The Cosplay Community in Lebanon: A Growing Subculture

The last thing we expected was to find a cosplay community in Lebanon. Not that it was surprising, but we didn’t expect it to be this big.

What is ‘cosplaying’?

For those who don’t know, cosplaying is basically when you dress up as your favorite character from a movie, book, or video game. It’s kind of like Halloween, except it doesn’t have a specific day in the year.

The community here in Lebanon works hand in hand with the anime community, and most people here tend to cosplay anime characters. Or even a few characters from games like Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, Final Fantasy, Souls games, League of Legends…the list goes on.

Yes, it sounds pretty nerdy. This subculture has been around for a while, but it’s now at its peak. And it just keeps getting more and more popular as anime becomes more mainstream.

Though cosplayers can purchase their cosplays, a lot of the cosplayers in the community actually make their own from scratch. That means buying materials, finding the right fabrics, sewing up their outfits…which takes weeks, if not MONTHS, of hard work.

Cosplaying is more than just ‘playing dress up’ and it’s considered more of a performance art than just wearing ‘costumes’.

How active is the community in Lebanon?

There are actually anime conventions that take place a few times a year! And people show up in some of the most impressive cosplays we’ve ever seen. Kaliko is the community behind the conventions that take place a couple of times a year – and there’s actually one coming up on August 18, 2024!

And these conventions aren’t just lowkey things. They’re all-day festivals that are planned months in advance, featuring Japanese food stands, anime merchandise, fun games, and cosplay competitions with a panel of judges.

The last festival took place in April at the Rachid Karame International Fair in Tripoli. The upcoming festival is going to take place at River Box Studios in Sin El Fil, so buy your tickets now if you plan on learning more about this cool subculture!

Another cool thing you learned about Lebanon. You’re welcome.

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