User:Kivinidze/sandbox

Who We Are
"AVA Expo" (or "Any Visiual Art Exposition") is contemparery geek convention, the longest-running comic book/speculative fiction/pop culture convention in Saint-Petersburg. It was started by cosplayer Marina Seveleva in 2007 in the traditional House of Culture with classic stage anime program. During 11 years the festival has changed a lot of location. The idea was to surprise an audience every time!

Why AVA Expo?
Of course, when AVAExpo started to grow the name of the festival was changing and motto, too. Over the course of its history, the convention has been known as AniFest (since 2007 for 2009), Victory (since 2009 for 2012). In 2012, the name "AVA Expo" was revived by Marina Seveleva for a show scheduled for November 22, 2012. AVAExpo has continued yearly since then, the latest show November 24-25, 2018 & now the main goal of our festival is to develop the culture of cosplay in Russia.

AVA Expo Contains:
Though it primarily focuses on cosplay contest where the winner will go to Europe Festival "GamesCon" also on comic books, the convention features a large range of pop culture elements, such as books, geek stands with different kind of geek universes, science fiction/fantasy, television, animation, anime, manga, toys, horror, collectible card games, video games, webcomics, and fantasy novels. Along with panels, seminars, and workshops with cosplay, comic book, gamers, blogers professionals.

The convention regularly hosts russian and foreign artists, exhibitors, cosplayers, film and television personalities in special panels. The show includes an autograph and photo opportunities with all of the guests, as well as the Artists' Alley where comics artists can sign autographs and sell or do free sketches.