Starsky & Hutch London Fanday

Convention
Name:	Starsky & Hutch London Fan Day (London Fanday, SH Fanday)
Dates:	beginning in 1985 or so, taking place as late as 1995
Frequency:	infrequent
Location:	London, England
Type:
Focus:
Organization:
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Starsky & Hutch London Fan Day were casual fan meet-ups in London, England attended by fans of Starsky & Hutch.

There were at least twenty, probably more. A fan in Frienz #30 (1995) notes that "these Fandays have been happening for over ten years, sometimes three in a year."

These fan meet-up/mini-cons originated with Huggy's-in-the-Strand (May 1985) and Ten Years On (October 1985), and were one action that some fans took when the sixth DobeyCon was cancelled. There is much discussion about this in the letterzine APB.

Fans' Descriptions

From Tell Me Something I Don't Know! #1 (January 1987):

I should have learned by now to feel no surprise at the versatility of SH fandom and all the varied form it takes. Over here [in England], a new tradition has grown up within the past year or so, of SH fan meetings, just on one day, in London. Our distances are negligible compared with some of yours and there's no problem for most people in getting to the rendezvous. The SH LONDON DAYS have really become established now. They are not CONS in the way most of us would understand the word. They are just a chance for fans to meet, talk, share, trade, exchange news items and other things. We can run video-tapes if people want them, but that particular demand seems minimal now when most people have access to a VTR. You could say that SH fandom in UK now has a London headquarters, we found the ideal place: central London, very reasonable hiring charge for a very pleasant room, very good lunch, etc available on the premises, video facilities, and a most friendly and interested staff. There have been four such meetings so far in a little over a year - and three more are planned for 1987. Originally, two were proposed, but by general request the number was raised to three. One date is The Fourth of July — could there be a better choice? By then, some of the American fans should be here too — will be great to have them join us.

From Frienz #12 (1990):

October ended with ZIRCON, right here in UK, in a weekend packed with good things in another varied programme. Over a number of years, ZIRCON'S organiser, [S S], has been giving a lot of service to SH fandom in UK through those regular London Fandays, a tradition now, I believe, of around a dozen of them) which have provided any interested fans with enjoyable opportunities to meet and talk and share. ZIRCON, however, gave us a whole weekend.

From Frienz #18 (1992):

Monday, 6th April — memorable date — brought an 8a.m. telephone call from Illinois when Mary told me that SNITCH was on its way and should be with us in time for the SH Fanday in London on the 11th (coinciding with another SH event in Baltimore). It's great to have this very helpful publication restored; I'm really glad that Mary can take over what Carol and Merle started for us — THANK YOU to all three of them.

From Frienz #19:

One UK aspect of SH fandom whose notices do appear in overseas publications are the FANDAYS. The latest of those occurred in London on a sunny April Saturday with around twenty fans meeting to share and swap and (yes, Linda) eat, and, most of all, talk. It was good to welcome two American fans as well as several new SH devotees, still in the happy state of having episodes new to them waiting to be watched. That sort of anticipation certainly brings a lift to life.

From Frienz #23 (1993)

Saturday morning I took the Underground to the White Hart Pub for the SH Fanday. Sara and I heard sirens and watched emergency vehicles, only then learning that another major bombing had occurred. Two bombs, actually. Fans trickled in all morning saying the underground and busses had all been stopped. Once came from Stratford - by taxi. Two others finally got there by mid-afternoon and really needed the lunch saved for them. Last April there was a major bomb during our Fanday, too. Hmm. NOTHING deters fans from discussing old and new TV shows and zines, and characters, and stories. We had a great time sharing. Bombings are futile as they only make people mad, more stubborn, and less prone to work things out. I heard people say we carried on after Hitler's blitzkrieg in WWII, we'll carry on after the IRA. These SH Fandays are a delightful way to get fans together to share ideas and interests. I have been lucky enough to have been to four or five of them, even on the 4th of July, a nice way to bring two countries closer together. Starsky and Hutch have brought a lot of people close together, who never would have known one another without the joys as a mutual interest. That kind of love is always beautiful. SH fandom is definitely alive and well in the UK.

From Frienz #30 (1995):

... a regular April tradition here for many years — was more, this time, than the usual happy gathering of fan-friends. It was a chance to celebrate the 20th SH anniversary year. So, beneath the candy-apple-red letters of the congratulatory banner, surrounded by twenty candles, sat the magnificent CAKE,, white icing with (edible) decorations in denim blue. It was all very satisfactory in every way. As always, it was very good to meet new fans as well as 'old'. People were telling each other that they didn't look twenty years older ... can SH carry those built-in rejuvenating qualities? whatever — it was a renewing occasion. And it was exactly right timing that the arrival of the SH trailer-tape for the re-runs in USA coincided with the Fanday. It's short, true, but also truly satisfying. THANKS, Linda, for making it possible for fans on this side of the ocean to see it.

1995