Polaris Con 2026: Back Again

My last and biggest con of 2026 was one I was especially excited about. I’d only been to smaller conventions before, it had been a really long time since I’d last visited Hamburg, and I’d also be attending an event for the full three days, which is quite a lot, I’d say.

My excitement was somewhat blunted by having an absolute shitshow of a week. My phone broke, and I spent days and nights at the vet. By the time we got to the main station, basically all my energy and good vibes had been depleted, my life energy sucked away.

Nevertheless, this trip was important for reasons beyond enjoyment. I’m writing my bachelor’s thesis this year, and for it, I’ll be conducting interviews with cosplayers because I want to write about participatory culture. This trip was my one shot at getting those interviews in. Afterward, I’d be broke, out of time, and probably burned out.

(See what I’m doing here? It’s called creating suspense and introducing the conflict in order to hook the audience.)

At last, the train left Munich for a, in my opinion, much more chill and colorful place. Good ol’ northern Hamburg! I was excited to return after so many years.

Something I love about traveling with friends: a train ride is rarely ever boring. It wasn’t long before I’d been thoroughly cheered up, mesmerized by their skilled needlework as they finished up their cosplays on the ICE (what a classic!), and stuffed to the brim with munchies from Go Asia.

The ride flew by in a breeze, and we even had time for a little exploration in the evening. Where we froze. Not enough to get sick, though. Not yet, that is.

Friday

Did you know that you’re going to spend most of your time at a con just trying to locate your friends?

Yeah… there’s really no way around it. The upside: you might make new friends by being lost at a con together. Either way, we got to know a lot of different entrances and foyers.

The con itself, however? Magnificent.

My first time at a really big con like that, and it was. So. Grand. Truly, hall after hall, I thought to myself that this surely must be the end. And then there was another hall.

From cosplay and Artist Alley, absolute staples, we moved on to the content creation area, where we were met with, lo and behold, ARD and German television! But not only that. Tons of creators, and stalls that were mostly promoting products. Luckily, often for free. (Free grub is the soul of con sustenance.)

Next up were gigantic halls with merch, a bunch of stages offering entertainment, quizzes, and game shows, and a gorgeous gaming area where you could not only playtest games but also talk to the devs! Amazing entertainment in itself.

Lastly, I enjoyed the different epic photoshoot locations and areas immensely. They were gorgeous to look at, you could rest and chill in most of them, and they were truly carefully crafted and designed.

The highlight of the first day, however? I’d say the QR code hunt.

Some of my friends got really into it and even climbed the leaderboard at some point. For the QR codes, you had to scan codes in different locations, look everywhere, and spot the random crowds gathering in unusual places around the stickers.

I’m glad I barely ate at the con, leaving to have lunch almost every day. But I also think we lost a lot of precious con time because of it. Maybe bringing food next time would be smart?

Either way, day one flew by in a breeze. And so did my precious money.

But honestly, I rarely find artworks that make me tear up just from looking at them. One stall in particular gave me that very specific feeling that’s hard to describe. To put it in the words of Adventure Time. Thus, if you find something that speaks to your soul, it’s probably a good decision.

Or not. Either way, I’m happy with my prints and will love them forever.

After the first day, we could barely stumble to bed, collapsed, and fell asleep. It was a great day, but also insane in its own ways. I guess that’s con life.

Saturday

Know what’s insane? Having to do all the things you need to do to prepare for a full day at a con. In two hours.

I sorta failed. Buuut, just sorta. In the end, I was missing only a few very small things, had packed my cybersuit for shooting, and even charged my phone.

What I didn’t consider? Storage space was very and utterly limited, since Saturdays are the busiest days at conventions. So bringing two huge bags may or may not have been a problem.

Somehow overpacked and underprepared, we made our way back to the convention venue, had to wait for a surprisingly short time, and started our day right away with what we thought would be the cosplay contest.

It wasn’t.

It was almost an hour of waiting for a delayed show. At least I could go to the toilet in that time without missing anything! And it’s not like there wasn’t a contest at all. It was just a little late.

