Finncon

Summary

Finncon is the largest science fiction convention in Finland and, with up to 15,000 participants, one of the largest SF conventions in Europe. Finncon is unique among SF conventions because it has no participation/membership fee, and is funded primarily on various cultural grants as well as income from traders. The event is organised annually in different cities in Finland.

Finncon
The Guests of Honour of Finncon 2007.
GenreSpeculative fiction
Location(s)varies between Helsinki, Turku, Jyväskylä and Tampere
CountryFinland
Inaugurated1986
Attendance3000–15000
Organized byFinncon-yhdistys ry
Websitehttp://www.finncon.org/

From 2003 to 2009 and in 2011 the convention included the anime convention Animecon, which boosted the convention's attendance and public visibility significantly. Since then the conventions have separated, and the future of the Finnish Animecon is currently uncertain beyond the 2011 combined Finncon-Animecon.

Finncon alternates between different cities in Finland without a formal rota. Recently the event has been held almost every year, but occasionally a year is skipped if no city is found to host the event that year.

Finncons edit

ordinal number year dates city guests of honour notes
1 1986 Helsinki Brian Aldiss
2 1989 Helsinki John Brunner, Tom Ölander
3 1991 Helsinki Iain Banks
4 1993 Helsinki Terry Pratchett, Bryan Talbot
5 1995 Jyväskylä Bruce Sterling, Vonda McIntyre, Storm Constantine
6 1997 Helsinki Norman Spinrad, Ian McDonald
7 1999 Turku Connie Willis, Philip Pullman
8 2000 Helsinki Neil Gaiman, Stephen Baxter, Ken MacLeod
9 2001 Jyväskylä Jonathan Carroll, David Langford, Stelarc, Richard Stallman, Johanna Sinisalo also the year's Baltcon
10 2003 Turku Michael Swanwick, Jonathan Clements, Steve Sansweet, Karolina Bjällerstedt Mickos, Bjørn Tore Sund, Boris Hurtta also the year's Eurocon, Baltcon, and Animecon
11 2004 Jyväskylä Robin Hobb, Gwyneth Jones, John Clute, Cheryl Morgan also the year's Animecon
12 2006 18–20 August Helsinki Jeff VanderMeer, Risto Isomäki, Justina Robson, Rickard Berghorn also the year's Animecon
13 2007 14–15 July Jyväskylä Ellen Datlow, Joe Haldeman, Gay Haldeman, Elizabeth Hand, Cheryl Morgan, Ben Roimola also the year's Animecon
14 2008 26–27 July Tampere Petri Hiltunen, Charles Vess, Farah Mendlesohn, M. John Harrison also the year's Animecon
15 2009 10–12 July Helsinki George R. R. Martin, Alastair Reynolds, Adam Roberts, Jari Lehtinen also the year's Animecon
16 2010 17–18 July Jyväskylä Ellen Kushner, Pat Cadigan, Sari Peltoniemi, Liisa Rantalaiho
17 2011 15–17 July Turku Nalo Hopkinson, Richard Morgan, Himeka, Yukihiro Notsu also the year's Animecon
18 2012 20–22 July Tampere Lois McMaster Bujold, Liz Williams, Irma Hirsjärvi
19 2013 5–7 July Helsinki Aliette de Bodard, J. Pekka Mäkelä, Peter Watts, Stefan Ekman
20 2014 11–13 July Jyväskylä Elizabeth Bear, Hannu Rajaniemi, Jukka Halme
21 2016 1–3 July Tampere Jasper Fforde, Anne Leinonen, Catherynne M. Valente, Eeva-Liisa Tenhunen
22 2018 14–15 July Turku Lauren Beukes, Maria Turtschaninoff, Merja Polvinen
23 2019 5–7 July Jyväskylä Charles Stross, Kersti Juva, Raine Koskimaa, Cheryl Morgan
24 2020 10–12 July Tampere (virtual) Mike Carey, Helena Waris, Diane Duane, Vesa Sisättö, Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay
25 2022 8–10 July Espoo Marianna Leikomaa, Malka Older, Magdalena Hai, Marko Hautala
26 2023 7–9 July Tampere Diane Duane, Helena Waris, Vesa Sisättö, Marek Oziewicz upcoming

External links edit

  • Finncon website
  • Finncon 2018