By Daniel Dern: Arisia 2025 — “New England’s largest and most diverse science fiction and fantasy convention” (per the con’s web page header) — was held Friday January 17 through Monday January 20, 2025, at the Hyatt Regency Boston/Cambridge Hotel (aka “the Ziggurat”) in Cambridge, Mass.

According to Arisia Press Liaison Justin du Coeur, Arisia 2025 had 1,729 registrations and 1,456 attendees. (For comparison, Arisia 2024 had, according to Arisia Abbreviated History, 1,840 and 1,675 respectively.)

Based on my Saturday at Arisia 2025 (and every Arisia I’ve been to, which is most—I know I missed Arisia 2023 and Arisia 2024, probably one or two others in the previous decades), the Con was full of people of all ages busy having fun.

(Here’s Arisia’s helpful First Time Arisia Attendees Guide.)

Until Arisia 2025, I hadn’t attended any cons in person since early 2020.  According to my records and my File 770 con reports, I’d attended Arisia 2020 back in January 2020 (including as a Program participant) (here’s my File 770 con report), and Boskone 57 (per my report) in February 2020. As the Pandemic led many cons to go virtual, I did virtually-attend Arisia 2021 (note to self, doing a magic show via Zoom adds some technical complexities) — and Boskone 58. Arisia returned to being in-person for Arisia 2023 and 2024; Arisia 2025 marks my return to in-person SF conventions, and I’m glad I did.

ARISIA 2025, A FEW FACTS.

Founded in 1988, and with its first convention held in 1990, Arisia is one of the Boston-area’s three major annual science fiction and fantasy conventions. (The other two are Boskone, again this year at the Westin Boston Seafront in Boston, Friday February 14 through Sunday February 16, 2025, and ReaderCon (returning, after several years at the Boston Quincy Marriott in Quincy, Mass., to the Boston Marriott Burlington in Burlington, MA, Thursday, July 17-Sunday July 20, 2025).

The Guests of Honor (GoH’s) for Arisia 2025 were (see here for short bios):

• Author Guest of Honor: Moniquill Blackgoose

• Artist Guest of Honor: Sarah Morrison

• Fan Guest of Honor: Siobhan Flanagan

ARISIA 2025 COVID/MASKING POLICY: MASKS ON. A Con’s Covid/Masking policies have, for many, become an important factor in attend/don’t decisions. (For example, Arisia’s helped me decide at the near-last minute to go.)

Here’s (part of) the COVID-19 Policies for Arisia 2025:

“For Arisia 2025 we will continue to require masks without an exhalation vent over the nose and mouth in convention spaces for all attendees including those in Youth Services…there are some spaces where attendees can take breaks from having their masks on. We will once again have designated spaces which will be, a mask-optional space where snacks and drinks will be available and where people are welcome to bring in their own food.”

Other cons may, of course, decide differently. For example, the upcoming Boskone 62 (2025) policy says “Boskone 62 recommends, but does not require, that in-person members wear masks in convention spaces. We also recommend, but do not require, that in-person attendees be up to date on their seasonal vaccines (COVID-19, Influenza, etc.)…”)

AS ALWAYS, MUCH TO DO, MUCH TO CHOOSE FROM. Arisia continues to offer a wide range of Things To Do, from panels, workshops and events for the gamut of media (e.g., books, comics, anime/TV/video) through gaming (tabletop and LARP), hall costumes, the Masquerade, dances, concerts, workshops, and more.

According to the online schedule, there were slightly over 200 Program items/activities, including:

• Dealers Room, with 20+ dealers
• Art Show (including many prints-for-sale)
• Masquerade
• Costuming (there was even a staffed costume repair/help table in the main lobby!)
• Bridgerton Themed Ball
• Arisia Renaissance Ball
• Gaming: Board, TTRPG (Tabletop RPG) and LARP. (Justin du Coeur notes, “There was no video gaming this year. Arisia hopes to bring it back next year.”)

The Con’s return to the Hyatt Regency Hotel also let this program item be brought back:

• “Round 2 of the official Arisia stair climb! Get yourself from the first to the 16th floor! Meet in the hotel lobby on the first floor.”

And here’s a sampling of the Program items (taken from the online schedule):

• Is ___ a Sandwich?
• Medieval, Renaissance, & Victorian Fencing Demos
• 10 Books that Define Arisia – “(What ten books does an Arisian need to read in order to understand this convention and its community? This is not a *canon* panel…)”
• Happy 75th Birthday, Chris Claremont!
• Avoiding MacGuffins Once and For All!
• Safety Systems in TTRPG spaces

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION (IMPACTS). From 2011 through 2024 (except for 2019 (Boston Park Plaza) and 2021 (Online-Only) and 2022[1], Arisia was at the Westin Boston Waterfront, which is adjacent to the Boston Convention & Expo Center (aka BCEC). (Boskone has been at this hotel since Boskone 44 (2007).)

