Long-running conventions

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The first convention was held in October 1936 in Philadelphia – see Early Conventions for a list of all sf conventions during the first ten years, as well as some difficulties of definition.

Below is a list of serial cons of which there have been fifty or more; numbers should be current as of the end of 2022, but no guarantee can be provided and careful checking is advised especially since the Covid-19 wreaked havoc by cancellation or postponement (not to mention switch to virtual) of many cons scheduled for 2020 and 2021. In various times, various cons kept the running count even for cancelled years, or not.

Convention Location Started # Notes
Worldcon (mostly US) July 1939 80 not held during World War II (in the US view, i. e. 1942–5)
Philcon Philadelphia Oct 1936 74? Not quite clear as early history not well documented; retroactively includes three local cons even before name adopted at Philcon 1939. Per Fancy listing, skipped 1941–5, 1949, 1951, 1953–5, 1985, 1995 and 2001; Philcon 2020 virtual
Westercon North America west of 104° Sep 1948 74 not held 2020, Westercon 73 twice-postponed to autumn '21
Eastercon UK Whitsun 1948 73 not held 1950–1, early ones counted somewhat retroactively. 2020 just had online bid session but counts anyway, 2021 virtual
Midwestcon Cincinnati 1949 71 relaxacon, count and history starts with retroactively-named impromptu "Midwestcon 0". Midwestcon 71 postponed in 2020 and again 2021, not heard of since
SFCD Jahrescon Germany Sep 1957 65 cancelled 2020
DeepSouthCon Old South July 1963 60 Normally piggybacks on other cons; 2020 virtual
Australian Natcon Australia Mar 1952 59 not held 1957, 1959–65, 1967–8, 2020–1 (to complicate things, these two together were numbered as #59, so 2022 was #60)
Boskone Boston Sept 1965 59 There were two in 1966 (early Roman Boskone I to V series 1941–5 uncounted as forgotten when the modern began). 2021 virtual
Lunacon New York City May 1957 59 cancelled 1964, 2015 and 2018; no further since
Minicon Minneapolis Jan 1968 55 There were two in both 1971 and 1974. Not held 2020 and 2021
MileHiCon Denver Nov 1969 54 began as OctoCon I and II. 2020 virtual
ChambanaCon Central Illinois 1971 51 not held in 2020 (Chambanacon 50 postponed to 2021)


Conrunning
This is a conrunning page.