Animation and Motion Design Conferences to attend in 2025
Animation and Motion Design events in:
Asia
Oceania
Europe
North America
South America
Although closely related, animation and motion design are very different. The term 'animation' encompasses the entire field of moving images, including everything from cartoons to claymation. In contrast, motion design focuses on adding movement to graphic elements to enhance the storytelling in film titles, voiceovers or gestures in mobile apps. In essence, motion design is animated graphic design.
The selected festivals all represent a crossover between the fields. They showcase everything from blockbuster films to indie animation productions.
All programmes are highly curated. They offer great value in the form of inspiration, workshops and learning experiences, as well as plenty of networking opportunities to invigorate your work and bring your ideas to life.
If you are new to the motion design industry, a great place to start is at a conference like The Art Department, or Motion Plus Design in North America. If you are new to the animation and character creation industry, Pictoplasma in Berlin is excellent.
These conferences offer a wide range of talks, workshops and exhibitions led by industry professionals. They provide an opportunity to learn about new technologies and techniques, expand your professional network and gain inspiration for your own work. Many of them also have sessions specifically designed for beginners or those new to the industry.
If you are on a budget, attending local meet-ups or online events is a great alternative. Many cities have motion design and animation meetups where you can network with other professionals and learn about new techniques and technologies. Many conferences also offer student or early bird discounts, so it's worth checking the conference website or contacting the organisers to see if any are available.
Europe
DEMO - Design in Motion Festival, Cities edition
Design in Motion is an initiative of studio Dumbar. Celebrating the best motion design from the finest studios, amazing designers, emerging talents, and art academies around the world. On January 30th 2025, the world’s largest motion design festival will take over public screens in 16 cities worldwide, showcasing the world’s finest motion design.
📅 30 January 2025
📍 16 cities, 250+ screens
🎟️ TBA
Motion North
Motion North is a Manchester-based group of motion designers, animators, filmmakers and VFX artists celebrate their 50th gathering, the Big 'Un, at the iconic New Century Hall. The event includes 10 speakers in 3 rooms with workshops, drinks, food, music and lots of networking. Speakers and many more.
📅 February 5, 2025
📍 Manchester, UK
🎟️ From £32
Upcoming events
- Wed 9 April - Motion North 51 with Gavin Strange & Vimal KerkettaBuy tickets
- Wed 9 July - Motion North 52 with Revenant & Quianhui YuuBuy tickets
- Wed 8 Octoctober - Motion North 53 with TBC
Mouvo
Since 2016, Mouvo, focus on the intersection of graphic design, film, animation, and technology. What started as a one-day event full of inspiring talks is now a considerable range of design-related activities with a common goal. To get you closer to the best industry movers, learn from them and get inspired by their cutting-edge creations. The world-class annual conference in Prague featuring an all-star lineup that covers a diverse range of digital communication topics. Every year we invite the world’s leading creators who are rocking the world of graphic design, animation, video, and new technologies.
📅 March 13-14, 2025
📍 Prague, Czech Republic
🎟️ From CZK 3500 (~130 EUR)
Read our review: MOUVO Conference 2024: A Motion Designer's Deep Dive into AI, Inspiration, and Innovation
Kaboom Festival
Kaboom Animation Festival is the one-stop-shop for the latest and greatest in all things animated. Ranging from cutting-edge experimental arthouse to colorful stories for families and kids, Kaboom will cater to the animation needs of all. Yes, even yours, my amazing weirdo friend!
📅 March 21-30, 2025
📍 Amsterdam, Utrecht, Online The Netherlands
🎟️ TBA
Pictoplasma
Pictoplasma Berlin 2025: Join the world's most vibrant gathering of artists shaping the face of tomorrow's visual culture. Pictoplasma celebrates its 21th anniversary this year. With an especially immersive programme of awe-inspiring artist presentations and back-to-back conference lectures, freshly hatched animations illuminating the big screen, numerous hands-on workshops, endless fun, inspiration and lots of confetti. Speakers include: Angela Kirkwood, Felicia Chiao, Ina Dyreborg and many more.
📅 May 1-4, 2025
📍 Berlin, Germany
🎟️ Tickets: €360, students and groups get discount.
Motion Motion
The Motion Motion festival is on a hiatus this year.
📅 TBA 2026
📍 Nantes, France
🎟️
OPN Festival
OPN Festival is a 2-day celebration of the thriving Motion Design industry, providing a series of free workshops, a showcase of work from both professionals and undergraduates, and an illustration & design market of established and emerging creators and makers. There will also be lots of opportunity to network, along with DJs each evening and a pop-up bar.
