AnimeCon UK will make its London debut at Olympia on 3–4 October 2026, taking over the Grand Hall for two days of anime, manga, cosplay, live performances, guest appearances and independent art. The event arrives as one of the first major public conventions following Olympia's £1.3bn transformation. The current AnimeCon programme advertises more than 250 artists and vendors, and among the independent creators listed for London is Vamp The Lost Soul, the dark-fantasy manga project created by British writer and illustrator James Raven.
James Raven with original artwork from his independently created Vamp: The Lost Soul series. Photograph supplied by James Raven.
| AnimeCon London 2026 | Details |
|---|---|
| Dates | Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October 2026 |
| Venue | Grand Hall, Olympia London, Hammersmith Road, W14 8UX |
| Saturday | VIP 09:30; general admission 10:00–18:00 |
| Sunday | VIP 09:30; general admission 10:00–17:00 |
| Tickets | Advertised from £25 |
| Nearest station | Kensington (Olympia) |
AnimeCon Makes Its London Debut at Olympia
Olympia's official AnimeCon listing confirms the event will run from 10:00 to 18:00 on Saturday and 10:00 to 17:00 on Sunday, with VIP admission beginning at 09:30 on both days. Tickets are currently advertised from £25. The programme combines voice actors, J-Pop and K-Pop, cosplay, shopping and live activity with a large Artist Alley for illustrators, designers, makers and independent creators. Olympia currently names guests including Justin Briner, Jason Liebrecht and Elizabeth Maxwell.
AnimeCon's London arrival also gives the recently redeveloped venue another large-scale public event. London Construction Magazine has previously tracked the £1.3bn transformation of Olympia London, which combines its historic exhibition halls with new entertainment, hospitality, office and event facilities. Olympia announced the AnimeCon deal in April, saying the event would occupy the Grand Hall and include more than 200 pop-culture vendors alongside Artist Alley. The current AnimeCon London exhibitor list now advertises more than 250 artists and vendors.
Behind the Tables: Independent Creators at AnimeCon
The large guest names and cosplay programme will attract much of the attention, but Artist Alley provides a different side of the convention: creators presenting work that they have written, illustrated, printed and promoted themselves. One name confirmed on the current exhibitor list is Vamp The Lost Soul. Its creator, James Raven, has spent years developing the project independently and spoke directly to London Construction Magazine ahead of AnimeCon London about where the story came from.
James Raven: “You Could Say My Book Originally Came From a Failure”
Raven's story did not start with a publisher, a convention stand or a finished graphic novel. He told LCM that he began creating comics when he was around 13, initially imagining a more traditional fantasy manga.
The first version did not work.
James Raven told London Construction Magazine: “The first project failed because I couldn't really think of a good way to write or start the story. Then I looked at my protagonist and antagonist and thought, ‘What if the roles flipped?’” That question changed the direction of the project. Instead of abandoning it, Raven moved away from the original concept and began developing a modern-day supernatural setting with dark-fantasy elements.
“The world of Vamp: The Lost Soul has dark-fantasy elements, but there's also this idea that the truth is more than it seems, almost a secret-history sort of vibe,” he said. “You've got vampires, werewolves, ghouls and all of that existing within the world.” Raven later encountered Hellsing, the manga created by Kohta Hirano, which he identifies as an important influence on the direction of his own work.
The result became Vamp: The Lost Soul. Raven's official project website now records that the independently produced series has reached Volume 5, while physical editions are also offered through his Mixam print-on-demand store. His summary of the project's origin is considerably less polished than the usual creator biography, and more revealing because of it.
From Teenage Idea to Self-Publishing
Raven told LCM that he continued developing the idea through his teenage years and first self-published at around the age of 20, taking the project to MCM Comic Con. That makes his presence at AnimeCon London part of a much longer independent publishing process rather than a one-off convention appearance. The series has developed from an abandoned early concept into a multi-volume project that Raven continues to write, illustrate and promote himself.
For visitors, that is also one reason Artist Alley differs from the conventional retail areas of a large exhibition. Buyers can meet the individual who created the characters and story, ask how the work was made and purchase directly from the person responsible for it. AnimeCon's own exhibitor directory independently confirms Vamp The Lost Soul among the artists and vendors currently scheduled for the London event. Readers wanting to explore Raven's work before the convention can find his books and creator links through the project's official channels.
Holographic character cards featuring original artwork from James Raven's Vamp: The Lost Soul series. Artwork supplied by James Raven.
Independent Creation Is Getting Harder to Sustain
For Raven, creating the work is only part of the challenge. Exhibiting independently means making increasingly careful decisions about which conventions are financially viable. “Costs have been quite high lately,” he told LCM, explaining that he now has to be more selective about events and consider whether a convention can recover the cost of taking a table. Yet he still sees physical events as essential.
In a social-media environment he describes as increasingly crowded (including by generative AI imagery) conventions allow an independent artist to put a real person behind original work, meet readers and build an audience directly. AnimeCon London therefore carries particular significance: Raven describes it as his first return to a major London venue since MCM Comic Con, following several years exhibiting mainly in Birmingham.
He is also continuing to invest in the project itself, developing new foil prints and substantially rebuilding Volume 1 from its original 180 pages to an anticipated 240–260 pages, with additional chapters and artwork reflecting how his style has developed. Beyond London, he says he is considering Dokomi in Germany, one of Europe's major anime and manga conventions. For a project that began with a failed teenage story, the ambition is clearly still growing, even as the economics of remaining independent become harder.
Getting to AnimeCon London at Olympia
Olympia is at Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UX. Olympia's current travel guidance identifies Kensington (Olympia) as the nearest station, immediately beside the venue, served by the London Overground Mildmay line and Southern services.
West Kensington is around a 12-minute walk, Barons Court around nine minutes and Hammersmith around 15 minutes on foot. Olympia currently advises that the westbound platform at Barons Court is closed for essential maintenance, so visitors travelling from that direction should check the latest TfL information before setting out.
Parking around Olympia is heavily restricted. The venue currently offers event parking only for Blue Badge holders attending the Grand Hall and other heritage halls, subject to advance booking, making public transport the practical option for most visitors.
AnimeCon London 2026: What Happens Next
AnimeCon London opens at Olympia at 10:00 on Saturday 3 October, with VIP entry from 09:30. The published artist and vendor list already includes Vamp The Lost Soul, while event programming and individual appearances remain subject to the organiser's final schedule. For James Raven, the weekend brings a project that began with an unsuccessful teenage story into one of London's largest exhibition halls. For visitors who move beyond the headline guests and into Artist Alley, it also offers the chance to meet the people still building their own worlds one page, print and convention table at a time.
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Expert Verification & Authorship: Mihai Chelmus Founder & Editor, London Construction Magazine | Construction Testing & Investigation Specialist |