Worldcon 2005 UK - What is the Eurocon ?

What is the Eurocon ?

A Brief History of Eurocons

The Eurocon story starts in 1972 in Trieste, Italy, where the first of what was then a biennial convention was run as a stand-alone convention, very similar to, but very much smaller than, its big brother the Worldcon. This changed in the early 1980s, and the Eurocon is now an annual event, usually combined with the national convention of the host country, and alternating between eastern and western Europe – defined geographically – with a Eurocon having been selected as far north as Finland (2003), as far west as Ireland (1997), as far south as San Marino (1989), and as far east as Ukraine (2006, www.eurocon.kiev.ua).

As with the Worldcon, each Eurocon is run by a group of local fans under the auspices of a permanent organisation. In this case that is ESFS (European Science Fiction Society), which has its own rules and statutes. For those of you interested in these things, go to www.esfs.info, where you will find lots more information about ESFS and its rules.

As with WSFS and the Worldcon, ESFS also has its own Business Meeting at each Eurocon, and pursuant to the ESFS statutes (see the ESFS web site above), notice is hereby given that voting for the 2007 Eurocon and the various SF awards presented by ESFS will take place at the ESFS General (Business) Meetings held at Interaction.

Please note the rules of the various awards, especially those regarding nominations for the ‘Hall of Fame’ award and the ‘Encouragement’ awards. Nominations and bid notification should be made via either the ESFS web site or by emailing to eurocon@interaction.worldcon.org.uk. Please include details of any relevant web sites or email addresses.

The race for the 2007 Eurocon is now open, and at the time of writing there are just two likely bids:

Octocon (www.octocon.com) is the Irish national convention, which has been held in or near Dublin in October since 1990. It first hosted a Eurocon in 1997, after winning the bid at the 1995 Eurocon (and Worldcon!), Intersection.
Fantastikon (www.fantasticon.dk/index.php) is the Danish national convention, which was resurrected in 2004 when SF in Denmark found a new burst of life.

Voting for the Eurocon is limited to the delegates of the European countries represented at Interaction, although all fans are encouraged to attend and speak at the meeting.

The ESFS business meetings at Interaction will be held on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoon, with each session lasting between one and two hours. In addition, following the ESFS Awards session, there will be a panel to discuss the future of SF from both national and European-wide perspectives. The panel will consist of one member from each European country with members attending the convention. The panelists are selected collectively by the attending members from each country. The only proviso is that the selected panelist should be someone with a long involvement in SF in their country, but they need not necessarily be either of the two people delegated to represent that country at the ESFS business meetings.

Interaction is also looking to explore the variations in SF across Europe, and is looking for suggestions for panels on aspects of the genre specific to a region or country. Examples of this could be the influence of Beowulf on Scandinavian SF, Celtic influences on Irish SF, or a short history and examination of Czech animation. Suggestions should be sent to programme@interaction.worldcon.org.uk along with ideas about who should be on the panel and who might moderate/chair the panel.

We would also like to display information on each country’s fandom, from local to national, with information about groups & clubs, SF magazines, and conventions. Space will be limited, but we think we will have enough for one to two large boards per country. We are happy to receive material from more than one source, and will choose a representative selection for display. However, please bring copies of any photos and other materials, and not one-off originals. We would also welcome items from past Eurocons, including programme books, photos, and video, for a display on the history of the Eurocon. Material from prior to 1983 would be especially welcome, as would items from 1985-1992, 1996, and 1998-2001. If you can supply this material, please contact us in advance at eurocon@interaction.worldcon.org.uk. Finally, if you can speak reasonable English along with another language, and you are happy to put your multilingual talents to use at the convention, please let Registration know upon your arrival. You may be able to give much needed help to fans from outside of the United Kingdom who do not speak English as well, and you will be given a small national flag for your ID badge to identify which languages you speak in addition to English.

Page last updated 13^th April 2005