The Baltimore-Washington Area Worldcon Association, Inc. (“BWAWA”) today declared they are bidding to hold the 79th Worldcon in Washington, D.C. Bill Lawhorn will chair the Bid Committee.

BWAWA ran the 1998 Worldcon in Baltimore. They bid to hold the 2017 con in DC but lost to Helsinki. The group has also run the World Fantasy Convention and Nebula Award Weekends.

The last Worldcon in D.C. was Discon II in 1974.

According to the press release, the DC in 2021 bid has yet to secure a venue or choose its proposed dates.

Site selection voting for 2021 will occur at the 2019 Worldcon.

BWAWA members elected Bill Lawhorn to chair the DC bid. He chaired Capclave in 2009 and 2014, and is co-chair of World Fantasy Convention in 2018. In addition to work on the DC17 bid, he also served as staff at the Chicon 7, held in Chicago, Illinois in 2012, and the 2016 Worldcon, MidAmeriCon II, held in Kansas City, Missouri.

“We are very pleased to be able to offer fandom the opportunity to hold the 79th Worldcon in Washington, D.C.,” said Bill Lawhorn. “It’s been a long time since Worldcon was last here, so we’re gearing up to making this a monumental Worldcon.”

DC’s is the only active 2021 bid. Tim Miller announced at last year’s Worldcon that the Dallas/Forth Worth in 2021 bid had ended because of the death of one of its contributors and the entrance of Boston into the race at that time. And today MCFI announced they will not run a Boston bid for that year.

Update: Corrected info about folded 2021 bids.