In the heart of Hamburg, pixels merge with passion. Polaris builds a convention perfectly tailored to the community. We visited it
It’s a colorful bouquet of topics with which the Polaris in Hamburg wanted to attract the audience – and managed to do so. “The whole nerd mix,” as one visitor to the event summed it up, was on offer here. From anime to indie and board games, Japanese culture, professional cartoonists, retro games and flea markets to content creators.
The concept worked so well in 2023 that more people came on the first day than in 2022 in total. In the end, the organizer counted 27,000, spread over three days. The tickets cost 35 euros for one day, catering had usual fair prices: Coffee was not available for less than four euros and a meal cost ten euros. But does Polaris justify a visit? We took a look.
It’s a trade show that still flies under the radar in many cases. The gamescom in Cologne and Dreamhack in Hannover do a lot of advertising for their interests. In Leipzig, a new event has also started with the games convention and book fair bonus – Caggtus. In Hamburg, however, Polaris, like the others, no longer sees itself as a “trade show”; it is a convention. Festival is the word that trade show organizers have been using again and again lately. It is no longer about looking, about novelties, but about meeting, about activation and about content creators aka influencers.
The Polaris stabs right into this theme: mix influencers with Japanese culture, offer lots of food, set cosplay world records and still show a few games in the process. So some publishers like Capcom were on site and there was an indie area comparable to the one at gamescom – only smaller. Not surprisingly, the organizer is the same.
Of note: Nintendo showed its new games – at gamescom, the actual industry trade show, the Japanese game developer had avoided that.
Good hall concept built around influencers
Divided are the two halls of Polaris in five zones: Japanese culture with namesake Ninotaku, cartoonists, food and shopping and finally stage with “Meet & Greet” for the influencers.
The concept works well, on Friday there is enough space to move around, go to the booths, talk or play board and video games. The orientation also works. Saturday it became noticeably more crowded.
The event overall is built around influencers. While there was plenty of room in most places on Friday, the crowds clearly showed where the focus of the visitors was. You didn’t have to wait more than five minutes for any indie game, and you were allowed half an hour for something to eat. If a content creator showed up for a book signing, the line got long and space got scarce.
Among the headliners, Polaris had invited Gronkh and also Jasmin Sibel aka Jasmin Gnu, who is quoted in the press release: “I was able to take time for my community and have a relaxed exchange with other creators and colleagues. I also love the large cosplay area, I think it’s cool to admire all the elaborate costumes in the halls.”
Those in costume came in equal numbers: the convention set a world record on Sunday with 492 gaming cosplayers in one place.
Polaris hits a nerve
So Polaris is morphing into a relevant consumer show: Organizer Super Crowd hits exactly the nerve of the community, which flocked here in droves. By comparison, the gaming-centered Caggtus in Leipzig was attended by about half as many people. It was also well done, so if you want a bit of everything, want to experience Japanese culture and food, follow an influencer – Polaris is the perfect event for you. In 2024, they want to further increase the exhibition space. Then maybe eSports will be back, which was listed in 2023 but didn’t take place.
