Taking Inventory of Future Worldcon Bids

Next year fans will choose the site of the 2022 Worldcon for which Chicago is currently running unopposed. Beyond that?

Dublin 2019’s Fannish Inquisition session witnessed a changing of the guard. A Memphis in 2023 bid was revealed, and the Chengdu in 2023 bid declared it was official. The New Orleans bid for 2023 fell off the radar. Spokane in 2023 and Perth in 2025 took themselves out of the running, the latter temporarily — there’s more about them at the end of the post.

 2022

Chicago in 2022

Proposed Site: Chicago, IL
Proposed Dates: Mid-August – Labor Day Weekend, depending on venue availability.
Bid Chairs: Helen Montgomery and Dave McCarty.
Website: Chicago in 2022 Worldcon Bid
Facebook: Chicago Worldcon
Dublin 2019 questionnaire: Chicago-2022-Bidders-questionnaire

2023

Chengdu in 2023

Proposed Site: Chengdu, China
Proposed Dates: In August
Bid Leadership:

We are a non-profit organization called Galaxy Science Fiction Alliance, which mainly consists of Sichuan Science Fiction Association and Chinese Sci-fi fans. Sichuan Science Fiction Association focuses on academic researches on Science fiction and fantasy literature,films, computer games and so on

Website:
English: http://www.worldconinchina.com/index-e.html
Chinese: http://www.worldconinchina.com/
Twitter: Chengduworldcon
Dublin 2019 questionnaire: Chengdu-2023-Bidders-Questionnaire

Nice in 2023

Proposed Site: Nice, in the south of France
Proposed Dates: August 2-6, 2023
Bid Leadership: (From the website)

The board of directors is: Albert Aribaud, Alex Garcia (president), Alain Jardy, Arnaud Koëbel, Sybille Marchetto (treasurer), Thomas Menanteau and Patrick Moreau.

Website: Nice in 2023
Twitter: Worldcon in France
Facebook: Worldcon in France (English)
Dublin 2019 questionnaire: Nice-2023-Bidders-Questionnaire

Memphis in 2023

Proposed Site: Memphis, TN
Proposed Dates: August 23-27, 2023
Bid Leadership: Cliff Dunn and Kate Secor
Website: Memphis in 2023
Twitter: Memphis in 2023
Facebook: Memphis in 2023
Dublin 2019 questionnaire: Memphis-2023-Bidders-Questionnaire

2024

Glasgow in 2024

Proposed Site: Glasgow, Scotland
Proposed Dates: August 8-12, 2024
Bid Chair: Esther MacCallum-Stewart
Website: Glasgow in 2024
Facebook: Glasgow in 2024
Dublin 2019 questionnaire: Glasgow-2024-Bidders-Questionnaire

2025

Seattle in 2025

Proposed Site: Seattle, WA
Proposed Date: Mid-August 2025
Bid chair: Kathy Bond
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Seattle2025/
Dublin 2019 questionnaire: Seattle-2025-Bidders-Questionnaire


SPOKANE IN 2023 – CLOSED. A bid for Spokane was prepared to step into the gap left by the moribund New Orleans bid to assure there would be a North American option, but it has vacated the field in favor of Memphis.

Mike Willmoth shares the story:

I started the Spokane in 2023 Bid pre-Worldcon since it appeared that New Orleans in 2023 had fizzled. Although I was New Orleans’ Facilities Liaison once they announced, I had to resign this January after taking over the Facilities DIvision for Westercon-NASFiC in Layton, UT, after the original facilities team resigned. I had heard nothing from New Orleans and no one else seemed to as well. I had had several conversations with fans concerned about their absence and the apparent weak positions of both Chengdu and Nice. So Spokane was an
Emergency Holographic North American Bid.

After reaching out to Visit Spokane (their CVB) they confirmed that their convention center was wide open for all of August. I resolved one outstanding issue from Sasquan with the Davenport chain (non-standard attrition clause which is now standardized on Marriott’s corporate one). I then reached out to past Sasquan DHs/DDHs/AHs for support for a bid team. I then notified Colette Fozard who was
coordinating Dublin’s bid questionnaires. She sent me one to complete. I did so after arriving in Dublin, but learned that she had received one from Memphis which I was unaware of.

During the Dublin Business Meetings I had several chats with the Memphis Bid Co-Chairs and it was apparent to me that they were farther along than we were, had a slightly larger team already, etc. I notified our bid team and the consensus was that we should punt since we were only there because no other NA bid was visible. I made the final decision to pull the Spokane bid on Day 5 of Dublin, notifying Memphis and others as well as Visit Spokane. We may do another one in
the future, but for now we are on hiatus. I would have been the official bid chair if elected by the team, but we never got that far. I was just the
instigator.

So officially the Spokane in 2023 Worldcon Bid is closed because Memphis stepped up to the plate and appears to have their excretions coagulated 🙂

PERTH IN 2025 – ON HIATUS. PRK confirms, “Yes, at the Fannish
Inquisition I announced that the Perth bid was going on hiatus, and no longer
bidding for 2025. We may return in the early 20s and announce for a new year.”
[Twitter: Perth in 2025]