[1] Justin du Coeur notes, “Technically there was no Arisia 2022 — it was necessarily canceled at the last minute due to the Omicron wave. We instead held ACOG — the Arisia Community Online Gathering, if I’m remembering the acronym correctly — which was an informal hangout centering on Discord, but nowhere near as ambitious as Virtual Arisia 2021.”

For 2025, Arisia returned to the Hyatt Regency Boston/Cambridge Hotel (aka “the Ziggurat”), on Memorial Drive, Cambridge where it had been from 2007 through 2010.

“Compared to the Westin Boston, the Hyatt Regency is somewhat smaller….But the con is somewhat smaller than it was pre-pandemic (masking/no-masking is sort of a filter for many people), so it’s an appropriate fit,” notes du Coeur.

The Hyatt Regency’s (smaller) size led to some changes in space and time, according to du Coeur. “There was a bit of rearrangement of the schedule, mostly due to the fact that we don’t have as much program space – for example, The Renaissance Ball was Sunday afternoon this year instead of Saturday.  The breaks between panels were a bit shorter this year — since the hotel isn’t spread across two wings the way the Westin is, we didn’t need as much passing time for people to get from one end to the other.  And some of the convention offices are necessarily combining space, so as not to consume as many precious rooms. But there were not a lot of qualitative changes, especially not attendee-visible ones, just a bit of compression to fit back into this environment.”

GETTING THERE: THE PUBLIC-TRANSIT MISSING MILE-AND-A-HALF. One noticeable location difference versus being at the Hyatt Regency Hotel versus the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel (or the Boston Park Plaza Hotel, where Arisia was for over a dozen years) is, of course, the difference in proximity to Boston’s public transit — the MBTA (aka “The T”) subway and bus systems – which, like a location’s availability and pricing of parking, can play a factor choosing which cons to attend.

The Westin Boston Waterfront is, according to Google Maps, a third-of-a-mile walk from the T Silver Line’s “World Trade Center” (yes, that’s its name, it’s a real event-holding building) stop. Not the best of walks, particularly in wind, rain or snow, admittedly, but someone less of a schlep, say, than from NYC’s Javits Center to subway or bus.

By contrast, according to Google Maps, the Hyatt Regency is about a 1.5 mile walk from either the MBTA Red Line’s /Kendall Square stop or the Green Line’s Hynes stop.

“It’s a bit of a hike to the T, but the convention and hotel shuttles should help folks get to/from public transit and restaurants,” du Coeur acknowledges.

Arisia did provide a free 14-passenger shuttle running continuously to and from the MBTA Red Line’s Kendall Square station, and the hotel had an on-demand shuttle (for hotel guests).

According to the Shuttle Page on the Arisia 2025 site, “We were not able to secure an accessible shuttle. Anyone who needs a wheelchair accessible vehicle should please contact the Access division…  to request either Uber or Lyft virtual gift cards prior to convention.”

DERN@ARISIA 2025. It helped that Arisia is, for me, local; I took public transit rather than drive (on-site parking at the hotel, in my experience, is likely to have filled up by the time I arrive, among other reasons), and I live about four blocks from a T stop.

The weather Saturday mid-morning as I headed in was a manageably sunny-ish unwindy mid-30’s, so I got off the Green Line at the Hynes (rather than wait for the #1 bus enough that I walked on Mass(achusetts) Ave(nue) from the Green Line/Hynes stop, over the Charles River via the 364.4-smoot Harvard Bridge and then along Memorial (“Mem”) Drive to the hotel — interesting view of the ice’n’snow covered Charles River.  (See picture up at top)

It’s not a bad walk — if you’re able-bodied, the weather not Cambridge-weather-inclement, and/or you’re schlepping luggage.

Heading home, though, it was beginning to drizzle, so I hopped the Arisia Shuttle to the Kendall Square T stop. All easy enough for me personally — but harder or unfeasible for many others, I have no doubt.

I was at Arisia 2025 for about six hours – which was plenty of time to browse the Dealers Room, peruse the Art Show (and buy one print for a gift), stroll the halls and chat with a dozen or two old friends, poke my head briefly into a panel or two, field-test my new smartphone by taking a few dozen pictures (for this article).

And even, while there was no Fast Track (this year) for me to do my magic show for, I had, on principle, packed and brought about a half-gallon or so’s worth of my cards, rabbits and other magic sundries. So when an adult proximate to another adult and a kid who look of Fast Track-appropriate age asked if I were going to be doing my magic show, I said, “Well, there’s no Fast Track this year, so I’m not doing that…but if you’ve got ten minutes now–” (No rabbits were harmed.) I’m glad I went; I’m now contemplating Boskone and ReaderCon.

SUNDRY OTHER INFO’N’THOUGHTS. I finally got to briefly see Rollacrit’s new (July 2024) revival/update of the ThinkGeek Messenger Bag of Holding (see my File770 review).

Tim Luz has a very nice bunch of Arisia 2025 pictures, over on his Facebook page. (Tim, great job on these!)

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2026! Arisia 2026 will be held Friday January 16-Monday January 19, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency Boston/Cambridge hotel. (The GoH’s haven’t yet been selected, FYI.)