forget to cancel your hotel reservation

We just want to remind you that your hotel reservation will not be transferred or forwarded to another year, so if you have a reservation, please don’t forget to cancel it! Your hotel reservation is solely between you and the hotel; we are not involved in that agreement, so we cannot cancel or forward your reservation for you or otherwise be liable for it.

Dealers now on waitlist

The deadline for the Dealers Room app was Oct. 30. You can still join the waitlist.

Panel application deadline passed

The Ohayocon 21 panel application is closed; if you applied by the deadline, you should receive a response from us by Nov. 14. If you have questions, please contact us.

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Are you ready to share your passion? We’re accepting panel submissions from now through Oct. 31, 2020! Here’s a message from our paneling director:

Hey there everyone! Your friendly neighborhood Paneling Director, Sarge, here! I’m happy to announce that Paneling Applications for E-Hayocon ’21 are now open!! Come on and fill out the application to try and get onto our online panels this year.

There’s a few changes to the rules, so please read over them entirely to make sure that you have what you need to present with us this year. And as always, if you need any help crafting or honing ideas, feel free to drop a line to panels@ohayocon.org or tag @panels on the Ohayocon Public Discord Server.

We look forward to some amazing content and amazing people this year!

The application deadline is Oct. 31, 2020, with no exceptions. Applicants can expect a response by Nov. 14. Good luck!

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Ohayocon mascot Lindsay Howard stands in a bustling virtual marketplace complete with fish vendor, aristocratic crocodile, dark elf, and foxgirl.
“My anime convention was suspended in person and reincarnated in a virtual world?!”

Yep, Ohayocon 21 is going digital! Thanks to the pandemic, we are not hosting our in-person event. But there are still fun things to do! We’re hosting gaming tournaments, special guests, chatrooms, and a virtual Artist Alley and Dealers Room this January. Access is completely free via the Ohayocon Public Discord Server!

We know it is not the same—and we’re not trying to pass it off as a real, live convention. But we do have some tricks up our sleeve. We’ll run gaming tournaments on a similar schedule to last year, starting later this calendar year. We’re also in talks with some of our special guests to do talks or chats, and that’s something you’ll only be able to enjoy during the convention weekend. Additionally, we know this year has been very tough on artists and dealers who depend on conventions as a platform for sales, so we’re going to have a special online area just for them. So come relive old (better?) times with us and drop in for a chat!

With that said, we need to tell you that we’ve moved the dates one weekend later, to January 22-24, 2021. Don’t forget to update your calendars! As always, if you need to talk, please contact us and we’ll be in touch. See you soon!

P.S. We know this news is disappointing—it’s sad for us, too—but we hope you’ll support us through this like you always do. Our leadership team has been debating this for months, and we’ve come to the conclusion that this is the best choice for our attendees, staff, special guests and exhibitors. With a diverse group of planners and attendees, many of whom are at high risk or immunocompromised, we strongly believe this is the best choice given the global pandemic. Thank you all for your support—we’re looking forward to seeing you again!

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Artists, now is your opportunity to apply for the Ohayocon 21 Artist Alley! The application will be available until the deadline, Aug. 15, 2020. There are no exceptions to the deadline!

…and that’s all for now. We know you’re all dying for information about pre-registration; unfortunately we are still unable to open it. We are continuing to watch the development of the COVID-19 pandemic and will release information about pre-registration as soon as we are able. We thank you for your patience during this unusual time.

See you soon!