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E-sports, cosplay, manga and more on offer as E-Sports and Music Festival and Ani-Com Hong Kong try to draw gamers and anime fans despite possible extradition bill protests
- Organisers play down protest concerns, estimating crowd of 80,000 for both events – about the same as last year
- Combined ticket allows access to both events for HK$50 – attractions include cosplay competition, drone racing and retro fighting games
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Two popular youth-focused expos are returning to Hong Kong, with organisers scrambling to attract crowds of gamers and anime aficionados – despite the threat of more extradition bill protests.
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The third E-Sports and Music Festival and 21st Ani-Com Hong Kong kick off on Friday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai. The e-sports event runs until Sunday, with the Ani-Com – short for animation-comic-game – ending on Tuesday.
Mason Hung Chung-hing, a Hong Kong Tourism Board official who helped organise the events, said attendance was not a big concern.
“Our expectations for this year are slightly more conservative, but we are not yet worried about the turnout,” Hung said. “Even though I’ve heard tour groups are cancelling trips, our target group is youth who generally plan their own trips.”
He continued: “Since visitors only need one ticket to attend both the e-sports event and the Ani-Com, we expect the turnout for the two events to be roughly the same as last year at about 80,000.”
Our expectations for this year are slightly more conservative, but we are not yet worried about the turnout
The exhibition centre was along the route of several of the protest marches held in Hong Kong since June. Millions have taken to the streets to protest against the government’s extradition bill, which would have allowed the transfer of criminals to jurisdictions where Hong Kong does not have extradition agreements, including mainland China.
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