Thousands of anime fans are expected to descend on Warm Springs/South Fremont Station next month as BART brings back its Let's Glow! anime festival for a second year, this time with over 100 artists, a fleet of anime-wrapped cars, and a virtual pop concert. The free event runs from 4 PM to 9 PM on September 19, and organizers are betting it will top last year's surprise turnout.
BART is framing the festival as a celebration of anime, art, music, cosplay, and transit fandom, inviting fans to join thousands of others at the station, according to a post from BART announcing the event. The 2026 edition builds on the inaugural festival, which drew more than 4,000 attendees in 2025, according to Bay Area Rapid Transit. This year's programming expands well beyond last year's footprint, with an Artist Alley featuring more than 100 creators, an itasha exhibit showcasing over 50 anime-wrapped vehicles, a wotagei fan-dance workshop led by performance group SanFlare, and a virtual concert produced by Neon Shrine featuring J-pop VTuber cover artists.
Come celebrate anime, art, music, cosplay and transit fandom with thousands of fellow fans. Let’s Glow! pic.twitter.com/qefwW0l6WI
— BART (@SFBART) August 14, 2026
A Marketing Bet on Gen Z Riders
The anime push is not just a fun weekend distraction — it is part of a deliberate strategy to win over younger riders as BART works to recover from pandemic-era declines in weekday commuter fare revenue. BART built its anime outreach project after internal analysis found that nearly half of Gen Z in the United States watches anime, identifying younger riders as key to the system's long-term ridership recovery, per the Fremont Patch's reporting on the transit agency's rationale. The strategy echoes tactics used by transit systems in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, which have long relied on cute mascots to build public affinity and brand loyalty starting at a young age, according to Oakland North's coverage of BART's marketing approach.
BART's mascot roster dates back to May 2023, when the agency introduced five original anime characters — Baylee, Nimbus, Jasmine, Mira, and BARTy — at FanimeCon in San Jose. The designs were chosen from nearly 500 entries submitted by California artists during a 2022 open call, Contra Costa News reported at the time. The characters are grounded in real BART operations; Baylee, for instance, was inspired by the actual goats BART hires to graze trackside vegetation and reduce wildfire risk, a detail highlighted by Jalopnik in its coverage of the mascot debut.
Getting There and Rider Perks
Attendees can take BART directly to the festival, and the transit agency is encouraging fans to park at nearby stations rather than at Warm Springs/South Fremont itself, which has extremely limited parking. Fremont Station and Union City Station both offer free parking, while Milpitas Station and Berryessa/North San Jose Station offer paid parking options. Riders arriving by train can also pick up an exclusive BART anime giveaway, continuing a tradition from the first festival, when the initial 50 attendees who arrived by train received light sticks as a direct incentive to ride rail instead of driving, per Bay Area Rapid Transit's account of the 2025 event.
Fans hoping to cosplay at the festival should take note of one firm rule: BART enforces a zero-tolerance policy on prop weapons of any kind on event grounds, a restriction the agency says is necessary to maintain security on active railway property. Costume creativity is otherwise welcome, but replica swords, guns, and similar props will not make it past the gate.
From Fandom to Merchandise
The mascot branding has also become a modest revenue stream in its own right. BART sells official enamel pins, acrylic standees, and stickers featuring its anime characters online through its Railgoods store, as well as in person at its Lake Merritt Station customer service center. It's a small but tangible way the promotional characters are converted into direct financial support for the transit district.
The festival's return also comes just weeks after riders in the area dealt with a stretch of disrupted weekend service. Ahead of the festival, BART carried out major track replacement work near Warm Springs/South Fremont Station that required weekend shutdowns and AC Transit replacement bus bridges, as Hoodline reported in its piece on the weekend train freeze affecting the station. Whether that maintenance work is fully wrapped up by September 19 was not addressed in BART's festival announcement, but the timing underscores the balancing act facing the transit agency as it tries to pair playful youth outreach with the more mundane demands of keeping trains running reliably across the system.
