Orlando already knows how to throw a spectacle, but the week before Christmas is about to get a lot louder, brighter, and more packed with glow sticks. Holiday Matsuri is coming back to the Orange County Convention Center on December 18 to 20, 2026, and the organizers are billing this one as the show’s 15th anniversary.
If you’ve never been, HolMat is Orlando’s big holiday-themed anime, cosplay, and gaming convention, the kind of weekend that takes over International Drive. The organizers call it Florida’s largest anime convention, and their press page puts attendance at more than 45,000. Main programming is in the West Concourse at 9800 International Drive. Late-night and 18-and-up events move next door to the Hyatt Regency Orlando, connected by an indoor walkway. Badges, the guest list, and updates all live on the official Holiday Matsuri website.
Dates, venue, and what badges cost right now
The show runs Friday through Sunday, December 18-20. According to the official hours page, registration at the convention center is 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. The Hyatt also lists Thursday evening pre-registration from 7 to 10 p.m., plus evening registration on Friday and Saturday.
The exhibit hall and Artist Alley follow the same rhythm. VIP badge holders get a 30-minute head start on Friday, from 11:30 a.m. to noon, before general admission opens at noon and runs to 7 p.m. Saturday is 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
If you’re buying now, use the official 2026 registration page. The live badge shop currently lists a 3-day badge at $110 through December 17, then $120 at the door December 18-20. Single-day badges are $70 Friday, $75 Saturday, and $60 Sunday. A child’s badge for ages 6 to 12 is $25, and kids 5 and under get in free with a paying adult. Both younger badges have to be used with a supervising, paying adult.
A VIP badge is $300 and includes early vendor-room entry, lounge access, a T-shirt and gift, priority seating at select events, and other perks. The Forever Festive Pass, the lifetime VIP option, is $1,900. The organizers say those two tiers are limited. Online orders include a processing fee, and official ticket terms are blunt: badge sales are not refundable. If an older FAQ shows different single-day prices, trust the live shop.
The 2026 guest list, so far
The official guest directory now has 13 confirmed names for 2026, and it is heavily weighted toward the English cast of Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth. More guests may still be announced. The site has not listed artist or cosplay guests yet, and autograph prices are still marked as coming soon.
The Final Fantasy VII contingent is the headline draw:
- Briana White, the voice of Aerith Gainsborough in Final Fantasy VII Remake, Crisis Core Reunion, and Rebirth, is booked Friday through Sunday. She is also hosting the Benefit Ball.
- Britt Baron, Tifa Lockhart in the same remake series, is on the roster all three days.
- Caleb Pierce, Zack Fair in Remake, Rebirth, and Crisis Core Reunion, is listed for the full weekend, December 18-20.
- John Bentley, Barret Wallace in the remake series, is booked Friday through Sunday.
- Paul Tinto, Cait Sith in Rebirth, is listed Friday through Sunday.
- Suzie Yeung, Yuffie Kisaragi in Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade and Rebirth, is confirmed as a 2026 voice actor guest. Her official bio also highlights Makima in Chainsaw Man.
- Tyler Hoechlin, the English voice of Sephiroth in Remake and Rebirth, is on the 2026 list as well. The organizers also note his on-camera work as Clark Kent in Superman & Lois.
- Max Mittelman, booked Friday through Sunday, is listed as Red XIII in Final Fantasy VII Remake, as Saitama in One-Punch Man, and as a co-creator of Date Everything!
The rest of the announced lineup is worth circling:
- Emi Lo, Friday through Sunday, is billed for Lucy in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Maomao in The Apothecary Diaries.
- Xanthe Huyhn, using the spelling on the official guest page, is listed as a 2026 voice actor guest, with official credits including Haru Okumura in Persona 5, Marianne von Edmund in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and Takina Inoue in Lycoris Recoil.
- Cody Christian is confirmed on the official voice actor list for 2026, though the organizers have not published a bio or appearance days for him yet.
- Timothy Zahn, the Hugo-winning Star Wars novelist behind the Thrawn books, is a writer guest on Friday and Saturday only. His official page says he will have the new manga adaptation of his 2017 novel Thrawn, adapted by Man Tsang, at his table.
- Non Sweet, a Vancouver J-pop group, is the musical guest announced so far.
Guest schedules and autograph prices had not been posted when we checked, so confirm those on the official guest pages before you get in line.
Cosplay championship, the Benefit Ball, and late nights
This is not a sit-in-one-panel kind of weekend. The Winter Cosplay Championship is the show’s flagship costume contest, and the 2026 edition is set for Friday, December 18, with craftsmanship pre-judging on Thursday, December 17. Applications closed October 1. Winners can qualify for international stages the organizers list, including the World Cosplay Summit in Japan, the Nordic Cosplay Championship in Sweden, and GICOF in South Korea.
If a dance floor sounds better than a contest stage, the Benefit Ball is Saturday, December 20, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in the Hyatt’s Windermere Ballroom. The organizers are framing it as HolMat’s anime prom, with Briana White as special guest host, and it supports Gamers Outreach, which gets gaming setups into hospitals. They say the 2024 ball raised more than $7,000. Tickets are sold separately through the official ticket shop; a public price was not posted in a form we could independently confirm at this writing.
Other official highlights already on the calendar: IdolFest, the idol and cosplay-dance showcase, is Saturday, December 20, from 2 to 4:30 p.m. in Valencia C/D at the convention center. The 2026 performer list is still marked coming soon. The FAQ also lists a Holiday Rave as a signature late-night dance party with guest DJs, included with a badge unless it is later marked as a ticketed event. A 2026 time and DJ lineup had not been published yet, and the full weekend schedule is still being held back.
There’s plenty to do even if you never enter a ballroom. The video game room in the Tangerine Ballroom is listed until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and until 6 p.m. Sunday. The tabletop room, manga library, and anime video room have their own hours on the official maps page. Cosplay meetup submissions are open through December 11. The hotels page lists the Hyatt as the headquarters hotel, with the Rosen Plaza, Rosen Centre, and Hilton Orlando as other partner properties connected to the convention center.
Cody’s take
Orlando in mid-December is a gift for a convention like this. You’re not melting in a parking lot in August, International Drive is already dressed up for the holidays, and the West Concourse plus a connected hotel means you can go from an afternoon panel to a late-night event without stepping back into the rain. I grew up on a PlayStation 2, and a weekend where so much of the Final Fantasy VII Remake cast is in the same Orlando building is the kind of thing that still gets me.
My advice is the same as it is for any big con: buy the badge that matches the days you can actually attend, don’t assume autograph prices until they’re posted, and treat the official site as the source of truth. The guest list is still growing, the rave and full schedule aren’t up yet, and badge prices tick up once the doors open. If Orlando is already on your December map, this is the weekend to leave room for.
Details are drawn from the organizers’ official website, guest pages, hours listing, and live badge shop as of November 10, 2026, and are subject to change. Confirm dates, guests, prices, and hours with Holiday Matsuri before you travel.
