Eastercon

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Eastercon is the common name for the annual British national science fiction convention. The convention is organised by voluntary self-organising committees, rather than a permanent entity.

Eastercon attracts 800-1200 fans of science fiction, fantasy and similar genres. Programme events usually include panels, workshops, talks, quizzes, competitions, an art show, and a Dealers room selling books and other items. Events range from hard science through writing workshops to the fun and silly. People are encouraged to take part.^[1]

The very first British science-fiction convention was held in Leeds on 3 January 1937. Similar events were held in London on 10 April 1938 and 21 May 1939, Leicester as "Midvention" over the Easter bank holiday weekend of 23–26 April 1943, and in London over the Easter weekend of 8–9 April 1944.^[2]

Eastercon sees its first official convention as being held in 1948 in London. It was held over the three-day Whitsun bank holiday at the end of May with an attendance of 50 people. The conventions were held annually over Whitsun until the 1960s, when the decision was made to move the event to the four-day Easter holiday.

The pre-1960s conventions are generally considered to have been "Eastercons" even though they were not held over Easter.^[3]

Eastercons are fan-run/not-for-profit events, with the money raised by membership, advertising, etc., spent on running the convention. It is traditional that any surplus is used for the benefit of the convention members, fandom in general or donated to charity. This may include sponsoring items at other conventions, buying equipment for use by other conventions, donating to the RNIB to get works of SF literature converted to talking books for the blind, donating to the Science Fiction Foundation to fund a variety of educational projects relating to science fiction, and funding international fan visits (often through The League of Fan Funds).

Groups of fans (typically 5-8 in number) get together to form "bid committees" and plan where they want to hold the Eastercon, who they want to be their guests of honour, what the theme of the convention will be, etc. They circulate their proposals and the winning bid is chosen by a vote among the people who attend the bid session at the Eastercon two years in advance, or one year if no bid was successful at the bid session two years out. Until the early 1990s, there were commonly several bids to hold the Eastercon, but organising this event involves a lot of resources, and now it is normal for there to be only one serious bid - Reclamation in 2022 saw the first contested bid (for 2023) in some 30 years.

The Doc Weir award is voted on and presented each year at Eastercon to an "unsung hero" of British fandom.^[4]

The George Hay Memorial Lecture, a presentation on a scientific topic by an invited speaker, has been held every Eastercon since 2Kon in 2000. The lecturer and subject are selected and paid for by the Science Fiction Foundation who offer this programme item to each year's Eastercon. Since 2009 the British Science Fiction Association has presented a similar lecture and an award, drawing speakers from the arts and humanities.^[5]

In 2003 at Seacon, a fan offered to obtain the UK trademark for "Eastercon" on behalf of UK fandom and this was agreed by that year's convention. This trademark was subsequently obtained, meaning that any group that now wants to use the "Eastercon" name must obtain permission from the trademark holder first.^[6]

^[9] Notes:

• Early conventions did not always have a particular name, and sometimes were given a name retrospectively when another Eastercon was held in the same town, eg, Brumcon only acquired its name when Brumcon II was held.
• The 1957 convention held in Kettering has acquired a semi-mythical status among British fandom, as there does not appear to be any surviving contemporary documentation from the con itself; however, there is just enough evidence from fanzines of the time and other fan memorabilia to suggest that it did, in fact, take place.
• The official numbering of the conventions has been somewhat adjusted, following the naming of the 1972 convention as "Eastercon 22" which necessitated the counting of 21 previous Eastercons, which is why the 1951 Festivention is not counted.
• Convoy, the 2007 Eastercon elected by members of Concussion, was cancelled at the end of October 2006. Contemplation was formed at the 2006 Novacon by Chris O'Shea and Fran Dowd as a very short notice emergency replacement. Convoy's guests of honour were invited to attend, and Sharyn November initially accepted, but she was ultimately unable to attend due to work commitments.
• Pasgon was elected at Dysprosium to be the 2017 Eastercon to be held in Cardiff, but had to be cancelled in March 2016 due to issues with its planned venue. Eastercon 2017/Innominate in Birmingham was elected in its place at Mancunicon.
• The 2020 convention, Concentric was cancelled less than a month before it was scheduled, due to recently announced UK Government guidelines related to the coronavirus pandemic. An online bidding session was held, with ConFusion selected for the 2021 Eastercon. 846 members had registered before the convention was cancelled.
• The 2021 Eastercon, ConFusion was originally planned as an in person event, but was converted to an online event when it became clear that an in person convention would not be possible. 466 people took part in the online convention.
• The 2022 convention, Reclamation had 797 registered members.^[10] 659 were physically present. 80 people viewed streamed panels, 41 of those were not present at the convention.
• The 2024 Convention was the first to be held at the ICC Telford, and marked a divergence from tradition, in that the convention was only the second to be held in a conference centre rather than in a hotel; the first was 2004 (Blackpool) which was held at the Winter Gardens.
• The 2025 Convention was the first to be held on the island of Ireland.
• Virtual/Online attendance shown in parenthesis where available.

• Eastercon.org - the central Eastercon website
• Eastercon Trademark - FAQ (Revised 2013)
• THE WHITCON (1948) - surviving documents of the first 'Eastercon' before they became Eastercons
• SciCon70 - the 1970 Eastercon
• Convoy - the cancelled 2007 Eastercon (see Contemplation above)
• Illustrious 2011 - the 2011 Eastercon
• Olympus 2012 - the 2012 Eastercon
• EightSquaredCon - the 2013 Eastercon
• Satellite 4 - the 2014 Eastercon
• Running the Eastercon - a "how to run an Eastercon" guide by Steve Davies, Chair of Reconvene
• The Conbledegook File - a glossary of Eastercon related jargon
• Where's the Eastercon? Archived 3 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine - a link to the current venue via what3words.com