The wait was worth it, too! Eventually, we got to watch some absolutely gorgeous cosplays and their respective cosplayers giving dazzling performances. Those artists really shone, not only through their craftsmanship but also through their amazing talent on stage.

I was so happy, since I hadn’t been able to see many cosplay performances this enjoyable before.

They were also presented by the gorgeous, adorable, hilarious, and super, super cute Farbenfuchs, to whom I became a devoted fan the moment she jumped on stage.

(Genuinely, I can’t believe a girl this beautiful, cute, and funny can be a real person. Must have been a trick of my eyes. Man, I’m simping. I’ll shut up now asdfsbdhehdkwnwbdfhdh!!!)

The contest had run sooo late that some of us were hungry and cranky by the time it was over. Thus, our group decided to part ways. Some left the con for the hotel or to meet with people outside, while my partner and I went out for luncheon.

And luncheon we got.

As is tradition, at least once per trip, we found Chinese hand-pulled noodles and were not disappointed at all.

At that point, I was already panicking like crazy, adrenaline at 180 due to missed sleep, overstimulation, and the looming dread of the interviews I really, really, REALLY had to conduct that day.

Because of that, the comforting soup, accompanied by steaming green tea, was just the right thing to calm my nerves. It didn’t help all the way. I was still a wreck over the following hours, but it definitely gave me the strength for what I had to do.

And do I did. Or at least I tried.

Turns out, the task my professor gave me was to conduct at least hour-long interviews with mostly professional cosplayers amid the con, with lengthy preparation, forms, and ONLY SIX QUESTIONS??? WTF.

In the end, I got something. Truly, the sweetest people were happy to talk to me. But to be honest, perhaps due to lack of sleep, maybe because I came underprepared after the clusterfuck that was my past week, I fumbled hard.

Like… I was possibly the worst interview conductor there is. And I was painfully aware of it.

(Don’t think I’ve ever come this close to fainting in my life, not even during 10/10 period cramps.)

After my second 20-minute fail (again, my interviewees were great, me not so much), I admitted defeat. I couldn’t do this. Not then and there, not like this.

But, as with all things in life, nervous breakdowns in between 500 cosplayers, gamers, and weebs pass just the same.

Eventually, thanks to the relentless support of my partner, who could definitely think of a better way to spend our precious convention afternoon than what I’d made of it, I moved on and changed the plan to something manageable.

I started collecting cosplayers’ contact details.

And they were precious!

I was stunned by how many of them were willing to exchange contacts and let me write to them for interviews in a calmer setting, with more time and the right preparation.

That’s honestly when a huge shift happened for me. The weight lifted off my shoulders, I was having fun again, and I was finally able to enjoy the con.

We proceeded to just hang around and do fun convention activities. In between, I talked to cosplayers, took pictures, and generally had a good time.

What a great story arc, truly. Almost a full hero’s journey at this point.

Ah yes, I also took home some more treasure.

Only things missing now? The journey home, another day at the con, and one day just idling around Hamburg.

Sunday

There’s a certain special quality to the last days of pretty much anything. Whether they’re good or bad, they always carry a tinge of fond sadness for me.

It might be due to regret about not enjoying or not fully experiencing the thing. It might be because I did exactly that. I don’t know.

With Polaris, I was so surprised by how quickly those long, intense days passed. My first days had been far from perfect, but day three came considerably close.

With less pressure and finally the resolve to just go out and enjoy our last con day, I was able to really catch on to the vibesss.

And also: it was my first time cosplaying at a con!

We had a big breakfast at the place we were staying, and then I got into cosplay.

Tbh, I think it was a very classic experience: chaotic, missing several important pieces that were left at home or unaccounted for, mini breakdowns, time crunch, and sleep deprivation from the prior nights.

All in all, I wouldn’t say the putting-on part is my favorite thing about cosplaying. Far from it. Even at the con, I was still improving, optimizing, and troubleshooting, and I was only able to enjoy the time after I felt somewhat satisfied with the look and had come to terms with it lacking in certain areas.

