What is "otakon"

Otakon is an annual three day anime convention held during July/August at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland's Inner Harbor district (between 1999-2016), starting in 2017, Otakon will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. The convention focuses on East Asian popular culture (primarily anime, manga, music, and cinema) and its fandom. The name is a portmanteau derived from convention and the Japanese word otaku. Otakon is one of the longest-running Anime conventions in the United States and was previously the 2nd largest North American anime convention, until falling to 5th as of 2015.

Otakon announced that an additional new convention would be created in Las Vegas, Nevada starting in 2014. It was announced at Otakon 2013's closing ceremonies that the convention will be moving to Washington, D.C. and the Walter E. Washington Convention Center starting in 2017 and continuing until at least 2021.