Author: Kevin Standlee

Montreal 2027 Worldcon Bid Filed; Tel Aviv 2027 Worldcon Bid Suspended

~ Kevin Standlee

The Montréal 2027 Worldcon bid filed its official bid to host the 2027 Worldcon with Seattle 2025 on December 7, 2024, and the bid was accepted by Seattle 2025. See the Worldcon Bids Page for links to the documents in the bid filing.

On the same day, the Tel Aviv 2027 Worldcon bid sent an announcement to SMOFCon 41 for presentation to the Worldcon Q&A session announcing that the bid is suspended. Tel Aviv in 2027 bid chair Guy Kovel wrote: “Regrettably, due to the situation in Israel, we would have to push our bid to a later year, we have not yet made an announcement as we are still in internal discussions as to what year we would be able to bid for.”

The deadline for filing bids to host the 2027 Worldcon is February 14, 2025. Instructions for filing a 2027 Worldcon bid are on the 2025 Worldcon website.

Note: The author of this post is a member of the Montréal 2027 bid committee and the bid’s parent non-profit corporation.

Worldcon Q&A Sessions at 2024 Worldcon Posted

~ Kevin Standlee

Past and current Worldcons and bids for future Worldcons gave presentations and took questions from the members of Glasgow 2024: A Worldcon for Our Futures, the 2024 Worldcon, on August 7, 2024 in Glasgow, Scotland. Courtesy of Glasgow 2024, we have uploaded video of all of the presentations to YouTube Worldcon Events channel.

There were presentations from the following Worldcons and bids:

None of the other bids that have previously announced interest and that are currently listed on our Worldcon bids page had representatives at SMOFCon 40.

Anaheim Selected to Host 2026 Worldcon

~ Kevin Standlee

The bid from Anaheim, California, USA won the election to to host the 2026 Worldcon held at the 2024 Worldcon in Glasgow, Scotland. Anaheim was the only candidate on the ballot. A full breakdown of the voting will be published in the minutes of the 2024 WSFS Business Meeting.

The 2026 Worldcon will be called LAcon V. The convention’s announced Guests of Honor are Barbara Hambly, Ronald D. Moore, Colleen Doran, Dr. Anita Sengupta, Tim Kirk, Geri Sullivan, plus Special Guest Stan Sakai and Toastmaster Ursula Vernon. The convention will be held August 27-31, 2026 at the LAcon V will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center and the Hilton Anaheim & Anaheim Marriott Hotels.

Glasgow 2024 Launches Online Member Portal

~ Kevin Standlee

[From a news release from Glasgow 2024 published 26th July 2024]

Glasgow 2024 has launched its Member Portal providing a single gateway to all online elements of the convention. The Member Portal is available to both in-person and online attendees aged 16 and over. The Portal is packed full of links to useful resources, as well as the link to join the convention Discord and to RingCentral Events where members will be able to stream a large proportion of the programme. Additional elements will be made available as the convention approaches, including the full convention schedule and the convention Newsletter.

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LA in 2026 is Only Bid Filed to Host 2026 Worldcon

~ Kevin Standlee

Glasgow 2024 – A Worldcon for our Futures, announced on February 27, 2024 that the only bid filed to host the 2026 Worldcon is Los Angeles in 2026. Therefore, this is the only bid that will be on the ballot for the site selection election. Per WSFS rules, other bids can file until the close of voting and can be selected as write-in bids. As required by the WSFS Constitution, “None of the Above” will also be on the ballot, and if it wins, the 2026 Worldcon site would be selected by the 2024 WSFS Business Meeting in Glasgow.

Each Worldcon operates independently of all other Worldcons. The election to select the site of the 2026 Worldcon will be conducted by Glasgow 2024, not by the WSFS website.

Further details are included in Glasgow 2024’s Media Release 18, published on their website.

Worldcon Q&A Sessions at SMOFCon 40 Posted

~ Kevin Standlee

Past and current Worldcons and bids for future Worldcons gave presentations and took questions from the members of SMOFCon 40, the convention about running SF&F genre conventions, on the evening of December 2, 2023 in Providence, Rhode Island. Courtesy of SMOFCon 40’s sponsoring organization, MCFI, we have uploaded video of all of the presentations to a Playlist thumbnail: SMOFCon 40 Worldcon Q&A Sessions playlist on the YouTube Worldcon Events channel.

There were presentations from the following Worldcons and bids:

None of the other bids that have previously announced interest and that are currently listed on our Worldcon bids page (Tel Aviv in 2027, Brisbane in 2028, Texas in 2031, Minneapolis in 2073) had representatives at SMOFCon 40.

Seattle Selected to Host 2025 Worldcon

~ Kevin Standlee

The bid from Seattle, Washington, USA, won the election to host the 2025 Worldcon held at the 2023 Worldcon in Chengdu, China. The official results announced at the WSFS Business Meeting were as follows:

Seattle: 163
Peggy Rae’s House (write in): 1
Xerps in 2010 (write in): 2

Total With Preference: 166
Needed to Elect (majority): 84

No Preference: 2
Total Ballots Cast: 168

Although the WSFS Constitution requires that ballots cast in advance be reported separately from those cast at the convention, but the election administrator failed to do so. According the 2023 WSFS Business Meeting Chair Donald Eastlake III, “It is believed the 168 ballots consisted of 149 or 150 by mail and 18 or 19 on site.”

You can watch the announcement of the votes and the initial presentation from the newly-seated 2025 Worldcon committee on the Worldcon Events YouTube channel.

The 2025 Worldcon will be called Seattle Worldcon 2025: Building Yesterday’s Future — for Everyone. The convention’s announced Guests of Honor are Martha Wells, Donato Giancola, Bridget Landry, and Alexander James Adams, with hosts K. Tempest Bradford and Nisi Shawl. The convention will be held August 13-17, 2025 at the Seattle Convention Center Summit expansion, Sheraton Grand Seattle, and neighboring hotels.