Hey, have you ever heard of AniNite?

This is the largest fan convention for Japanese youth and popular culture in Austria. Every year, the AniManga association invites all anime and manga fans to celebrate a colorful festival among friends. But how was the idea for AniNite born?

It all began in 2001, when around 70 friends met for the first AniNite on a small scale to watch a few Japanese films and play video games together. By the following year, there was a second screening room and the number of visitors had more than doubled. In 2003, the first “Austrian Otaku of the year” competition took place and 900 people took part in the small event – organized by fans for fans.

All of this took place under the auspices of the non-profit association “AniManga Austria – Arbeitskreis japanische Jugendkultur”, which aims to promote Japanese youth and popular culture in Austria and break down prejudices against foreign cultures. The project began in 2000 with the online portal AniManga, which was expanded a year later to include the AnimeBoard forum.

In the same year, we again managed to increase the number of visitors and expand the program, offering an exciting and culturally valuable event for Japan enthusiasts. In 2011, we managed to present Japanese star guests to our visitors for the first time.

In 2011, more than 7,000 fans of Japanese culture found their way to AniNite. More and more visitors also came from neighboring Austrian countries, making AniNite even more diverse, colorful and exciting!

In 2013, AniNite was held outside Vienna for the first time. AniNite 2013 took place in the Multiversum Schwechat (near Vienna) with over 10,000 visitors. This event set new standards in terms of quality and visitor numbers for an anime convention in Austria. Never before had we received so much positive feedback from our visitors. For the first time this year, there was also room for a show group at AniNite, as well as several Japanese and German guests of honor from the anime and manga faction.

With 14,000 visitors, AniNite 2014 once again broke the previous year’s record. In addition to interesting lectures on Japan, anime and much more, numerous artists also delighted the participants with their works.

Over 19,000 fans of Japanese youth culture celebrated their favorite characters from anime and manga together at AniNite 2015. Japanese star guests, the Cosplay World Masters, an evening concert and much more filled the halls of the Multiversum to capacity.

In 2016 we broke the boundaries of the Multiverse with 20,000 visitors, even with a new room concept we could no longer cope with the crowds and so a new chapter in the history of AniNite began.

In 2017, the event moved to Metastadt Vienna and set another attendance record with almost 24,000 visitors over three days. The change of location did not go entirely smoothly, so the team was all the more motivated to put on a great convention in 2018. And it worked, despite some very rainy weather. With a steady stream of visitors and a large fireworks display on Friday, new standards were once again set.

The next big step was on the agenda for 2019. We moved on to Lower Austria, more precisely to the idyllic town of Ebreichsdorf. There, we were able to transform the Magna Racino into the Manga Racino in 2019 and organize a weekend-long event unlike anything this location has ever seen. There was also a novelty at the AniNite with the in-house after-con party on the grounds.

In 2020, the corona pandemic made a physical convention impossible. Instead, a varied program was presented over 3 days via Twitch.

Another change took place in 2021. We moved to the Pyramide event hotel in Vösendorf. This was the first time since 2002 that it was possible to “stay overnight at the location”, albeit with a few more amenities such as a warm bed, breakfast and the standards of a hotel.

We have been at the Austria Center Vienna since 2023 and offer the community a diverse program on several floors.

We are already looking forward to many great program items and ideas this year.

All of this is only possible thanks to the great cooperation of the project team and the more than 250 volunteers who support the event free of charge every year. Another big thank you goes to all the speakers, workshop leaders and partners.

The entire AniNite crew would be delighted if you could join them in 2025!