V.A. Editing

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the British Fantasy Society Fantasycon event in Chester.

I know that for various reasons, people may be reluctant to attend face-to-face events. So, I thought I would just share a few of my own reflections on the 2024 Fantasycon event.

The schedule

My first thought when I saw the proposed schedule was ‘Wow!’ It looked to be a jam-packed three days of talks, panel discussions, and workshops. Fantastic!

It was really handy having the schedule in the goody bag that you received at registration. Our first task was sitting with a coffee and picking which sessions we wanted to join. There were a few timeslots where there were multiple appealing options that clashed, so my husband and I went to different sessions and then shared our takeaway points afterwards.

Returning to that goody bag I just mentioned. My husband and I each had different freebie books, which was nice. And a bunch of free bookmarks, which is always appreciated. I mean, who could ever have too many bookmarks, right?

Back to the schedule, there were no assigned times for breaks, so we just chose points where the session topics didn’t appeal as much and took ourselves off for something to eat then.

Personally, I found the session topics to be diverse enough that there was plenty to keep me interested. In particular, the sessions related to self-publishing were of interest to us, and there were definitely some useful takeaway points from those.

The venue and organisation

I have to admit, this was my first visit to Chester, and I was pleasantly surprised. We made time to have a walk around the city, and took a stroll along the city walls. It’s a lovely little place, and there were a lot of options for places to eat and drink.

Regarding the Fantasycon venue itself, everything happened in The Queen at Chester Hotel, which is right opposite the train station, and therefore very convenient if arriving by train.

I mainly bounced between the various downstairs rooms, which were all quite comfortable in terms of seating and arrangement, although there were one or two very popular sessions where it was standing room only.

In terms of the event organisation, everything looked pretty together from where I stood. I know that the reality of organising large events often feels very different when you’re on the inside making it all happen, but in my opinion, the organisers and volunteers did a fantastic job of making it all look smooth and seamless.

The vibe

Generally speaking, I would say the venue had a lively buzz about it, with the exception of first thing Sunday morning, which definitely had a quieter feel to begin with.

I spent most of my weekend in the panel discussions, and I felt like they were all friendly and welcoming, and sometimes very cosy and intimate. We ended up in one session (scheduled during the award dinner) where there were 4 panellists and only 3 audience members, so it was a much more interactive discussion, which was really pleasant.

I attended with my husband, bumped into a couple of people we already knew, and chatted to a few new folk too, so it was quite a sociable weekend.

If you are someone attending alone, I think you would find plenty of people to chat to, and if you’re a BFS member, there is the Discord chat where you can get to know people who are planning on attending the event.

Overall, I would say the vibe of the event was pleasant and welcoming, and presents a great opportunity to expand your network of like-minded people.

Value for money

As a member of the BFS there was a £10 discount on the ticket price, so I paid £75 for the weekend ticket. Personally, given how many sessions I attended, and taking into account the freebies in the goody bag, I felt like it was great value for money.

From what I understand, the BFS also have some bursary options available for people who otherwise might not be able to attend from a financial perspective, which I think is really great.

By the time we booked our tickets, all of the rooms in the venue hotel were already fully booked, so we ended up booking a hotel in the city, about 15 minutes walk from the Fantasycon venue. This worked well for me, as I like having an excuse to do a bit of walking, especially after sitting all day in conference rooms.

From what I could see, there was a decent range of options for accommodation near the venue, including homestays. So there are definitely options for doing it on a budget.

I also managed to get a cheeky deal from trainline.com by booking in advance, so got our train tickets from the Midlands to Chester for an absolute bargain. So it’s definitely worth booking ahead and looking for those deals.

Overall

To summarise, I would say that this event was well worth it. Although I was absolutely shattered by the time I got home on Sunday evening, it was a pleasant kind of tiredness.

I would highly recommend this event to anyone who writes or edits within the realms of fantasy, sci-fi and horror, and who is looking to meet other writers, share ideas, and maybe learn something new. I will definitely be going back.