The 76th UK national science fiction convention Eastercon will open its doors to the public on 18 April 2025. Reconnect will host over 800 fans of science fiction books, films, TV shows, games and other media and is expected to inject over £1m into the local economy.
This is the first time that Eastercon will be held in Belfast, following a four-year journey by the convention chairs to bring the event to Northern Ireland for the first time in Eastercon’s history. This celebration of science fiction is already proving very popular with Science Fiction fans and professionals around the world, with over 775 members from 23 countries registered to date.
Reconnect will be held at ICC Belfast and the Hilton Lanyon Place, widely recognised as a leading international convention and events venue. The Reconnect team has had fantastic support from Visit Belfast and Tourism Northern Ireland throughout the bidding process and in preparing for the convention.
Reconnect’s Guests of Honour include writers and artists in fantasy and science fiction across prose, comics, television, and more – Lauren Beukes, Derek Landy, Jeannette Ng, Ian McDonald, Rebecca Roanhorse, and Will Simpson. These Guests of Honour will be joined by a range of professionals and fans from across the field and the world, with over 250 hours of programming and nearly 300 speakers planned for the four days of the convention.
Reconnect’s programme will take place on-site at the ICC Belfast and Hilton Lanyon Place, with a significant proportion of the items available through live streaming and delayed playback. The current list of participants includes writers, editors, critics, bloggers, podcasters and fans from across the UK and Ireland, North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Between them they have won Hugo, Nebula, Locus, World Fantasy, Sidewise and British Science Fiction Association Awards.
The programme, to be formally released soon, highlights the vast range of topics to be featured in Belfast. Our Northern Irish venue will be reflected by panels on CS Lewis and the history of Northern Irish fandom, while other panels will range from Arthurian mythology to the practicalities of SF megastructures, found family in SF, “the woo of wee”, inclusive game design, and discussing the impact of 50 years of “Rocky Horror Picture Show”. With several items at a time to choose from, attendees will never lack for stimulation or entertainment!
There will also be several live entertainment events for attendees, including a performance by the Irish Video Game Orchestra, two discos, a ceilidh, the annual George Hay Lecture, and the presentation of this year’s British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) Awards, voting on which is open to both current members of the BSFA and Reconnect members.
Reconnect co-chair Tommy Ferguson adds: “I am extremely excited to showcase Belfast to Science Fiction fans from all over the UK, Ireland and the rest of the world. We have a long tradition of fantastic literature from CS Lewis to current local authors like Jo Zebedee and RB Kelly, and of course our very own Guests Ian McDonald and Will Simpson.”
Individual Day Tickets, Weekend Attending Memberships and Online attendance options are all available – see website for full details and prices.