Icon Festival Tangled in Red Tape
Icon Festival (Tel Aviv, Israel, 2023 dates not announced yet) has published an appeal for help on Facebook and Twitter. Readers are cautioned that the following details have been gleaned from machine translation. (SMOF News has attempted to contact Icon for clarifications but had not heard back by press time.)
Icon and its sister convention Olamot (Tel Aviv, April 9-10) have become subject to business licensing regulations they were previously exempt from. This has added additional costs and complexity and led to volunteer attrition.
Icon and Olamot are ideally seeking help from a lawyer or other professional with experience with these regulations to help ease the burden. Failing that, they are looking for new volunteers and additional funding. Fans can contribute money by buying a membership in the Israeli Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy.
If these regulations apply to all fan conventions, they are likely to affect the bid to hold the World Science Fiction Convention in Tel Aviv in 2027 as well.
The new requirement was first applied to last year’s Icon (October 11-13) and thus completely predates the current Israeli government and its associated political upheaval.
In Brief
At Corflu Craic in Belfast last weekend, Tony Berry was selected as the Guest of Honor by the traditional random draw from those attending. Nigel Rowe and John D. Berry were elected past presidents of the Fan Writers’ Association. Corflu 41 will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Indiana Comic Convention (Indianapolis, Indiana, May 5-7) has added Cooper Andrews, Khary Payton, T. C. Carson, Sarah Wiedenheft, and Aaron Dismuke as guests.
FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 21-23) has added Quinton Aaron as a guest.
SMOF News now has a presence on Mastodon.
Event Calendar
Weekend of April 7-9
Conversation 2023 (UK national sf convention), London, UK
Minicon 56, Saint Louis Park, Minnesota, USA
Norwescon 45: Between Two Worlds, SeaTac, Washington, USA
Olamot, Tel Aviv, Israel
Fastaval '23, Hobro, Denmark
Golden State Fur Con (anthropomorphic), Los Angeles, California, USA
Fur Squared 2023 (anthropomorphic), Brookfield, Wisconsin, USA
Fauntastic 2023: Wild in the Street (anthropomorphic), Lyon, France
Clockwork Alchemy: Villains & Heroes (steampunk), San Mateo, California, USA
GothCon XLVI (gaming), Göteborg, Sweden
DaveCon (gaming), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
Conquest Games Convention (RPGs), Melbourne, Australia
Scrum Con (wargaming), Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
WeebCon Year 3 (anime), Grapevine, Texas, USA
MTAC Blackjack (anime), Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Anime Detour, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Anime Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Karoshi-Con (anime), DeKalb, Illinois, USA
Kanpai!Con (anime), Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Sakura-Con 2023 (anime), Seattle, Washington, USA
Puerto Rico Comic Con, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA
BABSCon 2023 (My Little Pony), Burlingame, California, USA
Star Wars Celebration 2023, Anaheim, California, USA
Weekend of April 14-16
Swancon 47, Maylands, Australia
HAL-CON 2023, Kawasaki, Japan
Les Intergalactiques 2023, Lyon, France
221B Con (Sherlock Holmes), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Las Vegas Fur Con 2023: The Enfurtainment Capital of the World, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Jack Williamson Lectureship 2023: Climates of Empire, Portales, New Mexico, USA
Conpulsion 2023 (gaming), Edinburgh, UK
MEPACON (gaming), Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
CODCON XXVI (gaming), Glen Ellyn, Illinois, USA
Jeu au Boute (boardgames), Chertsey, Québec, Canada
VGM Con: Oops, All Zelda (videogames/music), Plymouth, Minnnesota, USA
Harucon (anime), Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Austria
Riverwalk Anime, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Comic-Con Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Bold City Con (media), Jacksonville, Florida, USA
SC Comicon, Greenville, South Carolina, USA
Quad Cities Comic Con, Davenport, Iowa, USA
Supanova 2023 – Gold Coast (media), Broadbeach, Australia
Dairycon 2023: The Moo Generation (Transformers), Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, USA
Weekend of April 21-23
RavenCon 16, Richmond, Virginia, USA
ConStellation 12: Age of Aquarius, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
