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SaikouCon Returns to the Lehigh Valley in 2017

SaikouCon Returns to the Lehigh Valley in 2017!

Convention finds new home in Center City, Allentown! SaikouCon 2017 also opens pre-registration, merchant applications, and announces first round of Guests!


1/23/17 Allentown, PA – SaikouCon, which means "best convention", is the large scale, annual anime convention of the Lehigh Valley. Boasting a dedicated staff of longtime Japanese anime and manga fans, SaikouCon is excited to be the only large scale annual convention dedicated exclusively to anime, manga, and Japanese culture and pop culture in this area of Pennsylvania. The convention grew out of web magazine Anime Ate My Brain Magazine (relaunching later this year); the sibling to music focused web magazine, Tastes Like Rock! Music Magazine. Both journalistic endeavors fall under the publishing wing of Nerdy Rock 'n Roller Productions.

The convention promises to remain very hands on and attendee friendly every year, while also maintaining a safe atmosphere for attendees to enjoy the convention to their carefree fullest. As always, Cosplay =/= Consent is a very important issue to the staff of SaikouCon, and the same rules and regulations that made SaikouCon Years 1-4 safe havens for cosplayers will be enforced just as strictly at SaikouCon 2017. SaikouCon 2017 will feature many diverse and entertaining panels, workshops, activities, events, screenings, gaming tournaments, and much more!

The convention is happy to announce that SaikouCon 2017 will be taking place August 18, 19, and 20 at the Holiday Inn Center City Allentown! Lehigh Valley, SaikouCon. Is. BACK! And it feels so good to be back in the Valley. Just make sure to take note, this is the Holiday Inn in the Center City section of Allentown, PA on West Hamilton Street; across the street from the PPL Center. SaikouCon's new digs are a little smaller than what they had at SaikouCon 2016, but are laid out much better and cohesively for the convention's purposes (no football field runs from the Merchant Hall and Special Events to the panel rooms!). Pre-reg for attendees is now open at www.saikoucon.com/registration.html, so are merchant applications for Merchants at www.saikoucon.com/merchants.html, interested merchants please take note that there is now an application and jurying of wares; merchant registration is no longer first come first serve; the convention can no longer allow merchants to vend at SaikouCon and trust they will follow the honor system of following the convention rules for merchants. There is also no longer a separate artist designation nor Artist Alley, all merchants are together in the same Merchant Hall and titled Merchants.
Volunteer applications, press applications, and panel submissions will be opening as spring and early summer roll on, keep your eyes on SaikouCon.com and the con social media profiles for announcements!
The fifth anniversary show of the Lehigh Valley's annual anime convention is back and the fun will be cranked up to 11 with awesome events, cool screenings, amazing voice actors and actresses, incredibly talented cosplayers, rockin' bands, our killer cosplay contest, leveled up Video Game Room, and more than a few surprises! There's a reason Year 5 is being called SaikouCon Resurgence, everything you love most about the convention is being pumped up and brought to the forefront for what we're hoping will be the best year yet!

The first round of Guest Stars has also been announced by the convention. Starting with two cosplayers that have been with SaikouCon before are returning once more this year and the con is thrilled to have them back! 2017 marks Koralene's third year as a guest at SaikouCon, Koralene's skill as both a cosplayer and photographer consistently amaze, people can't wait to see what she does at SaikouCon 2017! Also returning is Foxxy! Foxxy (previously known as ToxicFoxx) has a history with SaikouCon dating back to SaikouCon 2014, but this is her second time joining as a Featured Guest, Foxxy often is one of the guest judges for SaikouCon's yearly Cosplay Contest, this year is no exception. Keep an eye on the con schedule as the programming unfolds over the spring and early summer for some awesome events featuring Koralene and Foxxy!

