LepreCon is an annual science fiction convention with an emphasis on art held in and around Phoenix, Arizona usually in May around Mother's Day weekend. It is the second oldest science fiction convention in Arizona. It is sponsored by LepreCon, Inc., an Arizona non-profit corporation. LepreCon 43 was held July 1–4, 2017; in November, 2017, LepreCon, Inc. chose to cancel LepreCon 44 in the previously announced format as the Phoenix Sci-Fi & Fantasy Art Expo, which had been scheduled for March 2018 at the Unexpected Art Gallery.

History

The early LepreCon conventions were held around

St. Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

weekend, thus giving birth to the name of the convention, a pun on leprechaun. As the tourist season expanded in Arizona, the normal dates for the convention moved into the May time frame with an occasional foray into June. Leprecon, Inc. is an Arizona

non-profit corporation A nonprofit corporation is any legal entity which has been Incorporation (business), incorporated under the law of its jurisdiction for purposes other than making profits for its owners or shareholders. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, a ...

that sponsors the annual LepreCon conventions. Leprecon, Inc. has also sponsored the 2004 World Horror Convention, the 2004 World Fantasy Convention, the 2006 Nebula Awards, the 62nd annual Westercon in 2009 (also called FiestaCon) and held the first ever North American Discworld Convention in 2009. Because of these special events LepreCon 35 (2009) was a fan gathering, or

relaxacon A relaxacon (sometimes relaxicon) is a science fiction convention which has little programming, and is unlikely to have a dealer's room, as the point of a relaxacon is the organizers can ''relax'' during the convention. It usually does not have a ...

. LepreCon 36 (2010) returned as a traditional LepreCon. In 2011 at Renovation (Worldcon 2011) in Reno, NV, Leprecon Inc announced a bid to host the 2014 North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFiC) should London, UK, win their 2014 Worldcon Bid. At Chicon 7 (Worldcon 2012 in Chicago, IL) London did win their bid and Phoenix In 2014 NASFiC Bid became official (www.phoenixin2014.org). The vote for NASFiC 2014 and Worldcon 2015 will be held at Worldcon 2013 (LoneStarCon 3 in San Antonio, TX). In 2012 Leprecon Inc decided to start a gaming convention, ConFlagration (www.conflag.org). It was held June 25–27, 2012, at Tempe Mission Palms Hotel in Tempe, Arizona. The convention broke even and the organization is debating whether to continue running them annually. Leprecon, Inc. decided to make the convention have an emphasis on art, with the artist guest being given top billing as well as featuring a local artist guest. Starting in 2005 with LepreCon 31, the LepreCon film festival was started to provide an additional focus on filmmaking. Leprecon Guests of Honor read like a Who's Who of science fiction and

fantasy artist Fantastic art is a broad and loosely defined art genre. It is not restricted to a specific school of artists, geographical location or historical period. It can be characterised by subject matter – which portrays non-realistic, mystical, myt ...

s and

authors An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. Past artist guests include Frank Kelly Freas, Michael Whelan, Phil Foglio, Donato Giancola, Janny Wurts, Don Maitz, Liz Danforth, Stephen Hickman, Bob Eggleton, Larry Elmore, Alan A. Clark, Dave Dorman, Jael, Howard Tayler, Monte M Moore, Lubov, Kevin Ward, Laura Brodian Freas, Sue Dawe, Rowena Morrill, Jim Fitzpatrick, Richard Hescox, Alan Gutierrez, Kim Poor, Lela Dowling, Real Musgrave, George Barr, Alicia Austin. Author guests have included Marion Zimmer Bradley, Roger Zelazny, Gordon R. Dickson,

Ray Feist Raymond Elias Feist (; born Raymond Elias Gonzales III; December 21, 1945) is an American fantasy fiction author who wrote ''The Riftwar Cycle'', a series of novels and short stories. His books have been translated into multiple languages and ha ...

, Larry Niven, Robert Silverberg, Poul Anderson, Jack Williamson, Chelsea Quinn Yabro, Tim Powers,

David Drake David A. Drake (born September 24, 1945) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a lawyer, he is now a writer in the military science fiction genre. Biography Drake graduated Phi ...

, and

Kevin J. Anderson Kevin James Anderson (born March 27, 1962) is an American science fiction author. He has written spin-off novels for ''Star Wars'', ''StarCraft'', ''Titan A.E.'' and ''The X-Files literature#Novels, The X-Files'', and with Brian Herbert is the ...

. With 2020 being cancelled resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the 46th was deferred to 2021.

Guests of Honor

Awards and honors

In 2010, '' Phoenix New Times'' declared LepreCon "Best Sci-Fi Convention" in its annual Best of Phoenix awards.

References

External links

The Leprecon, Inc. website

The LepreCon 39 website

The FiestaCon website

The North American Discworld Convention website

The Phoenix In 2014 NASFiC Bid website

The 2012 ConFlagration website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leprecon 1974 establishments in Arizona Science fiction conventions in the United States Festivals in Phoenix, Arizona Festivals established in 1974