Summer convention season is well-known to northern-hemisphere
congoers of every kind. Whether you are an
anime fan, a
gamer, a
comic book reader, or a member of other
fandoms including
science fiction and
fantasy, summer is when most of the major conventions are held. It is sometimes referred to as simply "convention season," but with things like the
Alternative Press Expo and others in the winter now, I think that's not accurate. Nevertheless, it's important.
Animerica runs a "summer con issue" in the fall, with
cosplay photos, guest interviews, and so on. Some fans plan their entire
summer vacations to include as many conventions as possible.
The
A-list sf and
gaming cons of summer include
SFRA in
Schnectady, NY,
Gen Con in Milwaukee,
Wizard World in Chicago, the
World Science Fiction Convention (varies), and
Dragon*Con in Atlanta.
The first major
anime con of the season is probably
Anime Central in Illinois in mid-May, followed by
Animazement in North Carolina,
Anime North in Toronto,
Project: A-Kon in Dallas,
Otakon in Baltimore,
Anime Weekend Atlanta, and
AnimeCon UK squeaking in at the beginning of October.
Comic cons during this time include
San Diego Comic-Con,
Motor City Comic Con in Michigan and the
Canadian National Comic Book Expo.
There are dozens of other conventions, from
Stockholm to
Little Rock, from very specific ("Women of Star Trek Voyager") to very general ("media") in the May-September period. Major "other" cons include
Costume-Con in Calgary (may vary, not sure), and the
World Horror Convention (location varies). There are a number of sites you can turn up under a search for "(foo) convention listing." I can't recommend any one site because none of them seem to have all of the cons, even within their genre.