VCON is a fan run fantasy, gaming, and

science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction subgenre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of ex ...

held annually in the metro

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

area of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It has been hosted by the West Coast Science Fiction Association (WCSFA) since 1993, and by the Western Canadian Science Fiction Convention Committee Association (WCSFCCA) before that.

History

VCON is the oldest fan run science fiction convention across

and in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

, spawning other fan run conventions in these regions (especially the Pacific Northwest) including

Norwescon Norwescon is one of the largest regional science fiction and fantasy conventions in the United States. Located in SeaTac in Washington state, Norwescon has been running continuously since 1978. "Norwescon" was also the name of the 8th World S ...

OryCon Orycon is Portland, Oregon's annual science fiction/fantasy convention, held in November since 1979. Event history {, class="wikitable" width="100%" , - ! Event !! Dates !! Guests !! Attendance !! Notes , - , OryCon 0 , Nov 11, 1978 , No GOH ...

, Con-Version and KeyCon. The first "VCON" (which was actually called the Vancouver SF Convention) was held April 9 and 10, 1971 at the Hotel Georgia in Vancouver with

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin ( ; Kroeber; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author. She is best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the ''Earthsea'' fantas ...

as Guest of Honour. Its sponsoring organisations included the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

Science Fiction Society (UBC SFFEN), the B.C. Science Fiction Association (an offshoot of the UBC club) and the

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

Science Fiction Society (SF3). Although 2011 was the 40th anniversary of the first VCON event, the event held in that year was VCON 37. This oddity in numbering occurred as a result of two things: # For several years in the mid-1990s no official VCON event was held (though it was sometimes replaced by another WCSFA sponsored event without the VCON name, such as "The Science of Murder" in 1994 and "The Science of Survival" in 1995) # Due to various time and resource constraints there were two VCON events that were deliberately organized to be smaller and more intimate and which were given the "half numbers" of 18.5 and 19.5. VCON has hosted Canvention, Canada's national science fiction convention several times: VCON 14/Canvention 6 in 1986, VCON 26/Canvention 21 in 2001, VCON 32/Canvention 27 in 2007, and VCON 39/Canvention 34 in 2014. VCON has also hosted two

Westercon Westercon (occasionally WesterCon; long version West Coast Science Fantasy Conference) is a regional science fiction and fantasy convention founded in September 1948 by Walter J. Daugherty of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society. The original ...

, the travelling science fiction convention for Western North America, with Westercon 30/VCON 7 in 1977 and Westercon 44/VCON 19 in 1991.

Schedule

VCON is held on the

Canadian Thanksgiving Thanksgiving () or Thanksgiving Day (), is an annual Canadian holiday held on the second Monday in October. Outside the country, it may be referred to as Canadian Thanksgiving to distinguish it from the American holiday of the same name and ...

long weekend (the observed Canadian Thanksgiving holiday is always the second Monday in October). The registration desk and the member hospitality room opens at noon on Friday, with programming starting in the mid-afternoon, and the event continues until early Sunday evening.

Features

Highlights include discussion panels, an art show, dealers’ tables, authors’ readings, game room, book launches, workshops, crafts, and a costume contest. VCON features a large art show, with original 2-D and 3-D work and prints by both professional and fan artists, as well as workshops and demonstrations by featured artists. Since the 1990s, there have also been two or more rooms devoted to tabletop and console (video) gaming. The VCON spoof award, the Elron, is presented and selected passages of

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

are publicly read. R. Graeme Cameron, president of the British Columbia Science Fiction Association (BCSFA), has stated that the name "Elron" is not an allusion to science-fiction writer

L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author and the founder of Scientology. A prolific writer of pulp science fiction and fantasy novels in his early career, in 1950 he authored the pseudoscie ...

. The awards are reported each year in the BCSFA's

science fiction fanzine A science-fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science-fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day. They were one of the earliest forms of fanzine, within one of which the term "''fanzine''" ...

''BCSFAzine''. During the Turkey Readings, panelists read selections from the worst published science fiction and fantasy fiction. Volunteers act out the story being read, and artists make a poster. Audience members can bid to make the reading stop or bid higher for the reading to continue. Funds raised go t
CUFF
the Canadian Unity Fan Fund. VCON has hosted the

Aurora Awards The Aurora Awards () are a set of primarily literary awards given annually for the best Canadian science fiction or fantasy professional and fan works and achievements from the previous year."Literary glow of Auroras lures galaxy of sci/fi stars". ...

ceremony six times, most recently in 2018. VCON has a hospitality bar, room parties, and a Dead Dog party to celebrate the end of the convention.

Guests of Honour

References

External links