📅 TBA
📍 London, UK
🎟️ -
Playgrounds In Motion
Playgrounds In Motion is a traveling festival. In Motion is always on the lookout for the latest creative trends, stunning artists, ambitious innovative projects and unearthed inspirations emerging from digital arts in all shapes and forms.
📅 October 9+10, 2025
📍 Barbican Centre, London, UK
VIEW Conference
The 26th annual International VFX Computer Graphics Conference, VIEW Conference, in Italy and held annually in Turin. Topics covered at the event include interactive techniques, digital cinema, 3D animation, gaming and VFX.
The conference brings together industry professionals, thought leaders, students and enthusiasts to not only share and celebrate the latest achievements in animation, VFX and games, but also to share their visions for the future. With an extensive live programme of talks, presentations, workshops and masterclasses covering cutting-edge thinking on topics as diverse as Storytelling, Virtual Production, Computer Graphics, Interactive & Immersive Media, VR/AR/Mixed Reality and the Metaverse, Artificial Intelligence, Realtime Rendering and much more.
📅 October 12-17, 2025
📍 Torino, Italy & Online
🎟️ Tickets: From €180
Motion Plus Design Paris
Motion Plus Design promotes the art of motion design around the world by creating international events and sharing its best resources. Motion Plus Design invites the cream of the world's best motion designers for a full day of talks.
📅 November 8, 2025
📍 Paris with live stream
🎟️ TBA
Asia
AnimeJapan
Since its creation in 2014, anime fans and professionals alike have gathered at Tokyo Big Sight for the annual AnimeJapan to share the latest trends and releases from the Japanese animation industry. Spread over eight large halls, the convention caters to everyone — from fans eager to buy merchandise, to cosplayers, or even music lovers. The Family AnimeFesta area welcomes children so they can also enjoy the event with their family.
📅 March 22-23, 2024
📍 Tokyo, Japan
🎟️ ¥2,500 (tax included) per day
Motion Plus Design Seoul
On 27 September, the Motion Plus Design creative conference will take place in Seoul, South Korea, with an inspiring line-up of speakers including Danaé Gosset, Ash Thorp, Haram Jung, Nahuel Salcedo, Doyoung Kwon, Curry Tian and Takayuki Sato.
📅 September 27, 2024
📍 Seoul, South Korea
Trojan Horse was a Unicorn
THU Storytelling is a 3-day immersive experience in Kaga City. Bring your most authentic stories to life during this bootcamp, with the best storytellers in the world. With senseis Tim Miller, Geof Darrow, Simon Lee, Jenova Chen and many more to be announced.
📅 September 17-20, 2025
📍 Kaga City, Japan.
🎟️ From €650
SIGGRAPHAsia
The annual event SIGGRAPHAsia, rotates around the Asian region, attracts the most respected technical and creative people from all over the world who are excited by research, science, art, animation, gaming, interactivity, education, and emerging technologies.
SIGGRAPH Asia 2025 Computer Animation Festival will convene to celebrate the vibrant, diverse, and inspiring world of computer animation. This year’s festival promises its most comprehensive and compelling program, from short films to scientific visualizations to AI-enhanced deep fakes.
📅 December 15-18, 2025
📍 Hong Kong, Hong Kong
🎟️ TBA
Oceania
Camp Mograph Australia
Camp Mograph Australia is a one-of-a-kind retreat crafted for the community of motion graphics enthusiasts Down Under. They bring together animators, motion designers, and VFX artists for four days of creativity, collaboration, and adventure in the great outdoors.
At its heart, Camp Mograph Australia is about creating a space where the motion graphics community can come together to share, learn, and inspire one another. It’s an environment where professionals at every level can exchange insights, explore new ideas, and spark collaborations in a supportive setting.
📅 TBA
📍 Redland Bay, Australia
Node Fest
Node Fest in Melbourne is the premier motion design event in Australia and New Zealand, celebrating the best designers, animators, and digital professionals in the field. It serves as a showcase for motion graphics and animation work, offers industry insights, and fosters networking and collaboration among creatives. The event features talks and presentations by leading motion designers, workshops, awards (NodeFest Ident Awards), and an afterparty for socializing. It is held at the iconic Capitol Theatre in Melbourne and provides inspiration, education, and connection opportunities for motion design professionals and enthusiasts.
📅 November 28, 2025
📍 Melbourne, Australia
North America
Motion Plus Design New York
Motion Plus Design New York new city in the Motion Plus Design series. Motion Plus Design promotes the art of motion design across the world by creating international events and sharing its best resources. Motion Plus Design invites the cream of the crop of the best worldwide Motion Designers for one full day of talks.
📅 June 14, 2025
📍 New York City, USA
🎟️ TBA
SIGGRAPH
At SIGGRAPH 2025, you’ll experience five days of breakthroughs, techniques, networking opportunities, and cutting-edge ideas to inspire another year of research, development, creativity, and production.
