| EOY Cosplay Festival | |
| Status: | Active |
| Country: | Singapore |
| First: | 1999 |
| Attendance: | 20,000+ in 2013 [1] |
| Website: | http://www.theeoy.com |
EOY Cosplay Festival is a Japanese pop-cultural arts event that is non-profit and fan-run multigenre convention featuring anime, cosplay, doujin works, subculture fashion and Japanese pop music held in Singapore. From 2012 to 2017, it was a free public event.
Its highlights include the hundreds of cosplayers who visit each year, generous opportunities for cosplay photography, guest performances by Japanese celebrities, music and dance performances by home-grown talents, artwork exhibitions and booths selling anime merchandise and personal artworks.[2]
Alongside the annual events, EOY also partners related organisations to hold periodic events and performances related to anime, cosplay and music. Notable ones include the Singapore Silver Cosplay Club cosplay competition, Walk for Our Children (Singapore Children's Society), TAO “Art of Drum”, Liang Court Anime Week, Bon Japan Theme Cafes, SGCafe Maid and Butler Cafe and Marie Digby's Your Love Asia Tour.[3] [4] [5]
EOY was first organized by Miyuki Animation Club (MAC). MAC was a then-club under Fengshan Community Centre. The Shiro Tsubasa Anime Club took over the management of the event until 2008.
From 2009, EOY has been run by EOY LLP.
In 2012, EOY made a shift from the typical paid indoor convention model to a public festival in the open that was free. EOY Cosplay Festival 2012 was held in Marina Barrage and attained a huge jump in attendance from 4000 in 2011 to over 10,000 in 2012.[6] In 2013, the attendance was doubled to 20,000.
| Year | Date | Event Theme | Venue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-2009 | NA | NA | Singapore Expo | |
| 2009 | 26 December | An Extraordinary Journey | Drama Centre, The National Library, Singapore | |
| 2010 | 12 December | Fun, Creativity and Friendship | Republic Cultural Centre, Republic Polytechnic | |
| 2011 | 17 December | A Day of Celebration | Republic Cultural Centre, Republic Polytechnic | |
| 2012 | 9 December | EOY Cosplay Festival 2012 | Marina Barrage | |
| 2013 | 15 December | EOY Cosplay Festival 2013 | Marina Barrage | |
| 2014 | 2–3 August | EOY Cosplay Festival 2014 | Marina Barrage | |
| 2015 | 15–16 August | EOY Cosplay Festival 2015 | Marina Barrage | |
| 2016 | 10–11 December | EOY Cosplay Festival 2016 | Marina Barrage | |
| 2017 | 9–10 December | EOY J-Culture Festival 2017 | Marina Barrage | |
| 2018 | 29–30 December | EOY J-Culture Festival 2018 | Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre | |
| 2019 | 28–29 December | EOY J-Culture Festival 2019 | Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre | |
| 2022 | 24–25 December | EOY J-Culture Festival 2022 | ||
| 2023 | 30–31 December | EOY J-Culture Festival 2023 |
Kyouyaku Yume is a blue-haired girl with no recollection of her identity and past. With a vaguely written clue and a turquoise pebble which she found on herself when she awoke, she goes on a journey of self-discovery.
Yume is specially created by Daiyaku, a Singapore-based art group, for EOY. She is a representation of how the artists believe that people can discover their identity, talents and purpose in life through meeting people and courage to experience new things.[7]
Aside from stage performances and cosplay photography, the festival also features other fringe activities, depending on participating sponsors and exhibitors.
Activities featured in recent years:
Yui gave two concerts; a 15-minute-long mini concert and a full-length 45-minute-long concert. Songs performed included "Fuwa Fuwa", "Amrita" and theme songs from Tsubasa Chronicle and Aria.[12] [13] [14] She also held two autograph sessions and a Q-and-A session with the audience. Prior to her appearance, she made a special comment video.[15]
Aikawa Kozue and Ikura (also known as Itokutora) gave two dancicals. They performed duets to "Luka Luka ★ Night Fever", "FirstKiss!","Gravity=Reality", "Megu Megu ☆ Fire Endless Night", "Lily Lily ★ Burning Night" and "LOL -lots of laugh-". Ikura and Aikawa Kozue each performed a solo dance to "Strobe Night" and "Teach me!! The Lyrics of Magic" respectively. They also did a mass dance with the audience to "Luka Luka ★ Night Fever", where some members of the audience were allowed to join them on stage.[16] An autograph session and a Q-and-A session with the audience were held.[17] [18] [19]
Apart from serving food in a very 'moe' way, drawing cute pictures on dishes and casting magical spells on food, Hitomi also delivers singing and dancing performances regularly at @home Cafe. She also performed a 45-minute-long song and dance performance at EOY 2011, and served lunch to the VIP ticket holders.[20]
Wata performed 2 sets of dances at the EOY Coslay Festival 2013 spanning over an approximate time of 40minutes, and a flashmob with a group of local dancers. She also held a meet-and-greet-session, where merchandise including T-shirts, towels, wristbands and phone straps were on sale.[22]
To cope with the costs of funding the event, the organising team seeks out sponsors and partners to provide financial and in-kind support. These sponsors and partners include Singapore Press Holdings, Wacom, OCBC, Bunka Language Pte. School, Pan-In-The-Box, Brigitte Cosmetics, ACS Comics, Toy Coin, Happy Ice Pte Ltd, BonJapan, Youth.SG, Sapporo Beer Singapore, Orchard Hotel Singapore, PAssion Card, Coca-Cola Singapore, Pink Blue Photography, Platiper Software, Sashing Sweets, Baby the Stars Shine Bright and Shiseido.