Anime Festival Orlando (AFO) is a three-day event dedicated to celebrating all things relating to Japanese animation and pop-culture. In addition, AFO has devoted itself to being “Florida’s favorite anime convention” by providing all sorts of fun and activities for anime fans of all ages and interests since it began in 2000. This year is AFO’s first year back since 2019 after being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of Covid.
The convention will be held on June 23-26 at the Wyndham Orlando Resort, and the event hours are as follows: Friday 1 p.m. – 2 a.m., Saturday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Awesome Reason #1: Guests
Morgan Lauré
Morgan Lauré voices Akane Owari in Dangonronpa, Shiki Misaki in The World Ends With You, and Akira Mado from Tokyo Ghoul:re, as well as, directing for Kaguya-sama: Love is War.
Howard Wang
Howard Wang recently began working in 2016 and voices Louis James Moriarty in Moriarty the Patriot, Langa in Sk8 the Infinity, and Xie Lian in Heaven Official’s Blessing. Also, he is a director for Prince of Tennis II.
Olivia Swasey
Olivia Swasey has been acting since 2006, and voices Ran Shishigaki in 7seeds, Kirari Mobami in Kakegurui, and Haruno Yukinoshita in My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU.
Aaron Pabon
Aaron Pabon is a standup comedian. He has been performing since 2005, and has also hosted game shows and moderated celebrity guest panels between performances at over 200 cons across the United States.
Kazha
Kazha is a heavy rock band that was formed in 2009. They like to combine cultural backgrounds and musical viewpoints in their music so that it portrays “the softness of a falling feather and the heaviness of a hurricane.”
Jeremy Inman
Jeremy Inman voices Akitaru Oubi from Fire Force, Jean-Jaques Lerroy from Yuri!!! on Ice, and Taurus from Fairy Tail.
Kyle Hebert
Kyle Hebert is a voice actor and DJ known for voicing Sosuke Aizen from Bleach, Kiba Inuzuka from Naruto, Fat Gum from My Hero Academia, and Noriaki Kakyoin from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders.
Brittney Karbowski
Brittney Karbowski voices Hisako Arato in Food Wars!, Camie Utsushimi in My Hero Academia, and Rimuru Tempest in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime.
Doug Cockle
Doug Cockle is best known for voicing Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher video game series.
Aaron Roberts
Aaron Roberts voices Shinmon Benimaru from Fire Force, Uta from Tokyo Ghoul, and Kamui Woods from My hero Academia.
Christina Marie Kelly
Christina Marie Kelly voices Alice Nakiri from Food Wars!, Yumiko Miura from My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, and Mary Saotome from Kakegurui.
Dorah Fine
Dorah Fine voices Toko Aoi from Beyblade Burst Turbo, Hitomi Sagon from AI: The Somnium Files, and Aum Masaura from Magi: The Kingdom of Magic.
John Swasey
John Swasey voices Crocodile in One Piece, Undertaker in Black Butler, Dhalis Zachary in Attack on Titan, and All for One in My Hero Academia.
Awesom Reason #2: Cosplay Competition
The cosplay contest, known as the Happy Happy Go Go Cosplay Contest, has been at AFO for 20 years. And AFO is always excited to see what anime fans create and how they evolve when improving and inventing new ways to cosplay. See all the categories and the full rules by clicking here.
Awesome Reason #3: Tales of Orlandia
Tales of Orlandia in an interactive convention experience that was created at AFO and can only be played at AFO. It immerses the player in a weekend long MMO- style game. To start the game, a player must first stop by the Tavern to pick up the free starter card pack, pick a character, and join a faction. After getting these beginner items, the game starts and players can challenge their way around the convention. Each games takes an average of 10 minutes to play and can be enjoyed by all player levels. Additionally, battles can be won in a variety of other ways, such as dance battles, arm wrestling tournaments, or really any way the players want to battle.
Awesome Reason #4: AMV Contest
Anime Music Videos (AMVs) are a popular tradition among anime fans. Fans create videos by taking characters or shows and editing them to a chosen music and then add video and photo edits and sounds. While entrees for the 2022 contest are closed, you can still look at the rules for this year to start planning for next year.
Awesome Reason #5: Table Top Gaming
AFO always keeps a table top gaming room available for anyone to be able to play whatever game they want, and it has simple and complex games to accommodate all player levels and so attendees can try new things. The schedule for different Dungeons & Dragons games is listed here and allows players to pick their skill level and the type of story they wish to play.
Awesome Reason #6: Game show theater
The Game Show Theater is one of AFO’s most looked forward to traditions. There are different events through out each day allowing attendees to join in at any time to test themselves against other anime loving peers. The entire Game Show Theater schedule is listed here.
Need More Information?
In addition to the awesome reasons listed above, there are all kinds of fun things for attendees to do. These activities include an Idol Festival, fan panels, and guest Q&A’s. The full schedule of events and panels can be found on the AFO website, where you can check each hour block individually or find the full list here.
Attendees can also purchase tickets online starting at $35 for a single day. Weekend Passes are $80 with VIP being $100.
The hotel for the convention is the Wyndham Orlando Resort, the same location as the convention, at 8001 International Dr.
Orlando, FL 32819. Find room blocks for AFO here.
Need help finding conventions in Florida?
Florida Comic Cons publishes the Con Calendar, a curated calendar of upcoming conventions. Each convention listing includes in-depth info about the event like guests, artists and cosplay contests. In addition, there are lots of helpful links for things like buying tickets, registering as a vendor, and learning more about characters.
Florida Cosplay Digital Magazine published by Florida Comic Cons
Florida Cosplay Digital Magazine, published by Florida Comic Cons, attends many conventions in Florida in search of talented cosplayers. The magazine is published seasonally. In addition, Florida Cosplay Digital Magazine publishes special editions, photo galleries and blogs of conventions we attend. The magazine is free.
Monthly Issues
Monthly issues focus on cosplayers and the characters they have chosen to portray. Cosplayer photos and interviews as well as character images and backgrounds are loaded in the monthly magazines.
Convention blogs and special editions
Convention special edition magazines, photo galleries and blogs showcase cosplayer photos and provide news reports about conventions we attend.
