2024 marked the second year where the convention was held in both the Summit and the Arch convention. For that reason, I was cautiously excited for Sakura-Con this year.
While many were happy with the extra space Sakura-Con was able to offer for the convention, attendees generally seemed displeased with the amount of walking required to get from one venue to the other. However, I feel as though that sentiment was not present as I had not heard too many complaints this year. I suppose it could be because people knew what to expect this year and were prepared for it, or they just weren’t as vocal about it. I still certainly think it would be much nicer to just keep the convention to one building.
It was nice, however, that they managed to take advantage of all the extra space they had for the main Arch building by making the floor below the (previously) exhibit hall another area where artists could put up their stands. Of course, the difficult part about this was that not many people knew where it was, which was one of the issues the old Arch convention building had prior to the construction of the Summit building.
Perhaps it might be due to having enough experience with the con, or my growing age (or both, honestly), I feel like the convention has reached a point where it’s not as exciting to attend anymore. With the costs of attendance rising and panels increasingly difficult to plan for due to the tardy announcements of guests, the reason for attending has shifted to making it a hotspot for friends to meet up in person.
One of the nice things about Seattle this year is the renovation of several buildings around the convention center. I primarily enjoy taking photos of cosplays and holding photoshoots during Sakura-Con. With the Summit building and the US Bank Centre having some of the more modern interior design, there are now more options for taking photos than ever. Though a lot of people still go to the UW campus for photoshoots to take advantage of the numerous cherry blossoms in bloom.
Hilariously, this year felt more memorable simply because friends and I got really into mahjong. Our friend, Kingyo, was the one who actually knew how to play mahjong, had seen in the schedule that there was a mahjong freeplay room. I had expressed interest in learning mahjong, and thought this was a good opportunity to do that. All of my friends got heavily invested to the point where we downloaded Mahjong Soul that same night.
While I do wish the organization on the Press side of things were a bit more organized, I definitely was able to appreciate the con in a new way that I didn’t think I would! Sakura-Con will always be a home for me, and I’m happy to be able to share my own experience with the rest of the world!
