Industry insiders join outlandishly-dressed fans in attending this year's colorful China International Cartoon & Animation Festival, Xu Fan reports.

It was a rainy morning, but I felt as if I had woken up in a dream world as I peered through the window of my Hangzhou hotel room to see hoards of costume-clad fantasy aficionados waiting in long lines to enter the expo hall of the 15th China International Cartoon & Animation Festival.

Amid this sea of outlandishly-dressed enthusiasts－some of whom could be seen lugging suitcases filled with a diverse array of wigs, clothes and makeup items－I could make out a Spider-Man, a Fox Spirit (a character from the 2018 China-US film White Snake) and a dozen other popular fantasy figures acted out by role-playing fans.

It was April 30, the first day of the six-day annual festival, the largest and most influential of its kind in China.

Serving for years as a carnival to celebrate comics and animation culture, the festival－which takes place in 13 venues across Hangzhou in Zhejiang province－attracted nearly 1.44 million visitors and banked over 2.52 billion yuan ($374 million) during the recent May Day holiday.