


DUBAI: A holiday-themed brunch and meet-up for cosplayers was held on Dec. 7 in Dubai, featuring Secret Santa and tabletop games.
The event was hosted by Hobby Nation at the Rove Expo Hotel. A quiz night powered by Japan in Arabia, a Dubai-based community for Japanese culture fans, was also hosted at the event.
Trina Angeles, Event Operations Manager for Hobby Nation, shared that the community responded positively to the event. “Most of the community members are craving events where they can meet up and celebrate all kinds of realms of pop culture.”
Japan in Arabia founder Jason Ishida commented on the event, saying, “We were honored to lead the quiz night centered around Japanese culture. The quiz was well-attended and the competition was fierce. I was impressed with the amount of knowledge the community knew about Japan.”
“Overall, people were excited and engaged with the quiz. They mentioned that it was challenging but also rewarding. We look forward to the next Japan-centered quiz, hopefully sooner rather than later. I think people were surprised with the amount and quality of prizes,” he added.
Additionally, Angeles said that Hobby Nation will be hosting geek community days on Jan. 18 and Jan. 19, 2025, at the Rove Hotel in Downtown. “Hobby Nation will be collaborating with Rove for a two-day community event that consists of cosplay competitions, an artist alley, and many activations.”