Koyocon 2024 was the last convention of this year, and it was a small but cozy affair. I attended as a judge in the prop contest, together with Zibartas Cosplay. Because of work, we were only able to attend Saturday and Sunday (the convention started friday evening and was the type where you had the option of sleeping at the venue in the sleep hall).

So, Saturday morning we set off for Grenaa, Denmark, where the event took place. It’s luckily only an hours drive from home, so it was a short journey to get there. We started the day with Zibartas’ panel on 3D printing finishing. The panel room was nearly full and people seemed to enjoy it. It was very interesting, and I am always impressed by the smoothness of Zibartas’ 3D prints.

After that, we met up with some friends and walked around, looking at the convention. It was not as full of people as usual, and there were not that many cosplayers – probably because there was only the prop contest, not a full cosplay show. It’s a pity, because in the past, they had two cosplay contests. Even so, it was nice to be able to move around and not feel claustrophobic. There was a hall with artist alley and community booths and another one with more commercial dealers. There was also a big room full of board games and a few consoles, in addition to smaller event rooms where quizzes, panels and other games were hosted throughout the weekend.

For me, the main reason I go to convention is to meet friends and to cosplay. I did meet friends, but the cosplay part was less in focus – I didn’t even meet any photographers. But I still had a nice time.

In the afternoon, it was time for Zibartas and I to judge the prop contest. People had brought their props, which were all displayed behind a rope. We walked along the exhibition and read the descriptions the makers had made and looked at the props closeup, and then chose our favourites in the different categories. It seemed like a very relaxed, no-stress way for people to get a chance to show off their hard work, and I thought it was a nice, little contest. I’ve included a few of the winners in my gallery below, but you can see all of the winners here on Facebook .

Sunday it was my turn to host a panel, but not until after Zibartas and I had been interviewed by the local news. It’s always fun to spread the good word of cosplay.

My panel this time was a new one from me: I made an introduction panel to machine embroidery, focusing on absolute beginners and what is needed to get into this hobby. I was honestly overwhelmed by the interest – I didn’t think it would be that popular of a topic, and since it was ending and hour before the convention closed, I thought people would be too busy saying goodbye to friends to show up, but the panel room was full. I was nervous and went through it way too fast, but that left time for lots of questions, so it was good in the end.

I spent the last hour walking around with friends and getting a last souvenir before it was time to go home and recharge before a new work week.

All in all, I had a nice weekend, and it was a nice balance between having work to do at the convention, yet also having time to talk with friends. Below are some of my photos from this weekend. As always, I forgot to take many.
The Hazbin cosplayers are our good friends Villanya & WeaponSmith, and the Black Butler cosplayers are Baguettea and her cousin.