Now, onto what my favorite parts about cosplaying actually were:

• Looking cool asf.
• Being part of the community (kinda feeling like an insider, I guess hahah).
• Connecting with folks faaaar more easily.
• Actually taking pictures, getting into character, and being creative with poses and everything.

I was also so lucky to have not only one very supportive cosplay boyfriend but also two incredible cosplay best friends with me who helped with absolutely everything!!!

I think the experience might have been a little different all by myself.

For our last-day activities, we’d chosen to play some indie games, take pictures in front of the phenomenal backdrops, and see the dance stage.

I’d underestimated how many people would be there on Sunday, so we didn’t entirely manage to take pictures everywhere I wanted, but I got some I’ll absolutely treasure.

In order not to waste too much time, we wanted to eat at the con and actually managed to find a delicious yet very affordable potato soup.

Honestly, maybe my favorite con food at Polaris. You simply can’t go wrong.

It was at the stall where I met a wonderful Alice from Return to Madness. She asked to take some pictures, and it was soooo much fun.

Just that interaction with a random stranger, with whom you suddenly connect through a shared passion, coming together for a brief moment and then happily parting ways after having so much fun in that short interaction.

I think this might be one of the beautiful secrets to what can make a convention magical.

To put it in the words of the wise Fishcop: it’s the people that make Polaris special.

I must agree.

Later, we had one of my favorite moments at cons of all time (again).

We finally made it to the dance stage, witnessing a super cute dance, some idle relaxation, and finally, the random dance.

I’d never seen one of those before, but basically, they play snippets of well-known K-pop songs, and the people who know the dance step in, perform the choreography for a moment, and then get out of the dance circle again.

I was thoroughly impressed, gooped and gagged perhaps, to see so many super good dancers just casually jamming the choreos.

K-pop dances look sooo complex to me. (I am still having an on-and-off relationship with learning the Iris Out freeze dance, and it’s not going well. I can’t imagine learning one of these hard-ass choreos.)

In the last hours of the day, we spent most of our time just dicking around, trying to fit in as many of the things we’d missed before and do everything as quickly as possible to experience the most.

We also got tons of freebies, and my friends ground the sticker hunt for some more last tombola tickets. (They didn’t win the 5k gaming PC, unfortunately.)

The day was rounded out with the final closing ceremony on the main stage. I got one last good look at Farbenfuchs. Stunning!

Did I mention she smiled back at me on Saturday when she walked past me?!?!?

And suddenly, far too soon, we said goodbye to Polaris for this year.

I’m quite sure I’ll be looking back on it with great fondness.

Monday: Back Again

If you visit a new city for a con, do yourself a favor and plan one more day for sightseeing.

Our last Hamburg day was so wonderful and honestly felt like it was part of the con trip entirely.

We got lucky with the weather and explored a stunning park that felt more like a proper botanical garden most of the time, only that it was literally free! Many of the places would have been amazing for cosplay shoots, too.

Another highlight for me, even if I was tired and cranky that day: great food.

I had my favorite Hamburg meal on our last day, and we stumbled upon it by accident. I’ve never had fries and a fish burger that good! So worth it.

I don’t have much to say about our ride home, except for this: don’t take a night train without sleeping accommodation.

It may be a little cheaper, but it also ruins your day. At that point, just take that day, use the Deutschlandticket to travel all the way instead, and save yourself an awful night.

It was still good to finally get back, get home, and pick up our sweet kitty babies on the way.

I always say they get major separation anxiety, but tbh, I’m just as bad after a few days without cats.

In the end, I felt like I’d completed a full Campbell’s hero’s journey and gained my treasure: a bit of experience, overcoming my fears, experiencing wonderful new things, making memories, and obviously, absolutely gorgeous Artist Alley loot.

I arrived home grateful, yet changed.

I guess this is my call to you to go out and do things every now and then. Maybe even try to overcome an obstacle or two along the way.

It’ll feel all the more rewarding.