KAWA KON 2016
Strange worlds
Kawa Kon is a convention in the St. Louis area that has been entertaining us geeks for the past 8 years. LaKinta and my first cosplaying experience ever was at Kawa Kon in 2013. This convention truly has something for everyone... Sci Fi, anime, music, adult themed, pop culture... you name it!
RenChan and LaKinta on day 2 of Kawa Kon 2016.
Admission Price
Preregistration offered a discount for con goers starting at only $25 for the entire weekend! However if you waited to pay at the door prices were $55 for the weekend, $30 for Friday only, $35 for Saturday only, and $20 for Sunday only. Child badges, for those 6-12 years old, where $10 less than the adult price... which was a little much in my opinion however Kids under 5 years of age were free!.
Cosplayers were offered at discount of $5 off the admission price if their badge was picked while in cosplay!
I was able to purchase my badge by preregistering while LaKinta ended getting hers at the door!
Con Chairs/Staff
​The Con Chair Katrina was wonderful and very welcoming. The overall staff at Kawa Kon were great. All staff members were kind and courteous during our experience there. Everyone was very helpful and I felt like they were all just as excited to be at the con as I was.
Location
The Airport Hilton was the location for Kawa Kon this year. It has been held at a couple different locations since LaKinta and I first one back in 2013, and it was a good one in my opinion. Not only was It was easy to find, but the overall space was large enough to support the convention without it feeling to crowded. My only critique is how small the vendor room was… I was simply just not enough room for con goers to be comfortable while pursing the goodies laid out in the small space.
Cosplay/Voice Acting/Musical Guests​
The musical guest this year at Kawa Kon were awesome! One of my personal favorites was Professor Shyguy! He is simply amazing! His music is very easy to dance to and made the opening ceremonies at the con start off with a bang! Afterward his concert, LaKinta and I had the pleasure of meeting him in person and it was nothing short of awesome. Not only is he a talent and worthwhile musician but a fantastic person as well. Some of the other guests included DinoFight!, a band all about rocking it out with inspiration from comics, games, and other geeky themes, was also pretty enjoyable to listen to and jam with at the con. Lonely Mountain String Band and Pirates, Inc. were the other 2 musical guest at the convention but unfortunately LaKinta and I weren't able to spend enough time with them to see if we personally liked them... however many good reviews heard all around from other con goers! Other guests included Voice Actor Kevin R. Free from Welcome to Night Vale and The McNobody, an artists with some awesome stuff to show, and the ever awesome Samurai Dan and Jillian were there to throw in some humor and some butt kicking techniques!
RenChan and LaKinta hanging out with Professor Shyguy after his concert following the opening ceremony at Kawa Kon 2016.
Panels/Tracks/Events
Aiden Control as the Joker at the Kawa Kon 2016 Fandom Drag Show!
Kawa Kon offered a variety of panels and tracks. The only unfortunate part was that there was soooo many to chose from that it made it impossible to see everything we wanted to, I was especially upset I had to miss the panel on ASMR, which I am a huge fan of. Some of the other panels included Super Hero Prom, Pokemon Boot Camp, Doctor Who-lympics, Cosplay Wedding, BJD Kabuki theater, Murder Mystery Tea, and so much more!
Vendors/Artists
The vendors’ room at Kawa Kon I must say was a little small for my tastes. Although there were plenty of tables lining the halls of the convention I felt like I was unable to breath at times with all the buzz in such a small space. I also didn’t see enough variety of vendors, although the ones that were there had some great stuff to offer. Another issue I saw was that I wasn’t really able to find many artists at the convention, the ones I did find were kind of like little hidden gems among a packed small room of vendors. Of the vendors that were there at the con I did have a few favorites I would like to mention: Doll Teeth, Seifer's Stitches, and Waggons West!
Masquerade
I loved the Masquerade at Kawa Kon this year….. though I might be a little bias considering I helped judge it! I was chosen from the audience to help the guest judges decide on awards for all the amazing cosplay that graced the stage. It was magical. There were a lot of extremely well made cosplays and great skits to watch. The Masquerade hosts Katrina and Johnathan were funny and delightful. Their moments together on stage were awesome to watch and so funny, I was kept laughing the whole time! Other than myself the contest was judged by Kevin R. Free, voice actor and all around nice guy and Rachel Wildermuth, a highly skilled cosplayer. The three of us were in charge of judging the performance, while as for craftsmanship... that was judged by someone much more experienced than myself. I felt overall the masquerade was a great time and I am so lucky to have been included in it!
Curvy Kitty Cosplay and Photographer friend Thomas Ricks getting ready to watch the Kawa Kon 2016 Masquerade.
Con Program Book
Kawa Kon program booklet featured fantastic art from the McNobody and was very well put together! The events and panels were nicely summarized and the overall look was easy on the eyes... lol
Our Con Highlights
Kawa Kon had so many awesome things going on this year and it would be way to much to mention all the things we thought were fun so here are some of the highlights. Kawa Kon this year included a Fandom Drag Show! It was AMAZING! There was so many talented Drag Queens and Kings including David Tenninch, wooing us with his Gilderoy Lockhart sings "I feel Pretty" and Aiden Control as a devilishly sexy version of the icon JOKER. The shows host Alexx the BEEP was also a pleasure to watch and she kept us laughing and enjoying ourselves the whole time. Professor Shyguy's concert was also definitely a highlight for us and worth mentioning again lol.
Also the convention had a small area set up for cosplayers to strike a pose with Joe from CROSSROADS Images, which is always nice when you are dressed to impress!
Final "Con"clusion
4/5
REVIEW BY RENCHAN