WasabiCon at Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center, Jacksonville (October 9, 2026)

Jacksonville’s largest and longest-running anime, pop culture, and gaming convention, WasabiCon just kicked off their three-day weekend event at the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center.

This is the convention’s 14th anniversary… although, like the rest of the world, it was shut down in 2020 due to the pandemic, and 2024 due to Hurricane Milton. Which is worth a note, as we narrowly missed Hurricane Isaias.

Despite the heavy rain all week and closing of some roads due to flash flooding, fans still showed up in force to stand around the convention center to get in at 3pm, when Registration was open. The line was long, but we were steadily moving, thanks to it being well-organized and trained staff.

The main event started with Opening Ceremones, where we get details about their 2026 show. This year, they’ve got over 300 vendors, but they also cracked down on AI art, less 3-D printers. They got over 60 consoles in the video game room, completely in free-play. This year, they’ve also expanded to 18+ events, including offsite Anime Rave at the Albatross (formerly the Underbelly). They’re also experimenting with Trading Posts, so you can trade Pokemon cards or whatever at the post.

It’s interesting to note that they’ve attended their competitor’s conventions and get ideas to bring to WasabiCon. I think of those ideas were to create free photo booths, for fans to use.

With a pack full schedule, they promise over 300 hours of programming. You can’t do it all, but there’s something for everyone.

I mainly stuck to the Main Event room, seeing Kyudo: Way of the Bow with Florida Budokan, the Leading Ladies of Voice Acting with Anjali Kunapaneni (Witch Hat Atelier, Pokémon Horizons: The Series) and Natalie Van Sistine (Spy × Family, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury), Anime Retro: Gundam with Brad Swaile (X-Men: Evolution, Ranma ½, Dragon Ball Z, and Hazbin Hotel with Joel Perez.

I found it interesting that Swaile became a massive fan of Gunpla, but had to stop collecting the model kits due to space and storage. As for Joel Perez, he’s actually known more as a theater kid, and have done some work in movies and television, not really known for animation – that is until Hazbin Hotel, which took the world by storm (I can attest having seen the massive fanbase in 2024): “Speaking of which, the Hazbin Hotel panel had the biggest attendance. There weren’t enough seats on stage for all the voice actors: Erika Henningsen, Vivienne Medrano, Morgana Ignis, Kimiko Glenn, Amir Talai, Blake Roman, Joel Perez, Krystina Alabado, and Brandon Rogers. It was clear that the cast were having the time of their lives. Some (such as Erika Henningsen) extended their appearance, due to strong demand from the fans.”

As for panels and shows, the Video Game Room was always open with various competition like Street Fighter, how to learn to Ballroom Dance, a magic show with Mike the Magician, tech-check with Star Trek, a Whose Line is it Anime (obviously an improv show ala Whose Line is it Anyway), learn about Anime shows with Intro to Seasonal Anime, a top-tier list with Objectively Correct Tier List, D&D gaming environment with Dungeon Ecology, and how to survive cosplay in Comfort in Cosplay.

Of course, the star for me at any convention are the cosplayers. There were a lot of anime cosplays, most of them, I have no idea. A mix of game cosplays, “web series” cosplay, and very few comic book characters. I’m assuming we will see more variety for Saturday, which is undoubtedly the most popular and the most-attended day.

Yours,