December is kind of a dead-zone for Mid-Atlantic conventions, but after the holidays there is a sort of con-splosion. Here's January through March.
January 5th - 8th
- MAGFest - National Harbor, MD
- You know that scrap of FF7 music you love and that's been your ringtone through the past three cell phones you've owned? Meet the guy that wrote it. Nobuo Uematsu is just one of their big name guests. If you love video games and music, you should check out MAGFest.
- MarsCon - Williamsburg, VA
- Marscon is one of my all-time favorite cons (don't let the website fool you). This year's theme is the end of the world, but there's usually a heavy steampunk contingent, regardless of official theme. They've recently updated their programming and guest list.
- GCOM Gaming Retreat - Churchton, MD
- A weekend retreat of gaming brought to you by the Games Club of Maryland. Looks like food and lodging is included at the West River Retreat Center. Great place to get away and enjoy a few pick up games.
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| Happy 20th, SheVaCon! |
- Shevacon - Roanoke, VA
- They have a sci-fi writing panel with Timothy Zahn. Did you hear that? That was a 15-year-old me fangirling out. Without him, I would never have spent high school arguing over the extended Star Wars canon/apocrypha. Also,
Boba FettJeremy Bulloch is going to be there. There are also many awesome non-Star-Wars guests. (Oh, and their superhero larp, or shlarp? Really fun.) - Katsucon - National Harbor, MD
- Katsu is a great local anime con. They have a huge guest line up including the latest addition of Randy Milholland from Something Positive. Here's the full list. On a related note, I don't know what a Gundam Unicorn is, but I want one.
- Farpoint - Baltimore, MD
- Can't wait until the following weekend to get your Battlestar media guest fix? I understand. Kate Vernon (Ellen Tigh) and Michael Hogan (Saul Tigh) will be at Farpoint this year. For those of you who are still disappointed by the end of BSG, there's Kristin Bauer from True Blood. And if you haven't seen True Blood yet, here's all you need to know (nsfw-ish link).
- Wicked Faire - Somerset, NJ
- I know what you're thinking "Halloween? In February?" but their reasoning is dead on: This is for those of you who only truly feel at home on Halloween. "More than anything else, Wicked Faire is the one place in the Universe absolutely, totally, unbreakably, unstoppably and thoroughly devoted to creating a weekend where every kind of not-normal person out there can find a home." I love that it's 16-and-up so high schoolers can have a place to be at home as whoever and whatever they want to be.
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| I AM the Pumpkin King! |
- PrezCon - Charlottesville, VA
- PrezCon actually starts on the 22nd. And you can spend ever second from Wednesday through Sunday challenging other congoers to bouts of Settlers of Catan (you can even compete in the Mid-Atlantic NSOC Qualifier). Looks like they only have a few rooms left, so register soon.
- Mysticon - Roanoke, VA
- I normally limit my Roanoke convention-going to Shevacon, but the Mysticon guest line up looks pretty persuasive. The guests of honor are Ursula Vernon (writer/artist of Digger), Nicki Clyne (Cally from Battlestar), Sherrilyn Kenyon (author of the Dark Hunter novels), and Bella Morte (an awesome band from my hometown of C'ville).
- MangaNEXT - East Rutherford, NJ
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| Simple website, epic line-up. |
- StellarCon - High Point, NC
- It's a bit of a drive, but the guests are probably worth it. Patrick Rothfuss, John Kovalic, Mark Poole, and others. Looks like it could be worth loading up on five hours and making the trek down if you like sci-fi/fantasy media cons.
March 9th - 11th
- Madicon - Harrisonburg, VA
- In all honesty, I can't be completely objective since I helped run this event for years. It's an awesome student-run convention at James Madison University, celebrating it's 21st year. Good for gaming and hanging out, solid set of vendors and artists. There's usually a great larp or three as well. At $15 for the weekend, you can't beat the price.
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| Madicon celebrates 21 years at JMU. |
- PrinceCon - Princeton, NJ
- Another great university convention, this time back up in New Jersey at Princeton. The Annual Fantasy Role-Playing Marathon consists of a 46-hour larp. Make a character on Friday and live as them for the weekend. Keep an eye on their site for updates.
March 21st - 25th
- Festival of the Book - Charlottesville, VA
- This is a five-day festival of (mostly) free literary events open to the public. A celebration of literacy, books, and culture, the event is a great way to see local authors. Keep checking their website for updates.
March 29th - April 1st
- Mythic Faire - Atlanta, GA
- I had this whole blurb written, I was set to buy tickets. Then, I check the site. The banner on the website reads "The Mythic Faire has been postponed until winter of 2012-2013." Damn.
- I-Con - Long Island, NY
- Just pause for a minute on the homepage and scan through the slideshow of guests. I'm sure more programming and information will be available as we get closer to time, but even still the guest list is pretty impressive: DS9, Star Wars, Dr. Who. Another great east-coast media con.
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| Their site has new videos of past faires. |
- Maker Faire North Carolina - Raleigh, NC
- Maker Faires are starting to crop up all over the place. North Carolina hasn't announced their dates yet, but keep an eye on the site and watch out for more local maker events throughout the year.
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