AMA-CON 2023 is this weekend: Here's what fans need to know.

From Staff Reports
·3 min read

AMA-CON 2023 is this weekend at the Amarillo Civic Center. The annual pop culture convention, hosted by Friends of the Amarillo Public Library, celebrates everything that is geeky and awesome in a family-friendly, educational atmosphere, from Pokémon to comic book characters and even K-Pop dance. The fun begins Saturday.

Highlights of this year's convention include five different cosplay contests for Kids, Anime, Comic, Gaming, and Sci-Fi/Original Characters; panels on art, literature and trivia; vendors offering everything from comic books to steampunk jewelry; the Geek Prom, an art show, and Sketch Off; as well as gaming tournaments, demonstrations, and free play.

AMA-CON 2023 takes place Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 5 and 6, in the civic center’s four largest exhibit halls, according to a news release.

Admission is $8 for a two-day pass or $5 for a single day, with no charge for kids 6 and under.

This year's special guests include:

  • Chris Jai Alex: The stuntman, actor, director, and producer has appeared on camera in everything from indie features to blockbusters including Marvel and DC projects such as Captain America Civil War and Batman V Superman. His voice acting credits include anime projects like Super Giant Robot Brothers and video games including God of War: Ragnarök. Alex recently completed work on Get the Girl, an independent feature film he wrote, directed, starred in, and produced.

  • J.M. Lee: Author of The Dark Crystal novels, the Boxcar Children Great Adventure mini-series, and The Nightland Express, he also worked as a staff writer on the Netflix reboot of The Dark Crystal.

  • Arkady Martine: A speculative fiction writer and, as Dr. Anna Linden Weller, a historian of the Byzantine Empire and a city planner. Under both names she writes about border politics, narrative and rhetoric, risk communication, and the edges of the world. She is currently a policy advisor for the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department. Her debut novel, A Memory Called Empire, won the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novel, and its sequel, A Desolation Called Peace, won the 2022 Hugo Award in the same category.

  • Vivian Shaw: She was born in Kenya and has lived in Cardiff, Oxford, and Baltimore and has a BA in art history, an MFA in creative writing and publishing arts. She is the author of the Dr. Greta Helsing contemporary fantasy trilogy, Strange Practice, Dreadful Company, and Grave Importance, and her sci-fi/horror novella THE HELIOS SYNDROME is out now from Lethe Press. She reviews for the Washington Post and her short sci-fi/horror fiction has appeared in Uncanny and Pseudopod.

  • Jason Ybarra & the Turtle Van: His love for TMNT franchise as a child inspired him in 2011 to design and commission a working TMNT Party Wagon so that he could drive a life size Turtle van, which has traveled all over the country to comic cons and events. It was even hired by Uber in (2021) to give rides in Miami, Florida during Halloween weekend. The Glove box features the signatures of Kevin Eastman and the voice actors immortalized, as they have been as delighted as fans to see the cartoon image come to life. Jason got his start in television on the #1 hit show Power Rangers in 1994. Originally an extra, he eventually became one of the suit actors for “Baboo,” a minion to Rita Repulsa, as well as several other monsters.

  • David Yi – K-Pop Dance Dallas: Co-founder, with his wife Chantha Mao, of K-Pop Dance Dallas. Since 2016, David and Chantha have been offering dance classes revolving around Korean Pop music (K-Pop). At AMA-CON 2023, David will teach attendees K-Pop moves and lead some extended dancing at the Geek Prom.

Tosha Magner, Nathan Hicks and Patrick Scager dress as Mario Brother characters for the Amarillo Library's 2021 AMA-Con held outside at the Southwest Amarillo Public Library.
Tosha Magner, Nathan Hicks and Patrick Scager dress as Mario Brother characters for the Amarillo Library's 2021 AMA-Con held outside at the Southwest Amarillo Public Library.
Star Wars Stormtroopers with the 501st Legion West Texas Squadron roam the aisles of the Amarillo Library's 2021 AMA-Con.
Star Wars Stormtroopers with the 501st Legion West Texas Squadron roam the aisles of the Amarillo Library's 2021 AMA-Con.

AMA-CON raises funds that Friends of the Amarillo Public Library use to support library programs not financed by taxpayer dollars, including Summer Reading Club, the APL MakerSpace, English as a Second Language classes, and many other education and enrichment opportunities provided by the library.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: AMA-CON 2023 arrives at Amarillo Civic Center Aug. 5, 6