UK Anime & Gaming Con, a selection of events for cosplayers, fans of anime, gaming and more, will be including a series of ‘Cosplay Blind Date’ activities at its events again this year.
Blind Date is an old British TV game show hosted by the legendary Cilla Black, which saw one single individual ask questions to three others hidden behind a screen, before picking one (based on their voice and answers) to go on a date.
The UK Anime & Gaming Con’s cosplay version follows a similar premise, except all the contestants are dressed up in cosplay.
The blurb on the Norwich Anime & Gaming Con website states: “A contestant gets to ask three lucky people a few questions and gets to pick their favourite out of the three. Anyone can join in, all you have to do is be at the stage at the time it starts.
“So start thinking of your questions. Remember not to make them too risque as it is a family event.”
UK Anime & Gaming Con
The UK Anime & Gaming Con events also feature a host of other cosplay activities, including masquerades (with the winner receiving a cash prize and qualifying for the UK Cosplay Championship finals at the London event) and a cosplay auction, where volunteers go up for bid to the audience, with the highest bidder winning the company of that cosplayer (and the proceeds go to charity).
There’s also quizzes, raffles, anime bingo, lip sync battles, talent shows, talks, workshops, expo booths, J-pop and anime performers and live music, meet-and-greet guests, tabletop gaming and more.
There are currently 14 UK Anime & Gaming Con events scheduled to take place in 2023 by organiser Anime League, in a variety of cities including London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds, Norwich, Glasgow, Cardiff, Sheffield, Newcastle and Brighton.
The first event of the year will get underway in Bristol from February 4th to 5th 2023.
Not every event has a Cosplay Blind Date listed on its individual website, and organisers say the final list of activities may be subject to change.
Esports at UK Anime & Gaming Con events
The various UK Anime & Gaming Con events feature several free-to-enter casual esports tournaments, in games like Smash Bros Ultimate, Mario Kart 8, Beatsaber and more.
There are also set challenges, with attendees tasked with racking up the fastest time or the highest score in certain games, from Sonic Mania to DDR, Crash Bandicoot and others.
The events also include casual chillout areas for gamers, retro consoles and PC gaming and indie gaming sections.
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Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
