Aside from the Bristol Comic Con, my hometown of Bristol does not feature heavily in the anime calendar (well, the British premiere of Akira was held here but that was ages ago!) so it was a welcome change to attend an event which I didn't have to travel for over two hours to get to.  The event in question was a party entitled Bristol Cosplay Night run by the Bristol Anime Club (BAC) and was held on 24th January 2008. 

This would be a challenging event for BAC to run.  Cosplay parties, which basically involve drinking and dancing in cosplay, only really occur at anime conventions since there is a guaranteed high number of anime fans at such events.  This would not be the case with the Bristol Cosplay Night as only the core members of the BAC would be guaranteed to attend.  To be successful, and break even, newcomers would have to attend the event. 

Held in The Cavern Club, the basement of The Crown pub in Bristol, it was a good sized venue with a dancefloor, bar, seating and TVs screening anime.  Everything was set for a good night. 

Being an anime event in my hometown I wanted to cover this and interview several attendees and conduct video vox pops.  My aim was to do this in a serious journalist manner, keeping my composure whilst everyone around me was getting drunk.  Then I started drinking Jagermeister - oops. 

Fuelled by the rock tipple of choice I got into full party swing and chatting to cosplayers or just as, if not more so, drunk then I was.  Talking to Scorpion & Sub-Zero after I had drunk a few whilst the theme from Transformers: The Movie was playing was a highlight of the night for me.  Fans were getting together and having a great laugh, be they in cosplay or not.  By the time the night was in full swing at least 30 people has

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shown up and everyone was enjoying themselves.  With no teenage Narutards to worry about, no hardcore con-goers moaning that cosplayers weren't posing well enough for pictures and no overpriced drinks, there was nothing that could stop everyone's fun!  
 

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As far as I can remember the night was one of the best nights out in Bristol I have ever had (I think *rubs head*)!  Although you could argue that dressing up is commonplace in city centres due to hen nights and charity events, the difference with Bristol Cosplay Night is a) the costumes were actually good and b) it was easy to chat to everyone who attended and just have a laugh.  On top of that the music played was top-notch as well with latest themes such as Bleach, older ones such as Love Hina and even a bit of randomness with Streets Of Rage, there was music for everyone.

Over the page I talk to Michael Hirst, founder of BAC on his thoughts of how BCN went.