HELIOsphere, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
LuxCon 2023, Dudelange, Luxembourg
Concinnity 2023, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
JordanCon (fantasy literature), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention, Lombard, Illinois, USA
Penguicon 2023 (sf/open source), Southfield, Michigan, USA
Costume-Con 39: Things That Go Bump in the Night, San Jose, California, USA
Farmageddon IX (gaming), Farmer City, Illinois, USA
Cheyenne Gaming Convention, Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA
Rising Phoenix GameCon, Milford, Massachusetts, USA
LexiCon 2023 (gaming), Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Jeu au Boute (boardgames), Chertsey, Québec, Canada
Nashville Tabletop Day 2023 (boardgames), Nashville, Tennessee, USA
CoMo Retro Con (retro video games), Columbia, Missouri, USA
Omnicon Symphony (anime), Cookeville, Tennessee, USA
Mang’Azur (anime), Toulon, France
Anime St. Louis, St. Charles, Missouri, USA
Saluki Con (anime), Carbondale, Illinois, USA
Mobile Bay Anime Festival, Daphne, Alabama, USA
Anime Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Anime Town Utah, Sandy, Utah, USA
FicZone 2023 (anime), Granada, Spain
Beta Quest 2023 (anime), Kingsland, Georgia, USA
Ithacon 2023 (comics), Ithaca, New York, USA
Sci-Fi Scarborough (media), Scarborough, UK
Yellow City Comic Con 2023, Amarillo, Texas, USA
Fayetteville Comic Con, Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
El Paso Comic Con, El Paso, Texas, USA
Wicked Comic Con, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Supanova 2023 – Melbourne (media), Broadbeach, Australia
PortmeiriCon (The Prisoner), Portmeirion, UK
Weekend of April 28-30
Tulkon, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
OmegaCon (relaxacon), Siren, Wisconsin, USA
Ice and Fire Convention (Song of Ice and Fire series), Mt. Sterling, Ohio, USA
Scheibenwelt Convention (Discworld), Witzenhausen, Germany
Malice Domestic 35 (mysteries), Bethesda, Maryland, USA
UBCon XXXII (gaming), Buffalo, New York, USA
Chupacabracon IX (gaming), Round Rock, Texas, USA
2023 Gaming Hoopla, Mundelein, Illinois, USA
Buckeye Game Fest 2023, Columbus, Ohio, USA
LoBsterCon XXIV: Couple Dozen (boardgames), Eastbourne, UK
LAN All Night VII: SpaceLAN (LAN gaming), Grapevine, Texas, USA
Recon 2023: Infantry! (miniatures gaming), Kissimmee, Florida, USA
Little Wars 2023: Damn the Torpedoes! (miniatures gaming), Lisle, Illinois, USA
Warhammer Fest 2023 (Warhammer miniatures game), Manchester, UK
aniMUC (anime), Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany
Castle Point Anime Convention, Seacaucus, New Jersey, USA
LoboCon (anime), Rohnert Park, California, USA
Heroes Made in Asia (anime), Gorinchem, Netherlands
Oz-Con (anime), West Plains, Missouri, USA
Manga-Comic-Con, Leipzig, Germany
MondoCon 2023 (anime), Budapest, Hungary
ExpOtaku Vitoria-Gasteiz 2023 (anime), Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Fangaea (media), San Diego, California, USA
Causeacon (media), Beckley, West Virginia, USA
Mini-Mini Con (media), Balcones Heights, Texas, USA
ASU Nerd Con (media), Boone, North Carolina, USA
Central Texas Comic Con, Waco, Texas, USA
Weekend of May 5-7
Starbase DemiCon: A New World, Urbandale, Iowa, USA
Na meji nevidnega, Ljubljana, Slovenia
AtomaCon 2023, North Charleston, South Carolina, USA
ChupacabraCon IX (gaming), San Marcos, Texas, USA
WagonCon 6 (gaming), The Dalles, Oregon, USA
Heroicon (gaming), Decatur, Illinois, USA
Festival Alchemie du Jeu (gaming), Toulouse, France
Congress of Gamers Spring Session, Rockville, Maryland, USA
San Marino Game Convention, San Marino
1d4Con 2023 (gaming), Martinsburg, West Virginia, USA
Indiana Comic Convention, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
SoCal Gaming Expo (video games), Ontario, California, USA
Game Jam South (video games), Huntsville, Alabama, USA
MagicCon (Magic: the Gathering CCG), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Shine Con (anime), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Kogaracon (anime), Edison, New Jersey, USA
Anime Arizona, Mesa, Arizona, USA
Animefest 2023, Brno, Czechia
Pokheimon Festival, Heimsbrunn, France
Northern FanCon (media), Prince George, British Columbia, Canada
Saratoga Comic Con, Saratoga Springs, New York, USA
Apopkon (media), Apopka, Florida, USA
Contropolis Pennsylvania (media), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA
The Hero Con (media), Fort Meyers, Florida, USA
Coda
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