AYACON TRANSFORMS WARWICK CONFERENCES INTO

THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN

Fans from all corners of the world gathered at Warwick Conferences over the weekend for one of the UK’s largest celebrations of Japanese culture.  

More than 1,200 colourfully dressed enthusiasts paid tribute to Japanese comic book, animation and pop music characters to celebrate the sixth Ayacon festival at the conference and events arm of the University of Warwick.

Activities included an introduction to the Kimono, Taiko drumming workshops and the extravagant masquerade, which brought a fitting climax to the spectacle at Warwick Conferences’ flagship Butterworth Hall venue, with attendees donning make-up, wigs and an outlandish array of costumes to replicate their Japanese cult heroes.

Commenting on the event, Peter Chan of the Ayacon organising team, said: “The Ayacon brand was launched in 1998 and has seen massive expansion since then. This brings with it a need to accommodate vastly more people as well as a requirement for additional venues to host a growing and diverse list of activities.

 “However, Warwick Conferences never fails to cater perfectly for our growing success and its excellent location in the heart of the UK has made it easy for all attendees, who have travelled from far and wide to be at Ayacon 2009.”

 In addition to use of its conference facilities, Warwick Conferences was also able to accommodate Samurai Warriors as well as iconic anime characters, including Princess Mononoke and Kenshin, within its 900 rooms on campus to Ayacon guests. In keeping with the far eastern theme, the venue’s chefs also brought a taste of Tokyo to attendees by specially preparing a selection of tasty Asian delicacies.

 Rachael Bartlett, head of sales and marketing at Warwick Conferences, said: “We’ve worked with Ayacon for several years and we always challenge ourselves of improving the client experience at each subsequent event.

 “Enhanced facilities like the recently refurbished Butterworth Hall and our award winning catering all adds to the extensive offering we can provide to our clients and the success of this year’s event pays testament to the hard of all Warwick Conferences’ staff.”

 For more information about events taking place at Warwick Conferences, please visit www.warwickconferences.com.