Sugoi Saturday is a platform for small businesses to reach new audiences while bringing the community together. It started back in 2017. This year it was located at the OC fair grounds instead of the Honda Center. The event was free, and I attended on Saturday December 10th.
Atmosphere
There were a lot of guests. Tons of vendors selling anime themed merchandise were set up throughout the lot. Some of the notable vendors were lovelytimeart, goozeepins, tsunderesharks (Annie), zukarishop, and kinokovi. The one that really stood out to me though was mtsugarr. They are one of the nicest people I met at the event, and all their art was absolutely adorable. I previously saw them at Anime Pasadena, and both times I’ve had a really good experience with them. There were also a lot of really cool cosplayers from all kinds of anime and games. Some of the vendors also wore cosplay which really brought the whole event together.
The Vendor Experience
After interviewing some of the vendors and attendees, the general consensus is that the event was very organized and easy to navigate. Though the vendors did mention they did have to pay for parking. The vendors also mentioned that they had a much easier time finding their stations here because they were clearly labeled so setting up was easy. This event seemed very first time vendor friendly since it’s so organized and enough people to get some recognition. The prices for the stalls themselves varied, like any other con.
Overall
Overall the whole event was very fun and had a nice group of attendees there. It was really cool to be able to interact with the artists and get to know them. Usually at cons in general it is harder to get to know the artist and talk to them. They can be a bit hectic since it’s so crammed and there are so many different things going on. Since this was an event tailored to artists I really enjoyed being introduced to some new ones I hadn’t seen before. I hope they have more events similar to that again.
This event gets a 9/10.
I only gave it a 9 because it was a bit difficult to find since it was right next to Winterfest and the sign showing Sugoi Sunday was further down in the entrance where it was harder to see. Other than that the event was one of the better ones this year.
