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Fan convention
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (June 2007) |
A fan convention, or con, is an event in which the fans of a particular TV show, comic book, or actor, or an entire style of entertainment such as science fiction or anime, gather together to meet famous personalities (and each other) face-to-face.
The actors often give out free autographs to the fans, perhaps in exchange for a flat appearance fee, and sometimes may perform songs that have no relevance to the shows so as to entertain the fans. Such conventions are usually quite expensive and are hosted in hotels. There is often tight security for the celebrities to protect against potentially fanatic fans. (It should be noted that such features are not common at traditional science fiction conventions, which are more oriented towards science fiction as a mode of literature, rather than towards visual media, and do not include any paid appearances by famous personalities.)
Science fiction conventions and anime conventions are very popular types of conventions. From such cons has arisen the widespread stereotype of the fans' tendency to dress up as their favorite characters (known as cosplay in anime terminology) in elaborate costumes that are time-consuming and/or expensive to assemble. Fans may also speak in fictional languages relevant to the theme of the convention. Many cons have award presentations relating to their genre (such as the Hugo Awards which have been presented at Worldcon since 1953). Anime cons, gaming cons and filk cons may all be considered derivatives of science fiction conventions.
Furry fandom conventions have been a growing phenomenon starting with ConFurence in 1989. Fans of anthropomorphic animals (furries) gather together to socialize, exchange artwork, attend art sales or auctions, attend panels, workshops and planned entertainment, or show off their newest fursuit to the audience. Current furry conventions include Anthrocon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Further Confusion in San Jose, California, Midwest FurFest in Chicago, Illinois and a number of smaller conventions throughout the United States, as well as Eurofurence and other conventions in Western Europe, Canada, Russia and Japan.
JawsFest was a fan event held in Martha's Vineyard in June 2005 in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Jaws.