Slash Cons - Fanlore

Slash cons are a type of fan-run convention. The first unabashedly slash con was IDICon in Houston, in 1984, run by Pam Rose, Linn O'Brien, Barb Lewis and others. The current longest running slash con is Escapade (2009 will be its 19th!) held every year near Santa Barbara, California by Megan Kent and Charlotte C Hill.

Slash cons tend to be adult only; tend not to have guests (and if they do, they're other fans); tend to have adult art in the art show (if they have an art show -- many of them are closer to large house parties than classic conventions). They almost always have vid shows. Some slash cons are slash-only, with no het vids, art, or panels allowed, while others focus on slash but include het as well. Slash-friendly cons are those that welcome slash without defining themselves specifically as slash cons.

There is no one place in media fandom to find out about all slash conventions, but many are announced on the LJ Community Slash Con

Slash cons since 1984

Cons are held every year unless otherwise noted.

• BardCon, 2002-2005. Xena uber fiction con held in Orlando, Florida, USA.
• Bascon, 2000-present (November). Multimedia con held in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA, usually in November.
• The Bash at the Loft, (dates?). Small Sentinel con, now defunct, held (where?).
• BishounenCon, 2001-2003. An anime and manga yaoi con held in Trier, Germany.
• Cabrillo Con every two years, Starsky and Hutch, Grand Rapids Michigan
• Close Quarters, 2007-present (July). Bi-yearly (odd-numbered years) Professionals con in Maryland, USA.
• Connexions, 1998-2005 (April). Multimedia con held in Baltimore, MD, USA.
• Connotations, 2003-present (October). Multimedia con held in Tynemouth, England, UK.
• Con*Strict, 2001-2007 (July). Multimedia con, now in Las Vegas, NV, USA.
• CON.TXT, 2006-present. Bi-yearly (even-numbered years) multimedia con held in Washington, DC, USA suburb.
• Escapade, 1990-present. Multimedia con held near Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
• Friscon, 1993-2000. Multimedia con held in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA.
• IDICon, 1984-1988. The first-ever slash con, held in Houston, TX, USA.
• KisCon, 2008-? (May). Kirk/Spock con held in Los Angeles, CA, USA.
• K/S CONnections, 2003-2005, a UK Kirk/Spock slash con
• Muskrat Jamboree, 2007-present (March). Bi-yearly (odd-numbered years) multimedia con held in Boston, MA, USA.
• Nattercon, (dates?-present). A small Professionals con held in the UK.
• Red Rose Convention, (1998-2000). Multimedia con held in the UK.
• Senticon, (2000-2006). Started out a Sentinel con, now a multimedia con in Grand Rapids, MI, USA. (is/was this bi-yearly, to alternate with Zebracon?)
• SHarecon, Starsky and Hutch, Maryland
• Slashcon, 2005-?. Multimedia con held irregularly in Fairbridge Village, Western Australia.
• Southern Gathering, 2001, multimedia, held one year in Arlington, VA
• Virgule, a Seattle slash con of the early 1990s.
• Yaoi-Con, 2001-present (September). An anime and manga slash/yaoi con held in San Francisco, CA, USA.
• YaYuCo, 2005, 2007. A yaoi and yuri con held in Dachau, Bavaria, Germany.
• ZebraCon, 198?-200? (October). Originally a Starsky & Hutch con that later became a multimedia con; at some point this became a bi-yearly con. Mixed slash and gen. Held in Chicago, IL, USA. WayBack Archive link to Zebracon website & (Zebracon LJ)

(these need dates, and more info -- need more "dead" cons, too.)

Slash-friendly cons

Cons are held every year unless otherwise noted.

• Eclecticon 1996-2006 (November). Multimedia con with a focus on zines, held in Newark, NJ, USA.
• Eastern Media Con, 2007-present (October). Multimedia con created to fill the gap left by Eclecticon, held in Newark, NJ, USA.
• MediaWest*Con, 1981-present (May). An enormous slash-friendly zine con held in Lansing, MI, USA.
• Redemption (dates?). Multimedia con held in Coventry, UK.
• REVELcon, 1990-present (March). Multimedia con held in Houston, TX, USA.
• Vidcon, 1991-present (July). Multimedia con held in St. Petersburg, FL, USA.
• VividCon, 2002-present (August). Multimedia vidding convention held in Chicago, IL, USA.
• WinchesterCon, 2006-present (October). A Supernatural con that was slash-only for its first year, but now is for all Supernatural fans. It moves to a different city each year.
• ZebraCon, 198?-200? (October). Originally a Starsky & Hutch con that later became a multimedia con; at some point this became a bi-yearly con. Held in Chicago, IL, USA. WayBack Archive link to Zebracon website