Colorful people flocked the streets of Downtown San Jose for  the annual FanimeCon, hosted at the McEnergy Convention Center Memorial Day weekend.

Hundreds of participants walked around transformed into cartoon, video game or anime characters and spent the whole weekend attending workshops, taking photos and acting out scenes from cartoon and anime shows.

These people, known as cosplayers, sometimes spend months preparing their costume ensemble.

“I barely finished it yesterday; it took me a couple of months,” said Caitlin Aragon, 17, a cosplayer who has been attending since 2009.

When asked why she was so dedicated, Aragon said, “For the sake of being accurate.”

Esha Patal who cosplayed as The Ice King, said she has been attending FanimeCon for two years and her costume took one week to complete.

Jason Asbov was able to complete his Chron cosplay in 70 hours.

The line and waiting time to pick up the convention badges Thursday, May 23 was out the door.

“I stood in line from 6 p.m., an hour before the doors opened and I left at 9 p.m. without a badge because there was no way I was going to get to the front of the line before midnight,” said Aragon.

The convention is free for anyone who wants to dress up and socialize with other cosplayers.

People purchase badges if they want access to the halls and events/panels like the dealers’ hall and artist alley.

Some panels are meetings where people of the same fandom meet to discuss their favorite anime or game.

Workshop-type panels range from wig styling, to cosplay prop construction, to advise for posing for pictures.

FanimeCon ended on Monday, May 27, giving cosplayers another year to work on their costumes and ready themselves for the next convention, where they can transport away from the real world and enter their own realities.