Geeking out: Ama-Con is back indoors with its 10th convention this weekend

Brianna Maestas, Amarillo Globe-News
·4 min read

Amarillo Public Library, in partnership with Friends of the Library, is inviting the community to attend its 10th annual Ama-Con. The event will be held inside the Amarillo Civic Center, located at 401 S Buchanan St., Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 6 and 7.

The con will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday, ending the day with the Geek Prom from 7 to 11 p.m. On Sunday, vendors and activities will be available from noon to 6 p.m.

Amarillo Public Library in partnership with Friends of the Library invite the community to attend their 10th annual Ama-Con. The event will be held inside the the Amarillo Civic Center located at 401 S Buchanan St. Saturday and Sunday.
Amarillo Public Library in partnership with Friends of the Library invite the community to attend their 10th annual Ama-Con. The event will be held inside the the Amarillo Civic Center located at 401 S Buchanan St. Saturday and Sunday.

"This year, we are back in the center in full force. In 2020, we did have to cancel and in 2021, we did a sort of half-con, but this year we are back in full. We will be in the north end of the Amarillo Civic Center taking up that whole space with vendors, activities, panelists and more," said Cindi Wynia, assistant director for the Amarillo Public Library and cosplay coordinator for Ama-Con.

During the event, more than 60 vendors will be in attendance, including those selling handmade candles, leather goods, steampunk clothing, plushies, anime figurines, wall scrolls, Japanese snacks, prints, accessories, jewelry, stickers, swords, books, and much more.

The AmaCon22 wristbands are available for purchase in the Friends Store inside the Downtown Amarillo Public Library, or they are available for purchase the day of the event at the doors. A 1-day pass including a blue Ama-Con 2022 wristband is available for purchase for $5, and a 2-day pass including a rainbow Ama-Con 2022 wristband is available for purchase for $8. Children ages 6 and younger have free admission.

"There are a couple of things that set Ama-Con apart from other cons, and one is that we work really hard to keep it affordable, not only for our vendors, but also for those in attendance because it helps us. But, we also just want to provide a good time for the community," said Stacy Clopton, Coordinator of PR and Programming for the Amarillo Public Library.

Tosha Magner, Nathan Hicks and Patrick Scager dress as Mario Brother characters at a previous year of Amarillo Library's AMA-Con outside at the Southwest Amarillo Public Library.
Tosha Magner, Nathan Hicks and Patrick Scager dress as Mario Brother characters at a previous year of Amarillo Library's AMA-Con outside at the Southwest Amarillo Public Library.

The con will also host several guest appearances, including the world's first and only full-scale replica of Optimus Prime from "Transformers: Age of Extinction" brought to the Con by Next Gen Truck Parts, along with Bahador Bakh and his Bumblebee. Both replicas will be available for viewing and photo ops in the vendor hall of the convention. Other guests include James Breakwell, a professional comedy writer best known for his family humor Twitter account @XplodingUnicorn, with more than a million followers, and his first sci-fi novel, "The Chosen Twelve."

Well-known voice actor Chris Patton will also be in attendance, whose voicing of characters includes Oikawa from "Haikyuu!," Linhardt from "Fire Emblem: Three Houses," Greed from "Fullmetal Alchemist/Brotherhood," Turles from the Dragonball Z franchise, and the now-infamous dub of Hajime from "Ghost Stories." Patton will also participate in a Q&A session over his work and will be judging the Anime Cosplay Contest.

The 2022 Ama-Con includes five cosplay contests where a panel of judges will determine the best dressed in each category: Kids, Anime, Comic, Gaming, and Sci-Fi/original characters.

Owen Jackson "Count Owen" and Tom Pruitt "Gerhard" demonstrate historic fighting with the Society for Creative Anachronism at a previous edition of the Amarillo Library's AMA-Con outside at the Southwest Amarillo Public Library.
Owen Jackson "Count Owen" and Tom Pruitt "Gerhard" demonstrate historic fighting with the Society for Creative Anachronism at a previous edition of the Amarillo Library's AMA-Con outside at the Southwest Amarillo Public Library.

Throughout the two-day event, panels will be held on topics such as art, literature, language and science, with three guest linguists teaching others how to create a language. Amarillo Museum of Art will host their AMA-CON Art Show and sketch off. Amarillo College will be in attendance hosting the video game tournaments and free play. Other activities include scientific demonstrations by the Don Harrington Discovery Center and opportunities to see exotic creatures with the Amarillo Zoo.

"The Amarillo Zoo attended our Con last year when we were outside and it was super fun and people enjoyed it, so we thought we'd bring it back this year. They will be there with a few animals, mostly for viewing, maybe some for petting on Sunday as more of an event this year, rather than the whole day like last year, but it will be fun," Clopton said.

Funds raised during the 2022 Ama-Con will benefit the Amarillo Public Library. According to Clopton, they are hoping to see attendance in the upper hundreds if not thousands.

For more information, visit follow Ama-Con on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AmaCon2012 .

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Get ready to geek out: Ama-Con is back