On Jan. 30-31, UI-Con held its third anime and comic convention. The event began Friday afternoon and wrapped things up at 11 p.m. Saturday.  

The event was hosted at the I Hotel and Illinois Conference Center. In its past two years, UI-Con took place at the Illini Union. The new space allowed the convention to grow and take on a new life.

Will Helmke, a graduate student studying communications and media and the convention’s co-chair, described how, although the event has seen this growth, its roots remain the same from when the convention first came together.

UI-Con was born from a group of students originally in the RSO Japanese Animation Club. In Spring 2023, those students met up at Anime Central and talked about the idea of creating a convention in Champaign. With the right organizing efforts, the convention came to life the following year. 

Helmke noted how most conventions held in Chicago are “very expensive.” From badges to hotel bookings, the students who started the convention wanted the event to be accessible.

Fundraising allowed the first convention to be a free event. This year, however, the event cost $20 for a pass that allowed access to both days.

Helmke clarified that, although UI-Con is now technically registered as a non-profit called UC-SCAPE, all the money that comes from passes goes directly back into the convention. 

“The vision for UI-Con was a convention that is as affordable as possible,” Helmke said. “The idea of being a separate nonprofit that oversees [the convention], that’s a core part of our mission. It makes it very clear that that’s what we’re doing. We’re not making profit.”

UI-Con, however, does still partner with other RSOs, the Japanese Animation Club, as well as Illini Esports, Cosplay Design League and more. The convention, in its new space, hosted a record 107 vendors in the Artist & Vendor Hall, a cosplay contest at the Illinois Ballroom and panels that featured guest speakers.

One vendor, Olivia Yoshioka, who graduated from the University in 2025 with a Bachelor of Science in architecture, attended the first convention in 2024 and came back this year as a vendor. Her store is called Usagi, where she makes handmade polymer clay figurines and keychains. 

Compared to its first year, Yoshioka admired how the convention had developed in just two years. 

“I can tell the organizers really want to make this a well-organized, well-run con,” Yoshioka said. “They listen to feedback. It’s never been a bad experience here, for sure.”

Attendees at UI-Con range from University students to people from all over Illinois. Mario Puzon, a student at Harper College studying environmental engineering, heard about the convention from a friend who attends the University. 

Dressed as Quanxi from “Chainsaw Man,” Puzon was most excited to see other cosplayers and interact with the cosplay community. He noted how important having this space was to the anime community on a broader scale.

“I think just having a space locally in Urbana, to cosplay, to express interest, is very important,” Puzon said. “Just having time to truly be a geek is worthwhile.”

That narrative of belonging and community was what UI-Con was founded on. The convention highlights artists and is a meeting place for those who share similar interests, but at a lower cost than you would see elsewhere. 

Helmke talked about anime conventions being a welcoming third space for people to connect and explore their interests and their identity within their fandoms. While fandoms can interact extensively online, conventions are a safe space for people to find an in-person community. 

More than that, it’s a place to explore identity. 

“I’ve known in the past many friends where conventions were a space where they were trying to understand their identity,” Helmke said. “Things like gender identity or gender expression, and a convention can even be a safe place for things like that. But even just to find someone, to find a community of people who share your fandom, to find the joy in that, and that community is a really important thing that conventions bring.”

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