Otakon 2026

Otakon returns to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center July 31 through August 2, 2026 — more than three decades as one of the East Coast's defining anime conventions and one of the oldest fan-run cons in the United States. Since 1994, Otakon has been the summer gathering for the anime community's most devoted: the fans who plan year-round, cosplay with detail that rivals museum exhibits, and travel from every state for exclusive English-language premieres, Japanese musical performances, and direct conversations with the voice actors and directors behind the series they love. Three days of programming spans the full convention center: panels, screenings, an artist's alley, dealer's hall, gaming tournaments, and evening concerts featuring Japanese musicians who often perform exclusively at Otakon and nowhere else on the American tour. Between 25,000 and 30,000 attendees make the pilgrimage each year — large enough to feel monumental, small enough that the community still recognizes itself. The fans attending their first con and the ones who have made the trip since the Clinton administration move through the same halls. That continuity is what no streaming service replicates.