Hello Kitty is turning 40 this year, and she's celebrating in LA with a very big party.
The iconic character is having her first-ever official Hello Kitty Convention in Downtown LA Thursday through Sunday at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Hello Kitty Con 2014 features a tattoo shop, fashion exhibit, lectures, workshops and photo ops, according to press releases. Thousands of people are expected at the four-day festival, which his sold out.
Created 40 years ago as a characater for a coin purse, Hello Kitty has become an international celebrity, in what one anthropologist as called "pink globalization."
Recently revealed to be a girl -- not the bobtail cat many know her as -- Hello Kitty is having a moment in LA. Little Tokyo's Japanese American National Museum is holding a major retrospective of Hello Kitty-themed objects, while cafes and restaurants are stashing Hello Kitty pins for a city-wide scavanger hunt held through November 21.
