By Vincent Docherty: The traditional Q&A was held at SMOFcon 41 on Saturday in the DoubleTree by Hilton Seattle Airport, site of a number of previous conventions, including Westercon.
The Q&A was hosted by Vincent Docherty and Theresa (TR) Renner, and featured presentations by and questions for future SMOFcon bids, the upcoming seated Worldcons and future Worldcon bids, now including an exploratory bid for Maastricht in the Netherlands for 2032. Several of these had completed questionnaires in advance.
FUTURE SMOFCONS. SMOFcon 42 will be held in Stockholm, Sweden, 5-7 Dec 2025. It will be chaired by Carolina Gómez Lagerlöf, who presented the bid, which was unopposed and voted in by acclamation. The convention website is live including the membership registration page. Hotel booking will open in January.
Expressions of interest for future SMOFcons were presented, including:
- DC/MD/VA (run by BWAWA and chaired by Cathy Green) in 2026
- A 2027 LA, CA to Mexico cruise ship based SMOFcon bid led by Ron Oakes
- A 2027 European SMOFcon bid, site tbc, (likely in a ‘warmer country’), presented by Tammy Coxen on behalf of various interested groups
GLASGOW 2024 PASS-ALONG FUNDS REPORT. The Q&A then heard a brief message from Glasgow 2024, confirming that Pass-along-funds of £20,000 each has been given to the 2025 and 2026 Worldcons and similar will be given to the selected 2027 Worldcon.
SEATED WORLDCONS. The seated 2025 and 2026 Worldcons then gave presentations.
Kathy Bond, chair of Seattle Worldcon 2025, gave updates on membership, hotel bookings, volunteers recruitment and on latest plans, including pre-con online WSFS Business Meeting sessions.
Joyce Lloyd, chair of the recently selected 2026 Worldcon LAcon V, spoke about how the convention is progressing, and introduced the convention mascot ‘Fuzzy’, in honor of the late Marilyn “Fuzzy Pink” Niven.
FUTURE WORLDCON BIDS. The Q&A then focused on bids and expressions of intent for Worldcons in later years, covering 2027-2032.
2027. The two bids for the 2027 Worldcon provided important updates.
The chair of the Montréal in 2027 bid, Terry Fong, and other committee members, responded to a number of questions from Q&A attendees, and announced that they have filed officially with the site selection administrator of Seattle 2025, which will host the 2027 vote.
The Tel Aviv 2027 Worldcon bid sent a message to the Q&A. Bid chair Guy Kovel wrote: “Regrettably, due to the situation in Israel, we would have to push our bid to a later year, we have not yet made an announcement as we are still in internal discussions as to what year we would be able to bid for.”
As a result, Montreal in 2027 is the only currently active bid for the 2027 Worldcon.
2028. The two bids for the 2028 Worldcon, were unable to attend in person, and sent messages and materials for the Q&A session.
Brisbane, Australia in 2028, bid chair Random Jones, sent a message which was read out by the Q&A hosts, including that the date of the proposed convention has been changed to be closer to the solar eclipse of 22nd July 2028 which will be visible from Sydney. The bid provided materials to be shared: ”the shiny brochure that the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre put together with us for Worldcon Glasgow. It’s too big to include in the mailing list, so it can be found here. It’s slightly out of date, so here are the updated answers to the questionnaire.”
Michael Kabunga, chair of the Kigali, Rwanda in 2028 bid, sent a communication, presentation and questionnaire. These were more fully reported on File770 earlier. ConKigali is the updated name of the bid. Micheal highlighted their ambition to host the first Worldcon in Africa, and the accessibility and status of human rights in Rwanda.
The Q&A then heard from later bids and expressions of interest.
2029. Dublin in 2029 bid co-chair Brian Nisbet, provided greetings from co-chair Marguerite Smith and the latest news from the bid, including their intent to use the Convention Centre, Dublin (CCD), used by the 2019 Dublin Worldcon, along with the nearby National College of Ireland (NCI) facility. Further details in their completed questionnaire.
2030. Olav Rokne, representing the Edmonton in 2030 bid, presented initial details of their recently announced bid, supported by a questionnaire.
2031. A representative of the Texas in 2031 bid reiterated their intent, and that work is ongoing to build the team and to select a suitable city and venue.
2032. Q&A host Vincent Docherty announced information about an emerging group of fans and conrunners in the Netherlands, who are investigating the possibility of a Dutch worldcon in 2032. They are looking at the MECC facility in Maastricht as a potential venue. The bid team indicated that if it goes on, they will announce the bid probably in Seattle.
BEYOND. The host then reminded the audience that with bids now extending to 2032, it is germane to consider the upcoming centenary/centennial in 2039 of the very first Worldcon, in 1939, (Wikipedia link), which was held in New York.
In 2025 there will be further opportunities for the bids to provide updates at various conventions, in particular at Seattle 2025 and SMOFcon 42.
