Archon (convention)
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Archon is a multigenre convention held annually in Collinsville, Illinois and is hosted by St. Louis Science Fiction, Ltd. It is the largest convention of its type in the St. Louis, Missouri area, bringing a few thousand fans of science fiction, fantasy and horror each year.
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[edit] Past Archon highlights
The first Archon in 1977 drew a crowd of 253 and was held at Stouffer's Riverfront Towers (now the Millennium) in downtown St. Louis. In 1982 Archon 6 brought author Stephen King and attracted 1,750 participants to the Chase Park Plaza Hotel. The convention had a ten-year run at the now-defunct Henry VIII Hotel near Lambert Airport. Finally, it settled in its current home at the Gateway Center in Collinsville. Archon 20's guest of honor, author Ray Bradbury, attracted record attendance of over 2,500 convention-goers in 1996. In 2003 Archon 27 expanded from three days to four. Archon 30 attracted nearly 2,800 convention-goers in 2006, a record for the convention.
In 2007 in place of Archon, convention organizers plan to host the 9th North American Science Fiction Convention (9th NASFiC). The convention will be held two months earlier than the normal Archon, on August 2-5, 2007. Scheduled guests of honor include Barbara Hambly, Darrell K. Sweet, and Mira Furlan.
[edit] Archon Masquerade
Archon hosts one of the best known masquerade competitions in the country. In 2005, over 50 entries were presented in four separate classes, Junior, Novice, Journeyman and Master. These costumers represent a wide range of fandom, presenting recreations of favorite cinema and literary characters along with original creations. Author Vic Milan has been the emcee of the Archon Masquerade for many years. The masquerade is unique for its team of professional light and sound engineers who volunteer their time working with the presenters for the show. The Archon Masquerade rules are compatible with the International Costume Guild guidelines for competition, which means that any major awards won at Archon are included in standings at other ICG convention competitions.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Archon's official web site
- Archon's Masquerade web site
- The North American Science Fiction Convention
- riverfronttimes.com article on Archon 28
| Preceded by 8th North American Science Fiction Convention Cascadia Con in Seattle, USA (2005) |
List of NASFiCs 9th North American Science Fiction Convention Archon 31 in St. Louis, USA (2007) |
Succeeded by 10th North American Science Fiction Convention not scheduled |
