/CGL/ Dutch thread

Changelog

2023/05/12 - Updated con list
2023/04/30 - Updated con list, added Thread OP copypasta
2023/04/17 - Updated con list
2023/01/01 - Page went live, fixed some tyop's
2022/12/17 - Made this page

Table of contents:

2023 Convention agenda

This convention agenda focuses on Dutch events but includes some of the more popular foreign events with the Dutch community. Markets/fairs and gatherings are excluded from the list to help me keep my sanity. If you're interested in those, I suggest checking the Sushi Times who keep track of Japan/anime related events. There's also FanCons.com which tries to keep track of conventions worldwide and offers search filters for genres and regions. Note, not all conventions are present on their site.

Q1: Jan - March
Date Convention Info
3-5 March 🇧🇪 Heroes MIA A popular commercial anime convention in Brussels.
Q2: April - June
Date Convention Info
1-2 April 🇧🇪 FACTS A popular commercial geek convention in Ghent.
15-16 April 🇳🇱 TomoCon A smaller cheap anime convention in Berghem, especially popular with younger visitors.
22-23 April 🇳🇱 Elfia Haarzuilens A large popular outdoor fantasy event in Haarzuilens.
22-23 April 🇳🇱 Comic Con Holland A comic con in Den Bosch, organised by the people from Comic Con Brussels.
6-7 May 🇳🇱 MIA NL A popular commercial anime convention in Gorinchem.
21-21 May 🇧🇪 Comic Con Brussels A large commercial geek convention in Brussels.
9-11 June 🇳🇱 Animecon The oldest anime convention of the Netherlands, hosted in Rijswijk. Recently restructured after a big oopsie and started to appeal more to comic con crowds with large halls.
24-25 June 🇳🇱 Heroes DCC The largest commercial geek convention with a focus on dealers. Bootlegs are a common sight. The cosplay competition offers the best prices of all Dutch conventions.
30 June - 2 July 🇩🇪 Dokomi DE A large popular anime convention in Dusseldorf which attracts visitors from all over Europe.
Q3: July - September
Date Convention Info
30 June - 2 July 🇩🇪 Dokomi DE A large popular anime convention in Dusseldorf which attracts visitors from all over Europe.
8-9 July 🇧🇪 Atsusacon Belgium's largest anime convention... I think?
8-9 July 🇳🇱 El Mundo Fantasia Fantasy event in Mondo Verde, Landgraaf
3-6 August 🇳🇱 Castlefest A(nother) large popular outdoor fantasy event in Haarzuilens with tons of great food.
11-13 August 🇳🇱 Abunai! The second oldest and probably now largest anime convention of the Netherlands, hosted in Veldhoven. There's a heavy focus on content and night programming for the party people.
12-13 August 🇳🇱 Showmasters Comic Con Amsterdam A geek convention in Amsterdam with a poor repuation and the tendency to postpone or cancel last minute.
25-27 August 🇳🇱 Viencon A weekend at Center Parks Limburgse Peel with your friends, where half your neighbors are weebs.
16-17 September 🇳🇱 Elfia Arcen A large popular outdoor fantasy event in Arcen.
22 - 23 September 🇧🇪 Heroes MIA A popular commercial anime convention in Brussels.
Q4: October - December
Date Convention Info
7-8 October 🇳🇱 Gameforce A new gaming festival to replace Firstlook
21-22 October 🇧🇪 FACTS A popular commercial geek convention in Ghent.
18-19 Nov 🇳🇱 Heroes DCC The largest commercial geek convention with a focus on dealers. Bootlegs are a common sight. The cosplay competition offers the best prices of all Dutch conventions.
Events still without a date

I need help picking a convention that suits me

I want lots of quality content to do I want to cosplay and/or compete in competitions
For anime fans I can recommend Abunai! and Animecon (classic). They have the largest focus on content and most of it will be included with your entry ticket or requires a cheap additional event ticket. Sadly, geek and fantasy events cater more towards merch and ambience. Beginning cosplayers can pretty much visit any convention they want but Abunai! is known for beginner friendly competitions and lectures. If instead of a competition you want to participate in a catwalk you can find those at most conventions including Abunai!, Animecon, TomoCon, Nishicon and Heroes Dutch Comic Con. Experienced cosplayers looking for serious competition or price money are better off at Animecon and Heroes Dutch Comic Con.
I just want to hang with friends I want to buy merch
Hanging with friends is something you can do at any convention. If you're looking for something cheap TomoCon and the many TomoFairs will be perfect to hang and entertain each other. Heroes Dutch Comic Con usually has a lot of geek culture fandom/cosplay meetups. Anime fans are best off at Animecon (Regular) which has the largest dealer room. Heroes MIA and TomoFair also offer plenty of dealers which is great if you aren't looking for anything specific. If you are looking for artists Abunai! is definitely the place to go with their large artist alley. Geeks are best off at Heroes Dutch Comic Con, but beware of bootlegs. Fantasy fans are best off at Castlefest and Elfia.

