News
We're now open for MinamiCon 30: Evolution registrations
Calling for event submissions
We are now on Discord
About Us
MinamiCon is the longest-running Anime and Japanese culture convention in the UK, entirely run for fans by fans - we are a non-profit organisation staffed by volunteers. Our convention is a 3-day event, kicking off from Friday afternoon and running through to Sunday evening, with a packed schedule of events, workshops, panels, games and other con staples like the Masquerade. The con was founded to promote the cuter side of anime, opening up to be more family-friendly and embracing the MinamiCon Fairy as our mascot. Each year, we centre the convention around a theme. The theme for MinamiCon 30 is
T-shirt
£12 for a themed con T-shirt
Highlights
We hold our MinamiCon Matsuri on Friday - our take on a Japanese festival. Saturday ramps up to more high-energy staples such as the masquerade and karaoke, while Sunday is chilled with the Cosplay Café and Kotatsu Lounge.
Shopping
Our Dealers' Room houses a mix of dealers with commercial companies alongside fan artists, where you can buy merchandise, DVDs, model kits, Japanese snacks and drinks and custom artwork. If you're looking for a bargain or to de-clutter your home from unwanted items, there's the jammed-full Bring & Buy. There's also the charity auction, where you may find some unique items for sale.
Panels/Workshops
We have a variety of panels and workshops such as Gundam Speed Building, cooking lessons, sake tasting, art and cosplay workshops – and we aim to have a mix where everyone will find something to interest them. In fact, the most common problem is having too many things to do!
Games
The Tokonatsu team does an amazing job of running our games room bringing in actual games machines along with quite a few consoles. You'll find the games room next door in the ibis Hotel just opposite the entrance of the Novotel Hotel. All throughout the weekend we also have plenty of quizzes and mysterious puzzles for you to participate in.
Our Charity Initiatives
We have also year on year raised an incredible amount of money for charity through our fund-raising events. Our con charity is the British Heart Foundation, in memory of our treasurer, Ewan Chrystal. We raised a total of £2,750 at MinamiCon 29 thanks to the generosity of our con-goers.
Where
Home to the convention since MinamiCon 3, the Novotel Hotel is within walking distance of Southampton Central train station.
You will find most of the event rooms located on the ground floor and the 5th floor of the hotel. The Games Room, is located at the ibis Hotel, near the entrance of the Novotel Hotel.
There are a limited number of hotel rooms that will be available at the following convention rates per night (breakfast included) - details on how to access these rates will be sent in your registration email:
- Novotel: Single - £105, Double - £116
- ibis: Single - £91, Double - £99
Participate
Membership Pick-Up at the Con
Show your proof of identity and collect your membership badge and con pack from the Registration Desk located at the foyer of the Novotel. The Registration Desk will be open from 12pm-5pm Friday. If you arrive on Friday and the Registration Desk is no longer in the foyer, please head down the hallway on the left (past the bar) towards the Minami Matsuri, where you will find the desk has moved. If you arrive after the Registration Desk is closed, head up to Ops on the 5th floor instead.
The following lists the forms of ID that will be accepted:
- A valid passport
- A current full/provisional driving license
- Credit/Debit Card
- Citizen Card
- Official Student or College Card
- ProveIT Age Card
- A Ministry of Defence Form 90 (Defence Identity Card)
- Recent bank statement showing your con registration address
- Recent utility/council bills showing your con registration address
- Rent Book
- NHS Medical Card
- Young Persons Railcard
Calling for content submissions for the next MinamiCon book! We need your help! Here at Minami we're always looking (some might even occasionally use the term "desperate") for material for the A5 size conbook that we deliver to your con packs. Anything related to Japanese culture, conventions, or likely to appeal to the attendees is very welcome. Deadline for submissions is on 31st January 2025. The following list highlights the types of submissions that we are looking for:
- Anime/Mange
- Gaming
- Japanese/Oriental Asian Culture
- Related to this year's theme
- Articles
- Artwork/Illustration/Comic - no watermarks
- Puzzles/Quizzes
Download the PDF guidelines to find out more about how you can enter your submission - the guidelines contains further details regarding formats and lengths. If you have some ideas and proposals for the conbook, please get in touch with us.
Events
We are always on the look-out for new ideas for events. If you would like to propose an event that you would like to run, please send in your proposal. Events proposed must obviously be relevant to the con. If you have an event that ties in with the con theme, that would be even better. Feel free to use the following list as a guideline for the type of events that we tend to have. We have a variety of events that run at the con. We are just working through finalising the schedule and will be publishing the schedule on the site nearer to the con.
- Cosplay Café
- Cosplay How-Tos
- Demonstrations
- Festival/Party
- Games/Competitions
- Karaoke
- Panels/Talks
- Quizzes
- Workshops
Artists' Alley @ Matsuri
We hold our matsuri festival on Friday evening for a couple of hours. Last year, we introduced an Artists' Alley at the matsuri. There are a limited number of tables available, and we are looking for creative tables, especially ones that would run a game at their stall. If you are interested, contact us and tell us your ideas.
Dealers
We have a dedicated Dealers' Room that is opened on Saturday and Sunday of the con. If you wish to be a dealer, just get contact us and let us know more about you and what you'd like to sell and our dealers' liaison will be in touch.
Bring & Buy
There's a dedicated room at the con for the bring & buy where you can put any of your unwanted merchandise up for sale. We take in submissions at the con from Friday afternoon but if you want to be super-organised, just download the form below and follow the instructions.
The bring & buy room is open for taking in items on Friday and early Saturday morning. The room is then open for sales on Saturday and Sunday.
Gophers / Volunteers
MinamiCon has always relied on our tremendously hard-working and lovely gopher volunteers to keep the con running as well as we can. It is a herculean team effort to ensure everybody has a great time at the con. If you'd like to lend a hand at the con and put your name down for gophering, just sign-up and our gopher liaison will be in touch.
We are also in need of volunteer cosplay waiters and waitresses for the Cosplay Café, where we'll be serving cake and drinks. If you would like to help out at the café, then just sign-up to let us know you're interested to do a shift or two.
Dealers @ MinamiCon 29
To get an idea of what dealers you can expect at the con, you can reference the following list of dealers who were present at MinamiCon 29.
Charming Sushi
Officially licensed collectibles from Japan. Expect Nendoroids, Iciban Kuji and plenty of kawaii merchandise.
Genki Gear
Genki Gear produces original t-shirts that stand out amongst the crowd! We have a number of influences from Japanese culture, Dungeons and Dragons, tabletop games, and science fiction and we add to it a dash of unique humour.
Mad Wizard Studios
Artisan blacksmith, metal worker, fabricator and movie/theatre and LARP prop maker
Studio Chai
Independent artist and designer creating merch and art with a cute, kooky and whimsical flavour
