Even though my first local anime con got cut in half, this library-themed gem delivered plenty of surprises—stuff I never would’ve imagined!

2026 has started with a massive bang for me! I’ve already attended a total of five anime conventions since the beginning of the year. Sadly, the weeks after Ocala Anime-Fest haven’t been kind. I missed SwampCon due to personal issues, and then I had to skip day 2 of ACEcon—even though it was my first local con. Because of this, I won’t be able to do a full review of ACEcon 2026 like I have for the previous anime cons I’ve attended. That’s a huge shame because ACEcon was so darn fun… I’m still pretty sad about missing day 2—even two weeks later. I really hope 2027 will be different.

Putting the negativity aside, my expectations for ACEcon—like all the previous anime cons—were filled with massive hype. However, due to ACEcon’s limited social media presence, this library-based Palm Harbor anime con remained a huge mystery to me. I heard very little info about it and struggled to find much general hype surrounding the event. In fact, I think ACEcon has been the least advertised con I’ve come across. Despite that, I was still excited as heck, and the lack of info only made the hype even stronger for me.

For a quick synopsis: ACEcon is a public library anime convention held in Palm Harbor, Florida. It runs for two days and is completely free to attend (admission-free con). First inaugurated in 2014, ACEcon has been going strong for over a decade and hopefully will continue for many more years. It’s another great example of an anime convention run purely by dedicated fans with the support of passionate otakus. Even though it’s a library con, it was packed with fun panels to attend. My only regret is that I could only experience one day of it. Either way, buckle up and join me on this quick recap of my time at ACEcon 2026!

Entering ACEcon, unlike most cons, I was in quite a rush—I arrived a bit later than usual due to some last-minute con crunch. In spite of it being my local con, right? Either way, another reason I was rushing was that I was already 20 minutes late to Metrocon’s anime trivia… wait, no—Metrocon is another anime con I’m fully set to attend later this year, and I can’t wait! So what better way to build some pre-hype for a bigger Florida con than hitting up the local gem, ACEcon?

I was given a ton of awesome goodies by ACEcon, and I’m so glad I now own them. They look incredible, and I proudly carry them around to show everyone that I attended such an awesome anime con!

Here’s a photo of me at the panel where Metrocon’s anime trivia was held. I had a blast! The quiz was packed with trivial facts from anime I’m both super familiar with and totally new to. I got some answers right… and plenty wrong, haha.

What I loved most was attending the con while cosplaying as Kaito from Vocaloid for the second time—this time complete with the headphones! As I mentioned before, it was so much fun, but guess what? I kept slipping up while trying to answer those tricky questions. No surprise there—this #1 self-proclaimed Akiba-kei from Florida is a bit rusty! I’ve been away from watching new anime lately, focusing instead on community events like cosplay and hitting up anime conventions. Time to dust off that drought and dive back in—I better get back into action!

As usual at most anime cons, I got to enjoy some awesome photo ops with fellow cosplayers I met at ACEcon. One standout was an incredible Edward Elric cosplay—the guy looked so awesome in it! (Fullmetal Alchemist vibes were strong that day!)

Metrocon’s anime trivia wasn’t the only panel I was looking forward to! There was another one shortly after: the Pokémon trivia game. I thought it was going to be a total walk in the park… LOL, but nope—it turned out way harder than expected!I realized the Pokémon games, movies, Pokédex entries, and some random trivia were pretty easy for me, but the anime episodes and TCG (Trading Card Game) stuff? A lot tougher than I anticipated. Nonetheless, guess what? I actually won some trivia questions—yay!!!I

t was played in Jeopardy! style, and let me tell you, I had SO much fun with it. Truly a memory I’ll cherish forever.

After finishing the Pokémon trivia game, I set out to meet new fellow cosplayers attending ACEcon. One thing I noticed right away was the abundance of cosplayers—way more than I expected! The turnout was so unexpectedly large that I gave myself a new mission: photo ops with as many as possible and getting to know them all.

It was such an awesome experience, and get this—many of these cool cosplayers I just met are also heading to Metrocon this year, which makes it even more exciting! A bunch of them were even part of the awesome panels I participated in earlier.

And that’s not all—there was AFO (Anime Festival Orlando) representation too! It’s another anime con I’m attending this year. I met up with even more great cosplayers who aren’t just going to AFO but were also involved in AFO’s panel at ACEcon. It just keeps getting better and better, huh?

Suddenly coming across this Nico sticker from Love Live! gave me a symbolic realization of just how popular anime and manga have become with the mainstream crowd nowadays. Believe me when I tell you that twelve years ago, you wouldn’t find something like this anywhere outside dedicated anime and manga spaces—especially not in a public library! My beloved passion has come such a long way, huh?

Finally, after some looking around, there was one last panel that generated massive hype and drew a huge crowd at ACEcon: “Dear Diary,” a Vtuber concert headlined by Kōri-Oujo! It featured other Vtubers performing a set list of songs, and the energy was electric. The event came with a cool flyer I received, plus dedicated cover art and a standee setup—obviously, I was super excited, and so was everyone around me!

I’ll be honest: I don’t have deep knowledge about Vtubers or how the whole scene works. I know a few, but I haven’t invested much time diving deeper into it. That’s definitely something I’ll need to work on!

The concert itself was so much fun. All the Vtubers sang amazingly, and I loved the song choices—especially the Cardcaptor Sakura one! The tempo and atmosphere in the room were incredible, with tons of people waving glow sticks like true wota-ota fans. It ran for a full two hours, and I recorded a bunch of footage. To catch the rest (or relive the vibes), check out my Instagram highlights for ACEcon 2026!

Sadly, this is where my journey at ACEcon comes to an end. I was so ready for day two, but due to personal issues, I wasn’t able to attend. Can you believe it? I couldn’t even make it to day two of my own local anime con? This feels so unfair.

First SwampCon completely slipped away from me, and now day two of ACEcon too. Sigh… it really sucked. You have no idea how destroyed and devastated I felt when I realized I couldn’t go. I was SO heartbroken—I couldn’t believe my final two anime cons of the winter season were ending like this.

After such an amazing back-to-back start to the year, it all wrapped up so abruptly with missing SwampCon and then day two of ACEcon. I seriously hope this kind of thing doesn’t happen for any of the other cons I’ll be attending in 2026.

Aside from that, there you have it, my fellow otakus! That was my time at ACEcon day 1. Sadly, I can’t give a full verdict or complete review of ACEcon because missing day 2 ultimately prevented me from experiencing the whole event.

Either way, ACEcon 2026 wasn’t just amazing—it was beyond my expectations. I went in already hyped, and the hype proved perfectly true. It was packed with an incredible community, fun programming full of panels to participate in, and such a cozy, comforting vibe. Not to mention the huge number of cosplayers I met—many of whom are also heading to Metrocon and AFO this year!I enjoyed my time there so much, and the VTuber concert was truly the icing on the cake. I loved ACEcon, and I know that if I’d made day 2, it might have been my #1 con of the year so far.

Not only that, but I won’t forget those awesome memories, and I sincerely hope to attend next year!

Thank you SO much ACEcon, and, once again, I would like to say thank you to Palm Harbor Library as well for this amazing experience! I hope to return the next year!

Thank you for reading my article! Did you attend ACEcon 2026 this year? Did you happen to encounter me by accident without knowing it? How was your time at the con? Let me know in the comments!

Rank: A-rank

“Florida’s #1 Akiba-Kei!”