Thousands Attend East Meadow EmCon Convention

About 3,000 people attended East Meadow Public Library's 3rd Annual EmCon Convention this weekend.

Kelly Gordon, art director of the library and organizer of the convention, said that he was more than pleased with the turnout.

"It's been great," Gordon said. "It has been a huge turnout, people are dressed up in costumes and enjoying the day."

The event included two days of drawing, cosplay, martial arts, talks, workshops and contests. Special guests included Jen Scrimenti, Joe Liotta, Zanny Lane and Japanese pop singer Hitomi Himekawa.

Fans said that they could not get enough.

Sophia Boniello, of Williston Park, came to the convention dressed as one of her favorite anime characters, Grell Sutcliffe of "Black Butler."

"I am in the process of getting some of my anime published, so this was fun ," the 16-year-old said. "And it was free when you have to pay for most of these kind of conventions."

Ann Remigio, 19, of East Meadow was dressed as Princess Yuraka Mikoto. She said that dressing up as characters or cosplay is a great way for young people to express themselves.

"This type of thing sparks with children because it makes them feel unique and different," she said.

Gordon agreed.

"There is not much out there like this," he said. "It gives kids that are artists a place to network. It's great to see the anime culture embraced by the library."