This may not be the most stunning piece of news, considering it was the only bid at Chengdu Worldcon, but it is is now official.
The winning bid — the only one for 2025 — was submitted by a group of fans who plan to place the Worldcon at the new Summit expansion to the Seattle Convention Center. They were confirmed at the Worldcon site selection event in Chengdu, China.
The theme is “Building Yesterday’s Future — For Everyone” and we are here for that! The dates are August 13-17, 2024.
Worldcon is the World Science Fiction Convention, the premiere convention of the science fiction and fantasy genre, and the home of the Hugo Awards. Established by fans in 1939, running annually since 1946, Worldcon is completely fan run with an all-volunteer staff, created anew each year in cities around the world.
The last time Worldcon was held in Seattle was 1961, while the Space Needle was under construction! Although 73% of Worldcons have been held in the USA, the convention has only been held three times in the Pacific Northwest. The new bid breaks this drought.
Guests of honor:
- Author GoH: Martha Wells [The Murderbot Diaries]
Artist GoH:
- Donato Giancola
Science GoH:
- Bridget Landry [Robotics engineer for the Hubble Space Telescope, Mars Pathfinder, the Cassini mission to Saturn, and both the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers]
Music GoH:
- Alexander James Adams [Faerie Tale Minstrel]
The Hosts:
- K. Tempest Bradford and Nisi Shawl, educators and authors of the standard text on diverse representation, “Writing the Other: A Practical Approach. Writing the Other,” the basis for the class series of the same name.
For more information, visit the Seattle Worldcon Website: https://seattlein2025.org/
The bidding process for 2026 bidding process moves into high gear. Of course we are supporting our home city, Los Angeles. https://lain2026.org/. Also bidding is PharaohCon (Cairo, Egypt) (Replacing Jeddah). The Worldcon bidding rules state that each successive location be at least 500 miles geographically from the previous one. Since this year’s convention was in Chengdu, China, almost anywhere else in the world would have qualified.
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