#AFA2014 - MEDIA RELEASE - For Immediate Release Anime Festival Asia 2014 Welcomes Record Attendance of over 90,000 Local and International Visitors South-east Asia’s Largest Premium Japanese Popular Culture and Anime Festival witness an explosion of support by consumers and trade Singapore 12 December 2014 – Anime Festival Asia (AFA) 2014, South-east Asia’s most established experiential festival for Japanese Popular Culture, drew to a close with resounding success. Over 90,000 local and overseas visitors, up from around 85,000 in 2013, thronged the 12,000 square metre festival grounds at Suntec City Convention Centre, the largest since the festival started in 2008. Featuring 140 exhibitors from 10 countries, including Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Japan and USA, AFA 2014 showcased the latest content, culture, music and key industry personalities through a myriad of engaging activities. From sold-out Anisong concerts to hotly contested championships, visitors were treated to the best of Japanese Popular Culture and Anime-related talks, merchandise, activities and exclusive showcases. Something for Everyone – 3 days of adrenalin-pumping non-stop content! With 6 halls consisting of exhibition booths, stage activities and concerts, fans were spoilt for choice over the three days. Anchor events included the I Love Anisong Mega Anime Festival, with tickets sold out for Saturday and Sunday’s concerts and almost sold out for Friday’s concert, as 13 anisong artiste and artiste groups performed to 7,800 music and anime enthusiasts. The AFA Regional Cosplay Championships saw Indonesia’s Mohamad Yusuf Kurnlawan (27 years old), and Ingga Puji Salria (30 years old) beat contestants from Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines. New festival highlights included the inaugural niconico KUNIKAGI (Japanese Internet Culture Festival) held outside Japan. Auditions and results of the first Asia Anisong-singer Audition were announced, with “Usagi”, 18 from Singapore and “RINRIN”, 19 from China emerging victorious among 202 contestants to secure a contract as an anisong artiste with a major Japanese record label. Industry Players Confident in the Market Potential of Japanese Popular Culture in South-east Asia - A B2B networking session was held on 4th December, as part of AFA 2014, where 6 industry stakeholders, including JETRO Singapore, Sozo, Japan Content Expansion Department, Aniplex, GAINAX and Bushiroad shared trade insights. Key exhibitors at AFA 2014 included major record labels, talent management companies, anime content owners and more. “We are delighted by the growing support from our customers every year. The bumper crop of content this year is a reflection of the increasingly sophisticated preferences among fans here, as well as the confidence industry partners have for the region. We will continue to work closely with key market players to push the J-Wave to new heights and help promote top quality Japanese content across South-east Asia,” said Anime Festival Asia’s Executive Festival Director and SOZO’s Founder and Managing Director Shawn Chin. Anime Festival Asia will hold a satellite event in Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC) from 31st April to 3rd May 2015, in collaboration with BEC-Tero TrueVision 3 (BTTV). Details of its 2015 line-up of overseas satellite events, as well as dates for its annual flagship event in Singapore will be announced closer to date. For more information and updates on Anime Festival Asia, members of the public can check out animefestival.asia and facebook/animefestivalasia. Anime Festival Asia 2014 is organised by SOZO (sozo.sg), Dentsu Group (dentsu), Zepp Live Inc.(zepp.co.jp) in partnership with CROONER.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 03:00:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015