About Manifest

Photo taken by Bubby

About Us

Melbourne Anime Festival – or "Manifest" for short - consists of a three full day festival focusing on arts of anime and manga, Japanese culture, and - in more recent times - video games. It is run annually at the Melbourne Showgrounds, Melbourne, Australia. The next event (2013) will be run on the weekend of Friday 16th to Sunday 18th of August.

Melbourne Showgrounds is Melbourne’s largest and most versatile indoor/outdoor venue. Only 7kms from the heart of Melbourne CBD, and 15 minutes from Melbourne Airport, Melbourne Showgrounds is conveniently located and easily accessible to organisers, traders and attendees.

Manifest is run by the not-for-profit group, MAFI (Melbourne Anime Festival Incorporated) which is made up solely of volunteers. These hard-working people spend thousands of hours throughout the year putting Manifest together, as well as committing to early starts and late nights during Manifest weekend.

History of Manifest

Manifest had its humble beginnings as an anime screenings festival back in 1998. It was run by a combination of several clubs at the University of Melbourne. It was dubbed 'Manifest' back in 2000, and has been steadily growing ever since. MAFI continue to prioritise increasing the activities, competitions and events available on this amazing weekend each year.

In 2009, MAFI realised that the University of Melbourne could no longer contain the sizeable increase in attendance, and Manifest was moved to the Melbourne Showgrounds. Since then it has grown to be the largest anime-focused convention in Australia, and is continuing to grow each year.

MAFI meet several times a month in order to bring you the best convention they can. If you are interested in stepping up and helping this wonderful convention by volunteering your time and efforts, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . We welcome all who take up the call to make Manifest 2013 the biggest and best Manifest yet.

Opening Hours

Manifest:

Friday - 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday - 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Sunday - 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Manifest Activities Hall:

Friday - 10:00 AM* - 6:00 PM
Saturday - 10:00 AM* - 6:00 PM
Sunday - 10:00 AM* - 6:00 PM

Amaranth:

Friday - 7:00 PM - 11:30 PM

Mani-Midnight:

Saturday - 8:30 PM - 8:00 AM

New to Manifest

For those new to Manifest we have written up a guide to the convention.