How to Convention: What Happens in the Filk Room
Filk is the musical tradition that has evolved alongside fandom from the earliest days of geek conventions. The term “filk” derives from a typo for “folk” made in a fanzine in 1953, but filk-like activities have been documented as far back as 1940.
Most people have first heard of filk, if they have heard of it at all, as the writing of geeky parody songs. Parodies do comprise a significant percentage of filk, but the majority is set to original music, and much of that has a serious tone. Topics are not exclusively geeky, and pop or folk music with geeky themes may be declared “found filk” and performed alongside songs originating from geek communities.
Filk programming comes in two main flavors. There are filk concerts, which operate much like performances of any other kind of music, and then there are filksings. Filksings are, in a way, one of the few surviving vestiges of the folk tradition that predates recorded music. The music is live and acoustic, and everyone participates, trained musician or not.
The most common type of filksing is the bardic circle, in which everyone in turn has the opportunity to “pick, pass, or play”— choose a song to be sung by someone else, give up their turn, or perform a song themself. Another is the chaos filk, a survival of the fittest in which the turn passes to whoever can jump in and start singing next. People may call out “I have a follower!”, meaning a song that has something in common with the one just sung.
Domino chaos is a variation where the next song is required to have something in common with the one preceding it. A poker chip or token circle is a version where everyone is given a chip or other token, which they then give up when they take a turn, allowing everyone to have a turn before anyone goes again.
Filksings are a particularly difficult type of programming to catch because many cons that host them will make them exclusively late-night events, taking over panel rooms after the panel track that occupied those rooms is done for the day. Morning people who love acoustic music are urged to keep an eye out for the rare afternoon filksing and try it out.
In Brief
Spiel Essen (Essen, Germany, October 5-8) will be livestreaming a track of 40-year retrospective panels on YouTube on October 5. Three items will be in German, two in English. More details here.
Chengdu Worldcon (Chengdu, China, October 18-22) has announced a new slogan, “Meet the Future” (在成都遇见未来), and a mascot named Kormo (科梦), who will be appearing on merchandise. More details are available at the con website in both Chinese and English.
Members of the Chengdu Worldcon are reminded that Hugo Award voting closes on September 30 at 23:59, UTC-10.
Comiccon de Québec (Ville de Québec, Québec, October 7-8) has added Patrick Huard and Anik Jean as guests.
Fan Expo Portland (Portland, Oregon, January 12-14) has added Danny Trejo and Vincent D’Onofrio as guests.
Trek Long Island (Hauppage, New York, May 31-June 2) has added Gabrielle Ruiz, Sean Von Gorman, Heather Antos, Robb Pearlman, and John Peel as guests.
Event Calendar
Weekend of September 29-October 1
Archon 46, Collinsville, Illinois, USA
Conflux 17: Passages and Portals, Canberra, Australia
Capclave 2023 (books), Rockville, Maryland, USA
Intermezzo (music), Wernigerode, Germany
Furdance Budapest (anthropomorphic), Budapest, Hungary
Furry Takeover: Safari Takeover (anthropomorphic), Fontana Dam, North Carolina, USA
OctoGônes 13 (gaming), Villeurbanne, France
Adirondacon 6 (gaming), Glens Falls, New York, USA
GooseCon (gaming), Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Shake, Battle & Roll (gaming), Southampton, UK
Spellenfestival Genk (gaming), Genk, Belgium
QuestCon Orlando / Crucible (gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA
Big Bad Con 2023 (gaming), Burlingame, California, USA
Game Devs of Color Expo, online
Pittsburgh Gaming Expo (video games), Monroeville, Pennsylvania, USA
SkålCon 2022 (Pathfinder& Starfinder RPGs), Plymouth, Minnesota, USA
Terra MystiCon (Terra Mystica boardgame), Montréal, Québec, Canada
Tiger Con (anime), Valdosta, Georgia, USA
Ramencon (anime), South Bend, Indiana, USA
Miryokucon (anime), Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Anime St. Pete, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA
Shocker Con (anime), Wichita, Kansas, USA
Tiger Con 2023 (anime), Valdosta, Georgia, USA
Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (comics and animation), Columbus, Ohio, USA
Wauke-Con (comics), Waukegan, Illinois, USA
La Mole (media), Mexico City, Mexico
Zurich Pop Con, Zurich, Switzerland
Kadabra Con (media), Portland, Texas, USA
Beer City Comic Con, Asheville, North Carolina, USA
Creation Washington D.C. (media), Arlington, Virginia, USA
Z-Con (media), Weymouth, Massachusetts, USA
SiouxperCon 2023: To Sioux Falls and Beyond! (media), Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA
King-Con 2023 (media), Kingman, Arizona, USA
Giganticon 2023 (media), Killeen, Texas, USA
MagicCon 6 (fantasy media), Bonn, Germany
Giganticon (superhero media), Killeen, Texas, USA
UK PonyCon 2023 (My Little Pony), Nottingham, UK
Midweek convention: Icon Festival, Tel Aviv, Israel
Weekend of October 6-8
CONFelicity (relaxacon), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
GeekGirlCon (female geekdom), Seattle, Washington, USA
H-Con the Nineteenth (anthropomorphic), Erbach, Germany
WPAFW 2023 (anthropomorphic), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
TringCon (gaming), Marsworth, UK
Dragon Fall (gaming), Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA
PAX Australia (gaming), Melbourne, Australia
Con on the Cob 2023: Showdown at the Neon Barnyard (gaming), Richfield, Ohio, USA
Southwest Con (miniatures gaming), Tolleson, Arizona, USA
