We are saddened to learn of the passing of Mike McFarland. Mike guested at Ai-Kon multiple times and was a bright light during each event they attended, sharing his birthday at one event and 1/2

If you have a passion for anime and Japanese culture, and want to help bring Manitoba’s premier anime convention to life, don’t miss your chance to apply for the Ai-Kon 2027 Committee! See the link in our bio for more information on how to apply!

From each vendor and artist in the marketplace, to everyone who volunteered their time and finally TO YOU. Thank you for making this weekend possible. This was our biggest event to date and it couldn’t have been done without you. See you July 16th - 18th, 2027

Have feedback on the event? Let us know using the guidebook app! From the homepage, click the Ai-Kon 2026 guidebook option. From there: tap the 3 links in the top left corner to open the menu. Then tap Ai-Kon 2026 feedback

Ai-Kon would like to thank all of our Cosplay sponsors this year! Their generosity provided some awesome prizes for the Cosplay contest that our Cosplay team can't wait to present to our winners for 2026!

Ai-Kon would like to thank all of our Prize Sponsors this year! Their generous contributions created some awesome Raffle prizes, Cosplay prizes and Game prizes this year! We appreciate their help to create awesome packages for us to give back to the community

Ai-Kon would like to thank all of our convention sponsors this year! Without their generosity, we wouldn't be able to provide awesome prizes to give back to the community through our raffle, game shows, and cosplay contest! #sponsored by

Post con blues getting you down? Let's keep the party going at the official Ai-Kon After Party at Club Happenings! Date: July 25th Time: 9pm - 3am Where: 114-B Osborne Street, Club Happenings Cover: $10 before 11, show your Ai-Kon 2026 badge to get $5 off! Must be 18+ to attend

Make sure you check out our Outreach Tables this year! We’re delighted to have so many organizations join us at this year’s convention. Thank you to our Outreach tables 🎪

Excited for Ai-Kon tomorrow?! Capture that excitement by watching our next Cosplay PSA: Getting Involved! Do YOU want to be a part of future PSAs? We welcome everyone to join the Ai-Kon Committee, so keep an eye on our social media for when committee applications are live.

Will YOU be the one to win a WHOLE BOX of Naruto vinyl blind boxes?! Enter using the link in our bio, starting from now until 3:30pm on Sat. The prize will be available for pickup at the Miniso booth until the end of the con. Huge thank you to Miniso for this amazing giveaway!

All the savvy con veterans know the hottest spot to be is Ai-Kon Pre-registration. Weekend passholders can meet us at the RBC Convention Centre 2nd floor by the Presentation Theatre, 4-8pm on Thursday July 16th to pick up their pass and beat the chaos of Friday’s opening lines.

Ai-Kon would like to thank Frontier Events for being a Major Convention Sponsor this year! Frontier Events is hosting our live-action dungeon experience Maewood Dungeon this year, and we thank them for being a Major Convention Sponsor! Visit their website at frontierevents.ca

Did you guess the identities of our Incubator Bundle? Or should we say identity.. because it’s all Ditto! This Bundle is just one of 18 different prize bundles available for every Gamers’ Lounge tournament. Pre-reg for our tournaments are open until July 14th!

Do you have what it takes to brave the dungeon? Visit the Maewood Dungeon by Frontier Events at Ai-Kon! This dungeon experience transports all adventurers to a magical world of an enchanted forest. Thank you to Frontier Events for putting on this amazing adventure for us!

Another day, another PSA! What do you do if you‘re at the convention, and feel overwhelmed, overstimulated, or have gotten hurt? You can come to our Health Room, located on the first floor of the North Building, West Hall.

Close out your Ai-Kon weekend with one last drag spectacular—it’s the return of Aria Zero and Ruby Chopstix’s Drag Superstar! This is the legendaric nerdy drag show you don’t want to miss, Sunday, July 19th, at 2 p.m. in Main Programming!

Perfection takes time but it’s finally here! The Ai-Kon 2026 schedule is now available. You can find it at ai-kon.org, or better yet in the Guidebook App which is also available now! See the link in our bio for instructions on how to preload our digital guidebook.

One week left to pre-register for all tournaments!

🍥🎏 Ai-Kon 🎏🍥@aikonwinnipeg.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Pre-registrations for all tournaments are live now! Register here: ai-kon.org/programming/...

We’ve previewed one of our 18 available tournament prize bundles for this year, but if that didn’t move you then how about—wait a second, something is off here… Are we sure this is right? This one may be a little funky, but we promise it’s still good! Probably!

Feeling lucky? We’ll be the judge of that. Ai-Kon is partnering with Artifact Alley to give YOU the chance to win a Pokémon Chaos Rising ETB, Lulu the Piggy plush, and a mystery Pokémon TCG pack hit. See the link in our bio for more information.

For all those performances that might be a little too spicy for the daytime crowd, Ai-Kon presents our inaugural After Dark 18+ Dance Showcase. It all starts Friday, July 17 at 8:30 p.m. in Main Programming. Bring some water and a fan—you’re gonna need it!

Our Cosplay team has put together a PSA full of tips to help you win Best in Show! Don’t forget: You can register online for the Cosplay contest on our website! Online registration is open now until July 16th at 6pm. On-site registration will be available during the con.

Pre-registrations for all tournaments are live now! Register here: ai-kon.org/programming/...

The dream team is coming to Ai-Kon! Alejandro Saab and Hayden Daviau are joining us at this year’s summer convention. Make sure you grab your tickets to meet this power couple at ai-kon.org!

Whether it’s school idols, virtual idols, or horse idols, Ai-Kon’s 2026 J-Pop Dance Showcase has a myriad of performances that are sure to blow your mind and maybe usurp your kamioshi…?! Catch the show in Main Programming, 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 18.

Hope you enjoyed guessing the Pokémon that make up our first tournament pride bundle, the Incubator Bundle! There will be 18 different prize bundles for our tournaments, and the top 3 finishers in every tournament get to choose one. See our website for more details!

AVAILABLE NOW! tableagent.com/restaurant/a...

🍥🎏 Ai-Kon 🎏🍥@aikonwinnipeg.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Start your day off right with a hearty serve—for the first time ever, Ai-Kon is hosting our very first Drag Brunch! Get your fill Sunday, July 19 at 11 a.m. in the Pan Am Room. All ages welcome. Tickets are $50 each, food included with ticket.

Maid Cafe tickets are on sale now! Check out the link in our bio to purchase tickets and reserve your spot!

🍥🎏 Ai-Kon 🎏🍥@aikonwinnipeg.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Maid Cafe tickets go on sale on June 27 at 12pm CST! This year, we’ll have both Friday and Saturday seatings. Our fan-favourite 18+ event, MONSTER HOSPITAL, also returns with a freaky funhouse twist! For more information, check out the Maid Cafe page on the Ai-Kon website.

With only a few weeks left until Ai-Kon 2026, the Cosplay department is back with another PSA! We at Ai-Kon hope that everyone has a safe convention. This PSA will cover important safety tips, as well as general top tips for an enjoyable convention.