Kawacon 2026 + July 4th weekend
My first convention/market for the summer (Kawacon) happened over the July 4th weekend.
Conventions lining up with holidays could be a hit or miss thing - unfortunately this time around it was a bit of a miss. It’s not really the convention’s fault - they’ve been given a set of strange dates as they try to secure a more permanent date line-up.
At some point I also decided that this would also be a vacation type of event, so I made sure to enjoy my breakfasts & dinners at my leisure. I think this was the first time I had some true solo dining experiences multiple days in a row - it was really nice and relaxing to go at my own pace.
For fun and a general Texan meme, I of course had to go to the Alamo and have my oshi Remember it, ha ha ha. Also my hotel was right beside Alamo plaza.
Took some building photos as well!! It was pretty humid one the days and my camera was foggy - I liked this dreamy glow?? The atmosphere makes me want to draw something...
Importantly, FOOD. My main goal was to eat nice for the weekend. Also, at the riverwalk, there is so much tex mex (yummy but heavy).
Thursday Dinner - Salmon. I finished setting up at around 8? The sun started setting while I was walking to find a restaurant, so by the time I sat down it was already pretty dark. Lighting was very dim and I wished I sat inside instead.
I got a drink rec from the waiter which is one of their speciality mezcal (I think??) drinks.
Friday Breakfast was at La Panaderia (I went back all 3 days). Something about travel turns me into a morning person and I got there shortly after it opened (and before any breakfast crowd).
The first day I got one of their breakfast sandwich meals (which comes with a black bean soup). Very yummy, but a little messy since it was a croissant bread. Oh, I also picked up some bread to take to the convention center.
Also found a cute hotel coffee shop that I stopped by every day for my coffee.
Yay flowers!
I bought my eReader to finally finish Heated Rivalry and The Long Game throughout the convention. Foot traffic was slow but I was so entertained, lol.
The vending hall had super long hours (closes at 9), but the staff said we were able to close up our tables after 5pm, so around 6/6:30 I would close up so that I could get dinner.
Friday Dinner - Pizza & Wine bar place! I actually scouted this out the previous day and thought it would be a nice spot for dinner. They have bar seating so I was able to seat myself very easily. I also brought my ereader while waiting for my food, LOL. Reading m/m smut in public sure is fun ha ha ha.
I got a mocktail (forgot what was in it besides the strawberry lol), and I was craving a Caesar salad with chicken. Really happy it wasn’t too heavy.
After that I took a nice walk and stopped by the gelato place - I have strong feelings that if I go out my way to buy ice cream it needs to be in a cone (It Is a Treat!!). So nice.
I considered stopping in at another bar for some ambiance but decided to just went back to my hotel and relaxed there~
Saturday Breakfast - La Panaderia again!! I have the picture on Sunday but I ended up going with their waffle croissant plate.
Saturday Dinner - I went back to the pizza place because I really wanted pizza!! I got a prosecco based cocktail and it was so yummy (though alarmingly green lol). Since it was the holiday, I prepared myself that it might take some time for my pizza to be ready so I continued reading. I got a mushroom pizza (with provolone and truffle oil), SO SATISFYING. I was also able to pack the rest for my sunday snack.
Sunday Breakfast - Last meal at La Panaderia. I really enjoyed their waffle croissant plate. I always love savory breakfasts and it was nice to get a little sweet treat.
I headed back into the convention center to set up for the day. I usually end up chatting with other artists on Sunday since it’s less busy. After that I packed up and drove back to Austin.
Omg I almost forgot to add a pic of my table:
I got a new table runner and am leaning in to using a deep blue/royal blue for my signage. Also I'm finally going to try to add on a photostand aspect to my display.
I don't have much to report on sales since foot traffic was pretty slow (there wasn't enough data for me to really figure out what people were/weren't buying). I did hit my minimum expense goals and just barely missed my actual sales goal.
Also surprisingly I sold ~5 of my new zine!! Not sure if it was because it was sealed (haha) but I always hope that people that buy zines start to want to buy MORE zines/comics from artists.
I also took some vlog footage that I'll be putting together for me and my family.