LunaCon IV brings Japanese culture to Syracuse

With an array of vendors, cosplayers, contests, gaming tournaments and cats to hang out with, LunaCon IV returned to Syracuse on Saturday with a bang. The Japanese cultural festival was the largest convention that Josh Davis, owner of Luna Cat Cafe, has ever planned and hosted. 

The convention started four years ago as a small event with only five vendors and specialized items. Davis said the following year, the convention expanded into the neighboring space and has been growing ever since.

Bringing in new guests, cooking up unique food and introducing a new arcade room known as  Boba-Cade, Davis has done lots of promotion and advertising for the event. 

“We doubled the vendor amount, doubled the guests we’ve had,” Davis said. “Last year and then this year, we’ve taken over the parking lot.” 

These activities are new additions to the Luna Cat Cafe’s business expansion. The cafe’s cat room was also moved and expanded so guests can now meet and apply to adopt the cats in a larger space.

Photo by Andrea Jacob

Vendors and artists set up tables within the Luna Cat Cafe and in the neighboring parking lot during LunaCon IV on Saturday.

Photo by Andrea Jacob

Alongside food and drink from the cafe, customers could buy trinkets, jewelry, stickers, art and other handmade goods.

Businesses such as The Gilded Dragon, Nerdy Oddities and Starry Crow were at the convention, showcasing and selling their products like keychains, jewelry and original art.

For local vendors like Sophie LeComte and Zachary Price, who own Sprinkle and Stitch, this was their first LunaCon. Pop culture inspired keychains, hair clips, earrings and brightly colored 3D printed cake boxes lined the shelves of their booth. 

“Helping cats is a huge bonus,” LeComte said when describing what brought her to LunaCon. “It’s nice to support a local business that often gets overlooked.” 

Some avid visitors of Luna Cat Cafe made their way to the convention, inviting friends along the way. Syracuse University students Tris Armstrong and Sloan Postlewaite attended the event with hopes of finding new jewelry and pop culture merchandise.

“It looked like a nice place to be,” Armstrong said. “Lots of fun things happening and I’ve always been into helping small artists.” 

Postlewaite agreed, saying that she also supports small businesses and is a fan of anime. This was her fifth time visiting the cafe. 

“I like going and seeing vendors and maybe finding something from media I like or something that I think is relatable,” Postlewaite said.

Davis still has growing ambitions for future LunaCon events. This year’s LunaCon was the largest in the past four years, and he said he hopes to be able to close down the entirety of East Fayette Street for the convention one day.

“We’re going to continue to grow it,” he said.