General advice for visiting (Dutch) conventions

  • For foreigners... Conventions are typically hosted in English and have plenty of English speaking volunteers available. French and German are often also taught to those in high school, but don't expect any "proper conversations" from the average Henk. The public transport system is extremely reliable in the Netherlands, fully integrated with Google Maps and requires the use of loose tickets or a OV Chipkaart. Our infrastructure is also friendly towards cyclists and those walking. And finally, if you walk on the red bicycle paths we will run you over to colour the path a deeper shade of red with your blood.
  • Buy your tickets early. Not only do most conventions offer a discount for early buyers, it also helps them out massively with some much needed early cash flow.
  • Check the convention hotel situation! Some conventions take place inside a hotel or congress center, which has their rooms only available through special sign-up pages or packages. Typically these pages will open to everyone on a specific date and time resulting in what is often referred to as the Hunger Games.
  • Book hotel rooms early if possible and share your room if possible to save on costs. If you want to stay at another hotel or there is no special sign-up in place, you do well in booking early. Aside from the obvious early booking discount, a lot of hotels will significantly raise room prices the moment they find out a large event will be held near them. Keep an eye out for announcements or leaks and book the moment you find out. Most hotels have an option where you can cancel free of charge and don't pay for your room until you arrive anyway, so cost or wrong information shouldn't be an issue.
  • Always check convention rules and regulations, especially if cosplaying! Every event has their own set of rules. In general items containing metal/iron will not be allowed, weapons need to follow weapon laws (more info here) and NERF guns will need to have their trigger made unusable. Some conventions will also not allow you bring in your own drinks or food, large bags or recreational nuclear weapons.
  • Stay hydrated!!! *This bullet point is brought to you by HydroHomies
  • Convention crew and volunteers are there to help you! If you run into any unacceptable behaviour, unsafe situations, bootlegs or think you or someone around you is in need of help, you can always approach them and ask for help or report your findings.
  • Bring a small EDC kit along. Powerbank, pain killers, medication, emergency sewing supply, tube of superglue and such are items you can easily fit in your pocket or a small pouch and will save your ass when in a pinch.

Dutch Gulls Discord things

We have a Discord server (invite here) which is open to anyone to join. However keep in mind 4chan isn't Discord and vice versa. We like to keep things comfy in our little hangout and access to the Discord is a privilege, not a right. Behaving like a toxic prick, sad little manchild, harassing or targeting members among other things will get you banned. Ban appeals can be performed by email, ban evasion will result in a permaban.

Contacting OP

You can email me at dutchthreadop [apenlul] gmail.com.

What happened to the old duthgulls.nl website?

I used to run multiple websites on the same hosting package which I got for my private website and email. This meant for each additional site I wanted to add I only had to pay for the domain name. Sadly, the hosting company doubled their prices and changed policies and effective January 1st 2023 requires separate hosting packages for each site. The cost this would add even when moving hosts combined with the drop in use of the site and loss of motivation to keep it updated lead me to decide to cancel it. 2016-2022, it was fun while it lasted!

I did download a backup of the site and databases and also had the Internet Archive make one final snapshot before I took the site offline. This snapshot can be found at https://web.archive.org/web/20221215132318/https://dutchgulls.nl/

Thread OP copypasta

⎗
✓
Previous thread: >>[thread_id]
>[Recap items go here]

Upcoming Major Events:
>[next 6 events go here]
Full calendar: https://rentry.org/cgldutchthread#2023-convention-agenda

Links and Advice:
>POSTS MADE IN DUTCH ARE AGAINST SITE-WIDE RULES AND WILL BE DELETED!
>[random /cgl/ unrelated advice]
>Rentry guide to Dutch conventions, calander and such: https://rentry.org/cgldutchthread
>Comfy Discord: https://discord.gg/QAYNyfY
Edit
Pub: 17 Dec 2022 15:56 UTC
Edit: 12 May 2023 12:39 UTC
Views: 2533