Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 18, 2026

Finncon

Finncon is the largest science fiction convention in Finland and, with up to 15,000 participants, one of the largest SF conventions in Europe. Finncon is unique among SF conventions because it has no ticket/membership fee, and is funded primarily on various cultural grants as well as income from traders. The event is organised annually in different cities in Finland.

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Jun 18, 2026
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Finncon
The Guests of Honour of Finncon 2007.
GenreSpeculative fiction
Locationsvaries between Helsinki, Turku, Jyväskylä and Tampere
CountryFinland
Inaugurated1986
Attendance3000–15000
Organized byFinncon-yhdistys ry
Websitehttp://www.finncon.org/

Finncon is the largest science fiction convention in Finland and, with up to 15,000 participants, one of the largest SF conventions in Europe. Finncon is unique among SF conventions because it has no ticket/membership fee,1 and is funded primarily on various cultural grants as well as income from traders. The event is organised annually in different cities in Finland.

From 2003 to 2009 and in 2011 the convention included the anime convention Animecon, which boosted the convention's attendance and public visibility significantly. Since then the conventions have separated, and the future of the Finnish Animecon is currently uncertain beyond the 2011 combined Finncon-Animecon.

Finncon 2021 was cancelled due to logistical difficulties of conducting a large scale event during the COVID-19 pandemic while adhering to the event's ethos and criteria of being open to international communities.2

Finncon alternates between different cities in Finland without a formal rota. Recently the event has been held almost every year, but occasionally a year is skipped if no city is found to host the event that year.

Finncons

ordinal number year dates city guests of honour notes
1 1986 Helsinki Brian Aldiss
2 1989 Helsinki John Brunner, Tom Ölander
3 1991 Helsinki Iain Banks
4 1993 Helsinki Terry Pratchett, Bryan Talbot
5 1995 17–18 June Jyväskylä Bruce Sterling, Vonda McIntyre, Storm Constantine3
6 1997 16–17 August Helsinki Norman Spinrad, Ian McDonald4
7 1999 14–15 August5 Turku Connie Willis, Philip Pullman, Ahrvid Engholm6
8 2000 18–20 August7 Helsinki Neil Gaiman, Stephen Baxter, Ken MacLeod
9 2001 14–15 July Jyväskylä Jonathan Carroll, David Langford, Stelarc, Richard Stallman, Johanna Sinisalo8 also the year's Baltcon
10 2003 1–3 August9 Turku Michael Swanwick, Jonathan Clements, Steve Sansweet, Karolina Bjällerstedt Mickos, Bjørn Tore Sund, Boris Hurtta10 also the year's Eurocon, Baltcon, and Animecon
11 2004 10–11 July Jyväskylä Robin Hobb, Gwyneth Jones, John Clute, Cheryl Morgan, Toni Jerrman11 also the year's Animecon
12 2006 18–20 August Helsinki Jeff VanderMeer, Risto Isomäki, Justina Robson, Rickard Berghorn12 also the year's Animecon
13 2007 14–15 July Jyväskylä Ellen Datlow, Joe Haldeman, Gay Haldeman, Elizabeth Hand, Cheryl Morgan, Ben Roimola. Jonathan Clements, John Clute, Judith Clute13 also the year's Animecon, 7000 visitors14
14 2008 26–27 July Tampere Petri Hiltunen, Charles Vess, Farah Mendlesohn, M. John Harrison, Johanna Koljonen and Nina von Rudiger as the duo Ms.Mandu15 also the year's Animecon
15 2009 10–12 July Helsinki George R. R. Martin, Alastair Reynolds, Adam Roberts, Jari Lehtinen16 also the year's Animecon, Irmelin Sandman Lilius was originally slated to be a guest of honour, however she cancelled for family reasons.17
16 2010 16–18 July Jyväskylä Ellen Kushner, Pat Cadigan, Sari Peltoniemi, Liisa Rantalaiho18
17 2011 15–17 July19 Turku Nalo Hopkinson,20 Richard Morgan,21 Himeka,22 Yukihiro Notsu also the year's Animecon23
18 2012 20–22 July Tampere Lois McMaster Bujold, Liz Williams, Irma Hirsjärvi24
19 2013 5–7 July Helsinki Aliette de Bodard, J. Pekka Mäkelä, Peter Watts, Stefan Ekman25
20 2014 11–13 July26 Jyväskylä Elizabeth Bear, Hannu Rajaniemi, Jukka Halme
21 2016 1–3 July Tampere Jasper Fforde, Anne Leinonen, Catherynne M. Valente, Eeva-Liisa Tenhunen27
22 2018 14–15 July Turku Lauren Beukes, Maria Turtschaninoff, Merja Polvinen28
23 2019 5–7 July Jyväskylä Charles Stross, Kersti Juva, Raine Koskimaa, Cheryl Morgan29
24 2020 10–12 July30 Tampere (virtual) Mike Carey, Helena Waris, Diane Duane, Vesa Sisättö, Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay31
25 2022 8–10 July Espoo Marianna Leikomaa, Malka Older, Magdalena Hai, Marko Hautala32
26 2023 7–9 July Tampere Diane Duane, Helena Waris, Vesa Sisättö, Marek Oziewicz33
27 2024 5–7 July Jyväskylä Ursula Vernon, Tiina Raevaara, Tero Ykspetäjä, Jyrki Korpua34
References

References

  1. "In English". Finncon 2024. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  2. "Finncon 2021 cancelled". Finncon 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  3. "Finncon 95". June 7, 1997. Archived from the original on June 7, 1997. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  4. "Finncon 97". December 28, 1996. Archived from the original on December 28, 1996. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  5. "Program". Finncon 99. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  6. "Turku: 1999". Finncon 99. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  7. "Millenium Finncon". August 17, 2000. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  8. "info". finncon-baltcon2001. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  9. "English". Finncon X. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  10. "Guests". Finncon X. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  11. "Info". Finncon'04. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  12. "Mainpage". Finncon06. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  13. "Guests of Honor". FINNCON'07. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  14. "Con is over! Thanks everyone!". FINNCON'07. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  15. "Guests of honor". 08FINNCONANIMECON. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  16. "Company". animeconVII. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  17. "Irmelin Sandman Lilius". FINNCON2009. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  18. "FINNCON 2010". May 29, 2010. Archived from the original on May 29, 2010. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  19. "Menu". October 20, 2010. Archived from the original on October 20, 2010. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  20. "Finncon's guests of honor". January 16, 2011. Archived from the original on January 16, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  21. "Finncon's guests of honor". January 16, 2011. Archived from the original on January 16, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  22. "Himeka Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  23. "Menu". October 20, 2010. Archived from the original on October 20, 2010. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  24. "FINNCON 2012". January 19, 2012. Archived from the original on August 22, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  25. "Program". Finncon2014. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  26. "Finncon2014". Welcome To Finncon!. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  27. "Conireports and reading lists". Finncon2016. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  28. "Finncon 2018". Finncon 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  29. "Finncon2019". Finncon2019. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  30. "Finncon2020". Finncon2020. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  31. "Program". Finncon2020. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  32. "Finncon". Finncon2022. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  33. "FINNCON 2023". Finncon. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  34. "Welcome To Finncon". FINNCON2024. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
External links