Celebration of All Things Animation/Anime to Bring Tens of Thousands to Raleigh Convention Center, Jan. 5-7

Raleigh, N.C. (Dec. 21, 2023) – Come the new year, Downtown Raleigh may look a bit more colorful, exciting, and animated when the city’s first ever GalaxyCon Presents Animate! takes over the Raleigh Convention Center.

Launched by the team behind the wildly successful GalaxyCon event which hosts one of the largest events at the Raleigh Convention Center each summer with a whopping annual $8.7 million economic impact, Animate! is a continuation of the company’s expansion into celebrating niche aspects of nerd culture with dedicated events.

Animate! is a celebration of all things animation, from Spider-Man and Tinker-Bell to Ruby Rose and Master Shake. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet their favorite animation voice actors and creators as well as participate in a series of fun events including Q&As, video and tabletop gaming, panels, costume contests, cosplay wrestling, and so much more fandom to explore.

"Raleigh has become a real home for GalaxyCon. We've grown the annual convention to the point where it is now the biggest event in our series which stretches across the country,” says Mike Broder, founder and president, GalaxyCon. “Working with partners from the City and Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau, we've built this event into one of the biggest the Raleigh Convention Center hosts each year with more than 55,000 attendees in July 2023. With eyes on expansion, we're bringing Animate!, an animation focused convention in January and exploring options to allow our July 2024 event to welcome even more celebrity guests, exhibitors, and, most importantly, fans to Raleigh!"

While fan expos, actors, and other celebrities are draws for Animate! as well as other GalaxyCon events, the truly visual treats are the fans and their commitment to characters via cosplay where fans dress up as their favorite characters.

Guests include:

  • Max Mittleman - Saitama in One Punch Man, Sabito in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and Plagg/Gimmi/Ivan Bruel/Minotaurox in Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir
  • ​Robbie Daymond - Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Spider-Man Animated, River Ward in Cyberpunk 2077 & Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, Dorian Storm in Critical Role
  • Ray Chase - Noctis Lucis Caelum/Wiz Forlane in Final Fantasy XV, B. Mitch Reed in Licorice Pizza, Ryomen Sukuna in Jujutsu Kaisen
  • Paige O’Hara - Belle in Disney's Beauty And The Beast, Princess Aleta in The Legend Of Prince Valiant, Angela in Enchanted
  • Richard White - Gaston in Disney's Beauty And The Beast, Gaston in House of Mouse, Whisper in King's Quest
  • Lindsay Jones - Ruby Rose in RWBY, Space Kid in Camp Camp, Kimball in Red vs. Blue
  • Kara Eberle - Weiss Schnee in RWBY
  • Arryn Zech - Blake Belladonna in RWBY, Ashlynn in Honeymoon For One, Emily Grey in Red vs. Blue
  • Barbara Dunkelman - Yang Xiao Long in RWBY, Nerris in Camp Camp, Cosmos in Fairy Tail
  • Roger Clark - Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption II, Sgt. Jack Griffin in Shellshock 2: Blood Trails, Additional Voices in Tactics Ogre: Reborn
  • Rob Wiethoff - John Marston in Red Dead Redemption & Red Dead Redemption II, Lazarus in Codename Cygnus, Detective Fitzgerald in Double Tap, Turk in The Outside
  • Eric Vale - Tomura Shigaraki in My Hero Academia, Sanji in One Piece, Arthur Boyle in Fire Force
  • Stephanie Young - Nico Robin in One Piece. Sylvia Sherwood in Spy X Family, Nana Shimura in My Hero Academia
  • David Errigo, Jr. - Ferb in Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe, Hamton J. Pig/Plucky Duck in Tiny Toons Looniversity
  • Vincent Martella - Phineas Flynn in Phineas and Ferb, Greg Wuliger in Everybody Hates Chris, Artonius in Role Models

And many more!

The convention will take place January 5-7, 2024, at the Raleigh Convention Center at the following hours:

  • Friday - 2pm to 2am
  • Saturday - 10am to 2am
  • Sunday - 10am to 8pm

Tickets are on sale now, with free entry for children under 9 with a paid adult. 

Media Contact:
Greg Behr
GBW Strategies
gbehr@gbwstrategies.com

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