In 2018, Green Mustard Entertainment acquired Anime PDX and Newcon PDX with the goal of building and maintaining a hotel-based anime festival in Portland to serve as an alternative to the convention center-centric events in the region. We quickly outgrew our initial home, the Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel, and refocused our energies on making WasabiCon PDX an event with roots planted firmly in the heart of downtown Portland.

However, that expansion’s timing coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which presented a number of challenges – including some from our host property, the Hilton Portland Downtown. Each year, a new set of hurdles has emerged as the city continues recovering, with nearby businesses closing, evolving, and doing their best to survive.

This past summer our dates were moved – not by our choice – to coincide with Portland Pride, which, as we got closer to the event, proved to be challenging in ways we weren’t prepared for. Working with the Hilton, we postponed the event in hopes that local market stabilization would become easier to manage. That has not been the case.

This week, we made the difficult decision to part ways with the Hilton Portland Downtown and cancel WasabiCon PDX 2025. At this time, Green Mustard Entertainment has no plans for an event in 2026, and we are taking the time to evaluate what’s worked (and what hasn’t) in Portland as we make decisions for the future.

For now, we’ll be rolling out refunds over the next few weeks as we wind down the convention into an “On Hiatus” status. We ask for your patience during this process, as it’s not a quick one. Any and all questions can be sent to PDX@WasabiCon.com. 

#SeeYouSpaceCowboy