Con Report: Sabaku Con Panels, Artists and Cosplay

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This past weekend I had the chance to visit New Mexico and attend Sabaku Con. Run by Monkey Paw Entertainment, Sabaku Con is a four year old anime convention in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Many of the attendees I encountered were either first time convention goers or loyal Sabaku Con customers. During my time at this convention (which ran Friday, Saturday and Sunday) I was able to…

  • Meet “Cosfamous” guests such as Sweets4aSweet Cosplay and AZ PowerGirl: Cara Nicole.
  • Attend panels on cosplay, gaming and crafting.
  • Meet Kazha in a one on one meet and greet panel (she and her band mates are absolutely delightful!).
  • Cosplay and discover the woes of a windy city (skirts + wind = WEAR TIGHTS TO COVER UP!!!)
  • Take so many photos and so much video that I will have to split them between two articles!!!
  • And speak with some of the friendliest con-goers I have ever encountered!

Friday

Rei HOTD SamOn Friday I dressed as Rei from High School of the Dead. This is where I discovered that Albuquerque is one windy city. Ladies/Gents: if you intend to wear a skirt in this city make sure you have opaque tights on OR some dance shorts. The convention was held at the Marriott Pyramid and upon entry I could tell there were going to be some FANTASTIC cosplays at this con. I obtained my pass, a map and my bearings then dove head first into day one.

There were some incredible panels on Friday (Poison Sugar hosted a panel on sewing feet and Sweets4aSweet hosted a panel on Cosplay Confidence). While attendance was low in the afternoon it began to pick up around 5 and by 6 the halls were hopping. I grabbed a photo with a GREAT Kylo Ren cosplayer (his photo is in the gallery below) and we chatted about cosplay crafting for a but before I watched a League of Legends Game Show put on by Prizmyth. Wrapping up the day with a few more photos I returned to my temporary residence and planned for Saturday (which turned out to be a VERY popular con day).

Saturday

This, by far, was my favorite day at the con. I attended several cosplay panels, had a chance to explore the vendor hall where I met this friendly artist that I bought an adorable dinosaur choker from and I found some really interesting prints.
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After shopping I went on a photo frenzy! There were so many cosplayers that it was hard to pick which one I wanted to snap first, second, third…etc. The Masquerade line eventually caused congestion in the main hall which forced me to explore the other side of the hotel where I discovered gamers galore! There was an ENTIRE room dedicated to table top, video and arcade gaming. There were a few hours between the masquerade and my gaming discovery where I was able to rest my feet and really take in the hotel. It was under construction so there was certainly confusion for the staff but it did not appear to disrupt the convention in any way, shape or form. Aside from some occasional con traffic (the halls were a bit narrow) navigation was easy and the convention staff were readily available to guide you to your destination.

In the evening the masquerade was held in a large ballroom named Yucatan. There were dozens of onlookers…
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Everyone was excited and the masquerade hostess did a wonderful job introducing all of the participants. Here are just a FEW images from the masquerade to whet your appetite with…

The masquerade ended late on Saturday and was a terrific conclusion to a very eventful day.

Sunday

13133228_602349756588762_1463183462313401245_n Sunday was another cosplay day for me. I debuted my new costume: Anastasia from Claymore. This was meant to be my relaxation day however; I did not realize how much excitement my costume would generate and I was stopped many times for photographs (apparently Claymore is not a very popular costume so people were quite excited to see someone represent a very strong anime).

Sunday was another panel day. I had a chance to chat with Sweets4aSweet cosplay, visit Cara Nicole, obtain an autograph from the lovely Kazha and listen to some terrific Japanese Hard Rock. This was another quiet convention day in relation to attendance. The con hall was easy to navigate (which I greatly appreciated as my pauldrons were monstrous) and the panels were very intimate. Overall, I rather enjoyed this convention. It is small (with and average attendance of around 4,000) however; it is very likely that it will see an influx in customers if the programming and events retain their incredible entertainment value.

As I mentioned above, the masquerade was incredible so be on the look out for an article dedicated solely to that (who knows…a video may be in your future 😉 ). In the mean time, here are a few photos of the skilled cosplayers I encountered at Sabaku Con 2016…

Many thanks to Greg Fennel who made my attendance possible. For more information on this convention and its future events please visit: www.sabakucon.com.

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2 Comments

  1. Sapphire Starlight May 22, 2016 Reply
    • Samantha Kitts May 23, 2016 Reply

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