The first band to join SaikouCon 2017 is The Adarna, attendees asked and the con is delivering! SaikouCon welcomes back The Adarna for their fourth time performing at the convention! Once more The Adarna will be the headliner of SaikouCon's musical programming in 2017, with a solo show on SaikouCon Friday and headlining the Cosplay Concert on the night of SaikouCon Saturday, as well as presenting several panels throughout the convention's programming schedule when the band is not performing. The first band to coin the genre of Jet City Rock! Featured on over 230+ radio stations, tv shows, magazines, with music videos airing in 78 countries. In 5 years, they've completed 6 North American Tours while averaging 80-120 shows per year. In 2015-16, they performed internationally for the troops as well as nationally touring to support the release of their new album, How Perceptive.

SaikouCon 2017's Guest List (so far):

Guests of Honor:
Announcements Coming Soon!

Featured Guests:
Koralene Cosplay
Foxxy Cosplay
More Coming Soon!

Musical Guests:
The Adarna
More Coming Soon!

To Pre-Register for SaikouCon 2017 badges visit www.saikoucon.com/registration.html and make sure to note the returning designations for Teen and Adult badges to attend the convention, the designations do away with the need for parental consent forms for SaikouCon guests age 13-17, attendees 12 and under receive free admission but MUST be accompanied by a chaperone age 18 or older at all times! SaikouCon is family friendly, but is not designed for young children. Pre-registration closes August 12, 2017 at midnight (the midnight going into Sunday August 13 not 12:01 AM on August 12 to clarify), there will be no extensions this year, so get the pre-reg savings while you can! There will be no price jumps during the pre-registration period this year, now that pre-reg is open all prices will remain static; 3 Day Adult and Teen General Admission badges are $30 per badge and 1 Day (Friday or Saturday) Adult and Teen General Admission badges are $15 per badge, 3 Day Adult and Teen VIP badges are $60 per badge (includes VIP meet and greet with all SaikouCon 2017 Guests of Honor and exclusive mini-poster for autographs), 1 Day (Saturday only) Adult and Teen VIP badges are $35 per badge (includes VIP meet and greet with all SaikouCon 2017 Guests of Honor and exclusive mini-poster for autographs).

The Holiday Inn Center City Allenton is located at 904 West Hamilton Street, Allentown, PA 18101 (please note this Holiday Inn is in Allentown, PA; we are not returning to the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Breinigisville, PA that SaikouCon 2013 and 2014 were held in). The Holiday Inn offers several on-site amenities to SaikouCon attendees; the 904 West Restaurant for breakfast/lunch/dinner, the 904 West Lounge for adult beverages and non-con nightlife, free WiFi, indoor swimming pool for attendees that book rooms with the Holiday Inn, ambiance for photoshoots, 200 sleeping rooms in total, and very friendly staff!

Rooms in the convention's block of rooms at the Holiday Inn Center City Allentown, may be booked at the following link:
https://www.holidayinn.com/redirect?path=hd&brandCode=hi&localeCode=en®ionCode=1&hotelCode=abehs&_PMID=99801505&GPC=SAI&viewfullsite=true, as always reservations for the block of rooms is first come, first serve. The Holiday Inn Center City Allentown is smoke free and pet free, and pursuant to Pennsylvania state law rooms can not be reserved by persons under the age of 21 years, nor can they be checked into by any person under the age of 21 years; please plan your booking and stay at the Holiday Inn Center City Allentown over the course of SaikouCon 2017 accordingly. The Holiday Inn Center City Allentown is offering SaikouCon attendees a discounted nightly rate of $124.99 plus tax and fees, the SaikouCon room block is open and is starting with availability of 50 rooms, please book through the link provided above to ensure you receive the SaikouCon rate on your room.

The convention will always feature some of the best live entertainment themed to Japanese culture and pop culture, as well as the best in J-Rock, J-Pop, and nerd/geek culture musical acts from all over the US and beyond.

All of this plus top creators, writers, artists, distributors, industry insiders, English dub and original Japanese voice talent, some of the best cosplay talent, shows, masquerades; and so much more!

To get the latest up-to-the-minute updates follow SaikouCon on http://www.saikoucon.com, http://facebook.com/SaikouCon, http://twitter.com/SaikouCon, http://saikoucon.tumblr.com,
http://instagram.com/officialsaikoucon, and SaikouCon's listing on animecons.com: http://animecons.com/events/info.shtml/8229/SaikouCon_2017

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