Quidditch World Cup 2010

Harry Potter fans can catch the fourth annual International Quidditch Association’s World Cup competition in New York City the weekend of November 13-14. At least 50 teams are expected to compete. Visit http://www.internationalquidditch.org/worldcup/ for more information.

[Tip from James of RISFC]

Albacon 2010

Albacon will be held in Albany, NY over Columbus Day weekend, October 8-10. The convention is described as “a weekend gathering of fans and creators of Science Fiction or Fantasy, including literature, movies, games, and other media. Join us for three days of panel discussions, interviews, films, games, readings, autographs, an art show, special events, a fabulous dealers room, debates, conversation, and socializing with people who share your interests!” The writer guest of honor will be Allen Steele, and the artist guest of honor will be Ron Miller; many other guests will also attend. Learn more at http://www.albacon.org/.

New York Anime Festival

The New York Anime Festival will be running concurrently with the New York Comic Con the weekend of October 8-10, 2010 in New York City. One ticket gets you into both shows! Find the details at http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/en/NYAF/.

2010 NYC Convention Showdown Resolved

Back in October I posted about the comic convention showdown in New York City, in which rival conventions Wizard World’s Big Apple Comic Con and the New York Comic Con were scheduled for the exact same weekend. Well, it seems that Wizard has blinked: Big Apple Comic Con is now scheduled for the weekend of October 1-3. New York Comic Con gets to keep the weekend of October 8-10. This reshuffling is what caused Wizard’s New England Comic Con to shift to October 15-17. You can now have three weekends in a row of total comics immersion if you wish!

Big Apple Comic Con: http://www.wizardworld.com/home-apple.html
New York Comic Con: http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/

Free Comic Book Day 2010

Every year, the first Saturday of May is Free Comic Book Day, when participating comic book stores will offer free comic books to all visitors. This year Free Comic Book Day is Saturday, May 1st, and some stores will be making a big party out of it. Check with your local comic book store to see what their plans are. For general information visit http://www.freecomicbookday.com/; the site has a comic book store locator.

Lunacon 2010

The Lunacon science fiction and fantasy convention will be held March 19-21 in Rye Brook, NY.

Author Guest of Honor: Tanya Huff
Artist Guest of Honor: Theresa Mather
Musical Guest of Honor: Allison Lonsdale
Fan Guest of Honor: Dominick Corrado

For more information visit http://2010.lunacon.org/.

What’s Coming Up in March

It’s March, and that means it will soon be Pi Day!! On March 14th (3.14, of course) you should celebrate by eating pizza pi, apple pi, or whatever other kinds of pi you enjoy.

When you’re not participating in the pi-stravaganza, here are some other events this month that may interest you:

Maine
March 9 and 10: Author Appearance: Joe Hill, “Horns”

Massachusetts
March 6 and 18: Women’s History Month Readings
(Update) March 7: North East Comic-Con
March 8: Author Appearance: Seth Grahame-Smith, “Abraham Lincoln – Vampire Hunter”
March 12-14: Intercon J (live action roleplaying convention)
March 13: Artist Appearance: James Gurney, “Dinotopia”
March 19–21: Vericon (science fiction convention)
March 26–28: ConBust (science fiction convention)
March 26–28: Penny Arcade Expo East (gaming convention)

New Hampshire
March 8: Author Appearance: Joe Hill, “Horns”
March 13: Women’s History Month Readings
March 14: Granite State Comicon

Rhode Island
(Update) March 5-7: Digital Overload (computer gaming convention)

New York
March 7: Who York with Russell Tovey
March 26–28: I-Con (science fiction convention)

Who York with Russell Tovey

Who York is a fan-run event for Dr. Who fans in New York City. They’ll be hosting a one-day gathering with actor Russell Tovey, who played “Alonso” in the Dr. Who episode Voyage of the Damned as well as George the Werewolf in the BBC series Being Human. Join them for dinner on Sunday, March 7th at 6:30pm. For details see http://www.whoyork.com/.

[Tip from Rich of Vortex of Mirth]

I-Con 29

I-Con returns to the SUNY Stony Brook campus this year on March 26th-28th, 2010. Registration is now open. Guests are in the process of being announced, so visit http://www.iconsf.org/ to learn more.

Genericon 2010

Genericon will be held in Troy, NY the weekend of February 12-14, 2010. According to their website:

Genericon is a weekend-long, general convention run by the students of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. We feature a wide variety of attractions that run the gamut of geeky hobbies, including science fiction, gaming of all forms, and anime.

For details visit http://genericon.union.rpi.edu/.