GM, COT❣️ Yuzunoko here.
Have you worked out your cosplay plan for Ikebukuro on November 7 and 8?
On the same two days, at the same Sunshine City (a large complex in Ikebukuro, Tokyo), AGF2026 and "acosta! ~AGF2026 Special Edition~" will both be held. AGF2026 is short for "Animate Girls Festival 2026", and its main venue runs from 9:00 to 17:00. acosta! runs from 10:00 to 18:30. The venues overlap, but tickets, photo areas and entry hours are decided separately.
(Just knowing that two events share one building makes me a little restless.)
Two events over the same two days
According to the official AGF2026 site, the event runs on Saturday, November 7 and Sunday, November 8, 2026, around Sunshine City in Ikebukuro. The main venue is open from 9:00 to 17:00, with new entry until 16:30 and final entry to each area at 16:50.
This year's theme is "Decoration". The main venue is split into five areas. Red AREA and Blue AREA are in Exhibition Hall A on the 4th floor of the World Import Mart Building, Green AREA is in Exhibition Hall B on the 4th floor of the Bunka Kaikan Building, White AREA is in Exhibition Hall C on the 3rd floor of the same building, and Yellow AREA is in Exhibition Hall D on its 2nd floor.
More than 80 exhibitor booths are listed, and 14 stage programmes are planned at the Fountain Plaza.
The acosta! special edition runs from 10:00 to 18:30. Final entry is 16:30, and photography and socialising end at 17:30. Reception is in the Conference Room on the 5th floor of the World Import Mart Building.
It is organised by Hacosta Inc., co-organised by Sunshine City, with cooperation from Toshima Ward and Animate Inc.
Cosplay at AGF requires an acosta! ticket
The AGF2026 FAQ says it plainly: to take part in cosplay on the day, you need to join "acosta! ~AGF2026 Special Edition~".
You can walk into the AGF main venue in cosplay. But cosplay reception, changing and photo areas all run under acosta! rules.
So if you are going to Ikebukuro in cosplay on November 7 or 8, the ticket to buy first is the acosta! one. There are four tiers: Early, Regular, Junior and Senior High School, and Elementary School. Early is 2,980 yen in advance (3,500 yen on the day), Regular 2,380 yen (2,900 yen), Junior and Senior High School 1,180 yen (1,500 yen), and Elementary School 500 yen. Junior and senior high school students need to show a student ID. Elementary school children need an adult guardian with them.
(Half price for having homework still feels unfair.)
AGF tickets are split by entry time
AGF tickets come in four types, each with a fixed entry window. Fast is 9:00 to 10:00, General 10:00 to 13:00, Afternoon 13:00 to 15:00, and Evening 15:00 to 16:00. Only the Evening ticket is paper, issued at 7-Eleven, and it does not use facial recognition. The official Sunshine City event page lists General at 1,800 yen, Afternoon at 1,000 yen and Evening at 800 yen (1,000 yen on the day).
AGF does not sell same-day tickets at the main venue. If the online allocation is gone, you cannot get in that day.
From 15:35, an acosta! pass gets you into AGF
The crossover point is 15:35.
With an acosta! pass you can enter the AGF main venue free from 15:35. New entry closes at 16:30, so going in at 15:35 leaves a little over an hour before the venue closes at 17:00. The entrance is near Ticket Information on the 4th floor of the World Import Mart Building. The pass only works on the date printed on it.
If you want to be inside AGF before 15:35, you need a separate AGF ticket.
For one way to plan the day: shoot with acosta!, then drop into AGF from 15:35. Or go round AGF first and join acosta! afterwards. Either works, but starting at AGF means holding both tickets.
acosta! opens at 10:00, or 9:30 with an Early ticket. The AGF main venue opens at 9:00. If you want to start first thing, the AGF Fast ticket or the acosta! Early ticket are the options.
(Being in Ikebukuro in full makeup by 9:00 takes a certain resolve.)
Where you can shoot, and where you cannot
The biggest difference is where you can take photos.
The AGF2026 FAQ states that there is no cosplay photography area inside the main venue, and that shooting which blocks aisles or gets in other visitors' way is banned outright. Anyone who wants to shoot is directed to the photo areas run by acosta!.
The acosta! rules are detailed too. You need a pass to shoot or socialise, and people check each other's passes. Lighting, whether strobe or continuous, is limited to one light per person or group. The same applies when using stands or tripods, and umbrellas and softboxes must be 100 cm or less across, or along the longest side. Several people aiming two or more lights at one subject at the same time is banned.
Shooting while walking, shooting inside changing rooms or toilets, and shooting the surrounding scenery or the crowd are also banned. The rules also ask you to keep bystanders out of your frames.
Facial recognition and bags
Except for Evening tickets, AGF entry uses an electronic ticket with facial recognition. Register a photo that is as close as possible to your hair and makeup on the day. Official guidance says glasses, or a different fringe, can cause a failed match. On the day, masks, sunglasses and hats come off for the scan.
The acosta! page carries the same warning: make sure cosplay hair and makeup do not stop facial recognition from working. If you are going all-in on wig and makeup, this is where it can trip you up.
Bags are strict at both. The AGF main venue has no coin lockers and no luggage storage, and large bags such as suitcases, or anything with wheels, cannot be brought in. The acosta! photographer ticket has no bag storage either. Changing rooms close at 18:30, so work the changing time backwards from there.
Changing or doing makeup outside the changing rooms is banned, and so is arriving or leaving in costume. Inside the AGF main venue, swapping goods is allowed only in the Trading Area in Blue AREA. Trading anywhere else is banned.
About this article
This article is based on the AGF2026 official site and FAQ, the acosta! event page and participation rules, and the official Sunshine City event page. Times and rules can change, so check each official site again before the day. Photography permission and equipment limits can also shift at staff discretion on the day. Quotes from Japanese sources are our own translations. Translated from the Japanese original.
Sources: Animate Girls Festival 2026 Event Overview (Animate Girls Festival Executive Committee), Animate Girls Festival 2026 FAQ, Animate Girls Festival 2026 Ticket Information, Animate Girls Festival 2026 Event Page (Ikebukuro Sunshine City), acosta! x AGF2026 Special Edition Event Page (Hacosta Inc.), acosta! at Ikebukuro Sunshine City Participation Rules (Hacosta Inc.)
See you next time on COT❣️