Inside the Animabi Anime Convention: Cosplay, Karaoke, and Community

The Freizeitzentrum Baumheide in Bielefeld hosted an anime convention on September 27. Their first convention was in July 2024, and in almost all of them you can get in for free. If you're worried that there will be too many people, don't be. Bielefeld isn't a city where one goes to conventions, so if you go to one, it's usually the same people or new people and cosplayers that don't have much experience with costumes.

There were cosplayers from different fandoms like Genshin Impact, Demon Slayer, Madoka Magica, Bungo Stray Dogs, Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage!, Vocaloid, Little Nightmare and many more.

I attended the convention with a few friends. When you first walked in, there were a lot of stands selling keychains, art and snacks. To get to the other things there you had to walk through at least half to get to the stairs. If you continued forward, there were more stands, one even from a small idol group. 

Down the stairs and through an empty hallway, you'd find a small room for photoshoots with professional lighting, camera and people, able to do great pictures for you in your cosplay. Additionally, there was a karaoke stage and a bar (with no alcohol), you could choose a song and sing to it, the lyrics were shown on the TV. 

There was a small Flohmarkt. You can bring your wigs or cosplays that you don't need anymore or don’t use, and they sell it to others. You can also buy stuff there for cheap.

I’d advise you to go with friends. There were a lot of people, mostly teenagers and young adults. Some people don’t see cosplayers as humans but as the character they’re cosplaying as, so it’s for your own safety, bring someone with you!

Animabi was specifically made so that conventions in Bielefeld were possible, so all past and future dates are in Bielefeld. Their next date is unknown as of right now, but new dates should arrive late in 2026.