Michigan GT (wargaming), Lansing, Michigan, USA
Spieltage Essen (boardgames), Essen, Germany
Furnace Games Convention XVIII (RPGs), Sheffield, UK
Tsubasacon (anime), Charleston, West Virginia, USA
Animasia (anime), Bordeaux, France
MoTownCon (anime), Mooresville, South Carolina, USA
Anime Senpai: Class of '23!, Collinsville, Illinois, USA
56th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Sitges, Spain
28th Annual H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival, Portland, Oregon, USA
Comiccon de Québec, Ville de Québec, Québec, Canada
Comic Con Scotland, Edinburgh, UK
Boone Comic-Con, Boone, North Carolina, USA
Weekend of October 13-15
Stranimondi 9 (Italian national sf convention), Milan, Italy
Octocon 2023 (Irish national sf convention), Dublin, Ireland
ICON 48: We Only Work in Outer Space, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA
Can*Con 2023 (Canadian sf), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Alamo City Furry Invasion: Dr. Virginia's Island Paradise, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Viking-Con 42 (gaming), Copenhagen, Denmark
Atlanta Game Fest 41, Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA
Congress of Gamers Fall Session, Rockville, Maryland, USA
Icon Gaming, Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA
Southern Board Game Festival, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA
Erie Days of Games, Erie, Pennsylvania, USA
NEWGameapalooza, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA
Portland Retro Gaming Expo (retro video games), Portland, Oregon, USA
Banzaicon 10 (anime), Larvik, Norway
Iberanime, Matosinhos, Portugal
Charleston Anime-Fest, North Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Polaris (anime), Hamburg, Germany
WasabiCon (anime), Jacksonville, Florida, USA
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, Bowness-on-Windermere, UK
Geek Days Caen (media), Caen, France
Visioncon (media), Springfield, Missouri, USA
ValleyCon 48 (media), Fargo, North Dakota, USA
New York Comic Con, New York City, New York, USA
MondoCon 2023 (media), Budapest, Hungary
56th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Sitges, Spain
Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival, New York City, New York, USA
VoltCon 2023 (Voltron), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Weekend of October 20-22
Chengdu Worldcon (81st World Science Fiction Convention), Chengdu, China and online
BuchmesseCon, Dreieich, Germany
Multiverse, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
BristolCon 2023, Bristol, UK
Irish Discworld Convention 2023, Cork, Ireland
The Surrey Steampunk Convivial, Epsom, UK
Furror (anthropomorphic), Łódź, Poland
Confuror 2023: Locos por la Ciencia (anthropomorphic), Guadalajara, Mexico
TsunamiCon (gaming), Wichita, Kansas, USA
MEPACon: Video Game Heroes and Villains (gaming), Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
Austi-Con 2023 (gaming), Austin, Minnesota, USA
Gamehole Con X (RPGs), Madison, Wisconsin, USA
AVL Scarefest (RPGs), Montreat, North Carolina, USA
Travellercon/USA 2023 (Traveller RPG), Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA
Anime Fusion: This Con Goes to 11!, Plymouth, Minnesota, USA
Anime Mundo, El Paso, Texas, USA
Puchicon Poconos (anime), Tannersville, Pennsylvania, USA
Another Anime Convention, Westford, Massachusetts, USA
Anime Banzai, Layton, Utah, USA
Anime Nebraskon 2023, Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA
YuniCon 2023 (anime), Schwechat, Austria
NW Idolfest (anime idols), Seattle, Washington, USA
Anime Ink (anime & tattoos), Richmond, Virginia, USA
FACTS (media), Ghent, Belgium
Comic Con Baltics, Vilnius, Lithuania
Comic Con Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
Dallas Fan Festival (media), Irving, Texas, USA
Shoufu-Con (media), Lansing, Michigan, USA
The Penti-Con 2023 (media), Penticton, British Columbia, Canada
Festival of Fantastic Films, Manchester, UK
PonyCon Holland 2023: A Series of Mysterious Events (My Little Pony), Zeist, Netherlands
TFcon Orlando (Transformers), Orlando, Florida, USA
Weekend of October 27-30
MileHiCon 55, Denver, Colorado, USA
Astronomicon 14, Rochester, New York, USA
World Fantasy Convention 2023, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Hallowcon 2023: Plan 10 from Outer Space (fantasy/horror), Dalton, Georgia, USA
Ohio Valley Filk Festival 39 (music), Worthington, Ohio, USA
Spacedock GLC-13 (anthropomorphic), Hasliberg, Switzerland
Furpocalypse 2023: Summercamp Slasher (anthropomorphic), Stamford, Connecticut, USA
Biggest Little Fur Con 2023: Curse of Cœurasa (anthropomorphic), Reno, Nevada, USA
Carnage 26 (gaming), Killington, Vermont, USA
S’mores and Meeples (gaming), Spring City, Pennsylvania, USA
GaelCon (gaming), Dublin, Ireland
Cardboard Caucus 2023 (gaming), West Des Moines, Iowa, USA
CinCityCon 2023 (gaming), Sharonville, Ohio, USA
Conecturday (video games), Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
Board to Death Con 2023 (boardgaming), Wayne, Michigan, USA
Anime Weekend Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
UwUCon (anime), Mesa, Arizona, USA
Anime Halloween, Rosemont, Illinois, USA
YumeCon USA (anime), San Jose, California, USA
ExpOtaku Granada 2023 (anime), Granada, Spain
DerpyCon 2023 (anime), New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
Music City Multi Con (media/video games), Lebanon, Tennessee, USA
Hal-Con (media), Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Winnipeg Comiccon, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
KingCon NW (media), Renton, Washington, USA
Sinbad and the Eye of the Monsterama (retro media), Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA
Coda
Antimatter falls down (Science News)
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