Bak-Anime is Bakersfield’s favorite anime convention since 2010! Going on its ninth year, this annual convention is held at the Kern County Fairgrounds, located at 1142 South P St. Bakersfield, CA. 93307. This con is shaping up to be a great time for fans of gaming, anime, cosplay, and comic culture. Con hours are 10 AM to 6 PM Saturday the 2nd and 10 AM to 5 PM Sunday the 3rd of February. Featuring headlining guests of honor for autographs, interactive card gaming and video gaming demos and tournaments, cosplay contests and fashion shows; the programming schedule is packed with something for everyone. There is also a swap meet for collectors, an exhibitor hall with vendors, as well as artist’s alley to pick up original art and prints as well as other crafts.
This year’s guests of honor include Vic Mignogna, featured in over 300 games and anime as a voice actor starting as Vega in Street Fighter II and including Edward Elric in Full Metal Alchemist.
Neil Kaplan is listed as a guest of honor as well and is best known for his voice acting as Emperor Zarkon of Voltron: Legendary Defenders, anime such as Bleach and Digimon, and as the voice of Dominus Ghaul from the Destiny 2 video game.
Tara Sands is a well-known voice actress and former co-host of Cartoon Network’s block Fridays. From voicing Bulbasaur on Pokemon anime to Mokuba Kaiba on Yu-Gi-Oh, her talents also extend to recording audio books and commercial voice overs.
Other guests include Kenny James, voice of King Bowser; Kellen Goff of Five Nights at Freddy’s; and Cassandra Lee Morris of Persona 5 and Sword Art Online.
For more information on the event, visit their Facebook page at Friends of Bakanime or Instagram, friendsofbakanime. The website for the convention is www.bak-anime.com and has all sorts of information on location, prices for admission, events, and hotels for those traveling to the event. Temple of Geek will be on hand with staff photographer Rus Sturtevant to capture the fun both Saturday and Sunday, Feb 2 and 3. Hope to see you there!
