A Gathering of Fans in Riga
Unicon 2025 took place on August 15–17 at Riga’s Kipsala Exhibition Center, stretching into a full three-day format for the first time. More days meant more cosplay, more meetups, and, honestly, more exhaustion — but in the best way possible.
This write-up is a bit late, and for good reason. Sorting through thousands of photos to pick the best ones took time, and the very next morning I was already on a plane to Germany for a week of press tour at Devcom and Gamescom 2025. But better late than never — and Unicon deserves its own spotlight, right alongside last year’s Unicon 2024 gallery.
Table of Contents
Scroll to the end for the full gallery — it’s a big one.
Anime, Cosplay, and… More Cosplay
Let’s be honest here: Unicon is about anime and cosplay first, everything else second. I’d say 70–75% of the con revolves around it, and that’s exactly why people show up. This year’s cosplay program went absolutely wild: six contest sections, one budget cosplay block, and two masquerades. Do the math — that’s over nine hours of stage time!
Masquerade, if you’re new to the term, is basically “jump on stage with your costume and wing it.” No script, no stress, just vibes. And it’s great to see first-timers grab a moment in the spotlight. Still, the main show is where the magic happens — props, soundtracks, group routines. Some of them looked straight-up professional theater.
The highlight for me this year? A series based on Epic: The Musical. Emotional, well-choreographed, and very believable. Performances like that raise the bar and make you forget the days when “cosplay performance” meant jogging in circles around the stage.
Scream Zone, AKA K-pop Arena
If you’ve ever been near the K-pop stage, you know exactly what I’m about to say: the fans are louder than the sound system. A single opening note and suddenly the hall erupts — hundreds of voices, mostly teenage girls, screaming with the kind of energy you’d expect at a stadium concert, not a convention side stage.
What makes it even more impressive is how international it feels. Dance schools and collectives arrive not just from across Latvia, but also from Lithuania, Estonia, and even Poland, turning the arena into a mini European showcase of choreography. Groups spend months preparing routines, and the mix of polished team dances with raw solo acts keeps the crowd hooked from start to finish.
Why is K-pop so big here? Part of it is timing: in the Baltics, the “anime boom” of the early 2000s created a generation used to looking East for culture. By the 2010s, K-pop rode that same wave, with YouTube breaking down borders and social media fandoms building communities across small countries. Add in the fact that many local schools embraced K-pop dance as both fitness and performance, and it snowballed into one of the loudest, most passionate corners of every Unicon.
Cheerful, chaotic, and maybe a little terrifying if you wander in unprepared — but it’s impossible not to get swept up in the energy. Even I fell for that charm: without noticing, I started tapping my leg to the rhythm, and the result was a dozen ruined shots, all blurred to the beat ^_^
Beyond the Stages
Unicon doesn’t stop at cosplay and K-pop. Across the weekend, more than ten zones ran in parallel, each with its own energy. The presentation stage offered workshops ranging from resin casting and cosplay armor building to lifestyle topics like managing procrastination or even voice acting tips. Right next to it, the dance zone turned into a freestyle arena where rival groups and solo performers from the K-pop stage casually switched gears — sometimes collaborating, sometimes competing again, but always drawing a crowd.
Gamers had their share too, with esports and fighting tournaments in Tekken, Mortal Kombat, and mobile titles, complete with real prizes. And for those who prefer dice over joysticks, the tabletop RPG corner was in full swing. More than 15 one-shots were run by pro game masters, showing just how far the hobby has come. Forget my early-2000s pen-and-paper memories — now it’s apps for stats, 3D-printed dungeons, and even giant screens doubling as interactive maps.
Meanwhile, fandom meetups kept the halls buzzing. From Identity V and Chainsaw Man to Hazbin Hotel and Epic: The Musical, there was always a cluster of fans gathered to trade ideas, share art, or just celebrate together.
Lights, Cameras, Cat Ears
This year the photo zone hosted three photographers — Dizzymonogatari, N8e, and Koyo — who ran it across all three days, so cosplayers didn’t have to rely on random hallway lighting. The result? Pro-grade shots of everything from giant armor builds to simple cat-ear headbands (which, by the way, half the attendees wore — it’s practically a uniform at this point).
As for me, I decided to skip the usual hallway photo-ganking this year. The venue lights are so flat and dim that even a flashlight can’t save the shots in such a huge open space. Instead, I focused on stage performances and went for more dramatic angles — and I actually managed to get a few good ones.
Never a Dull Moment
When the main stages got too loud or crowded, there was still plenty to do. A huge slice of the hall was once again taken over by Artists’ Alley, where you could wander between rows of prints, stickers, crochet plushies, neon gadgets, 3D models, and everything in between. It’s not just about shopping — it’s about chatting with the creators, getting something signed, or following their Instagram after a long geeky talk. Way more personal than clicking “add to cart” online.
The markets and merch zones kept their usual mix: flea market stalls, the glowing night market, manga, books, LEGO builds, and snacks ranging from exotic sweets to comfort food. Meanwhile, scattered around the venue were all sorts of side activities to fight off boredom: retro LAN PCs for a hit of nostalgia, trading card tournaments, lightsaber fencing, and even kendo.
All in all, more than fifty little attractions were running alongside the main program. You could fill an entire day just exploring these corners — proof that Unicon’s quieter traditions still have plenty of life left in them.
And if you feel like you missed out this time, fear not — the next big gathering is coming soon. Wintercon 2026 (official site) will land in Riga this January, bringing the same mix of cosplay, crafts, and chaos, only in a cozier winter setting. Let’s meet there — and if you’re going, drop me a message.
Unicon 2025 Photo Gallery
Instead of another thousand words, I’ll let the photos do the talking. Below you’ll find 150 shots of cosplay, crafts, fandom meetups, and all the Unicon energy packed into three days.
If you spot yourself in the gallery, drop me a message — I’ll gladly share a full-quality version without watermarks so you can print it or keep it as a memory. And if you recognize a cosplayer or character I couldn’t identify, leave a comment. I’ll update captions so they credit the right people.
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