📅 August 10-14, 2025
📍 Vancouver, Canada
🎟️ TBA
Camp Mograph
Camp Mograph is not just another industry event; it's a unique creative retreat designed for motion designers and artists looking to learn, connect and recharge. It offers a hands-on, unplugged and stress-free environment where attendees can take a break from screens and immerse themselves in creativity, collaboration and community.
Through daily workshops, evening fireside chats and meaningful conversations, attendees engage with some of the most talented minds in the industry, building real connections that last far beyond the event. Whether you’re an experienced professional or just starting out, Camp Mograph is your chance to learn something new, meet incredible people, and experience the motion design industry in a whole new way.
📅 September 11-15, 2025
📍 Virginia Beach, USA
Pictoplasma NYC
Pictoplasma NYC — is an annual conference focused on contemporary character design and art. Originating from Berlin, this event serves as a hub for artists, illustrators, designers, and animators to explore innovative approaches to character creation. It features:
- Artist Talks and Lectures: Presentations by influential artists and emerging talents in fields like animation, graphic design, toy creation, and game development.
- Networking Opportunities: A gathering point for over 500 international attendees to connect with peers and industry leaders.
- Film Screenings: Showcasing animated shorts filled with creative storytelling and visual artistry.
- Workshops and Portfolio Reviews: Sessions designed to inspire creativity and provide professional feedback.
The event offers virtual participation through live streams and on-demand access for global attendees.
📅 September 25, 2025
📍 New York City, USA
🎟️ TBA
Adobe Max - The Creativity Conference
Adobe MAX – The Creativity Conference is a leading annual event for creatives. It will be held in Los Angeles and online from 28–30 October 2025. The event inspires and educates designers, illustrators, photographers, social media content creators, video professionals and anyone interested in 3D and generative AI tools. The conference offers over 200 sessions, labs, keynotes, Sneaks (previews of new innovations), as well as super sessions featuring luminaries and creativity experts, and ample networking opportunities. It showcases the latest developments in Adobe products, particularly those related to AI, Creative Cloud, Adobe Firefly and Adobe Express.
Preconference courses offering in-depth training are also available on 26–27 October. Attendees can participate in person or online, with the online experience offering free access to key sessions. The event provides a platform for building skills, finding inspiration, and fostering connections within the creative industry.
📅 October 28-30, 2025
📍 Los Angeles, USA and online
🎟️ From US$600
HalfRez
HalfRez is a one-day celebration of motion design in Chicago, created by and for artists. Every year, hundreds of motion designers, animators, producers, students and studio teams come together for a day-long event comprising: Creative Sessions in the afternoon, featuring presentations and insights from industry experts, followed by the Half Rez Party at night. The goal is simple: to help people learn something useful, meet collaborators and feel at home in a friendly, nerdy and welcoming community.
Half Rez is a labour of love for the volunteer committee members who run it as a not-for-profit organisation, putting every penny towards the event.
📅 September 12, 2025
📍 Chicago, IL, USA
South America
Anymotion Festival
The festival of motion, creativity and inspiration made for you! The event aims to motivate, demystify, and inspire all who are involved or intend to integrate into the niche. It's an opportunity for you to come together in an informal and intimate environment, where they can meet friends, partners, idols, and even expand their networks.
📅 October 17-19, 2025
📍 São Paulo, Brazil
The Pixel Show
This yearly event is the largest creative festival in Latin America. Organized by Zupi Magazine, The Pixel Show brings together incredible artists in illustration, motion graphics, graphic design, comics, CG, VFX, and more together for an amazing event. With over thousands of attendees each year, this event is a must for those in the Sao Paulo area of Brazil.
📅 November 28-30, 2025
📍 São Paulo, Brazil
🎟️ Partly free, partly paid.
Africa
Animatex
Animatex is Egypt's largest annual animation event. It was founded in 2020 with a focus on bringing together all artists working in the animation industry in Egypt.
It aims to be the platform for all things animation in Egypt, and a space to showcase all aspects and components of animation art, to facilitate networking and collaboration between these different components, and - in time - to elevate the field of animation art in Egypt to an international level.
📅 February 20-25, 2025
📍 Cairo, Egypt
🎟️ Partly free, partly paid.
That’s it for animation and motion design festivals!
I would love to hear from you! Let me know what your favourite event is. If you’re planning to attend any of the listed events and have any questions, please email me or send me a direct message on Instagram. I'm always happy to help.
If you want to share your experience, let me know. Happy to share your story.
Are you missing an event in this newsletter, feel free to submit it, I'll review and update this post.
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