MONTRÉAL FANDOM

Montréal Fandom has a rich and diverse history that still has yearly running conventions, a long-standing fan group, fanzines, all manner of events, and naturally, a strong interest in having a second Worldcon in Montréal.

CONVENTIONS

• Draconis, in its third form, is the biggest table-top roleplaying convention in Quebec. It has had its fair share of starts and stops, but it now has one live event and one virtual event each year.

• Otakuthon is our ever-expanding anime convention which is coming up on its 18th year of hosting conventions in 2024. 

• Montreal Comiccon is a pop-culture fan convention that showcases artists and products from entertainment genres.

• Congrès Boreal is a convention traveling Quebec since 1979 that often comes to Montréal. It is a celebration of French genre literature and has its own awards ceremony to celebrate the best French fiction published in the fantasy, horror, or science fiction genres in Canada. They also hold a writing contest, workshops, and host panels.

FAN GROUPS

• MonSFFA has the longest continuous history in Montréal Fandom (active since 1987). 

• LA GARNISON FORTERESSE IMPÉRIALE is the Quebec chapter of the 501st Legion. They are active in many Montreal events.

• The Montreal LARP scene is lively. There are several different LARP groups, some that run all summer -while others focus on a long weekend to remember.

• SCA Eastern Kingdom, in the Barony of L'ile du Dragon Dormant holds regular meetups to re-enact (and practice) Medieval skills and the lifestyle.

EVENTS

• EXPOZINE celebrates the strong history of fanzines in Montréal, an annual small press fair (2002-current day). 

• Geek-it, another local group, currently focuses on K-Pop and Anime-themed events to celebrate together. In the past, they hosted other events (even mini and relaxa-cons) and are very responsive to their audience.

• Montreal Joue is a yearly event, typically during the local university’s reading break (in early March). It’s hosted by the city’s libraries and seems to alternate between centralised events in the city and special events in various suburbs throughout the greater Montréal region. In 2022 the Montréal libraries hosted Montréal Joue events year-round.

• ToyCon occurs yearly in Montréal, which is an amazing market to find the rarest of collectibles.

• Fantasia is our international genre cinema festival. It draws bigger and bigger crowds of enthusiastic film fans each year thanks to its distinct programming.

GENRE SHOPS

• Thésaurus Térranium (our favourite little tea house) holds events on weekends and offers an afternoon tea daily and a high tea once a month. The tea house also has an online shop for its tea.

• Argo Books is Montréal’s oldest independent bookstore. Librarie Saga is the only speculative bookstore in Montréal. Combined they are the most fan-friendly bookshops around. 

• Les Artisans D'Azure is a great medieval LARP shop that actually runs its own LARP. Another Medieval shop is Dracolite.

And of course, the best hobby shops and game shops (that have space) hold regular events to gather and play games.

GAMING EVENTS

Montréal is the home to a huge number of video game studios, so it’s only natural that we have a lot of video game events. Here are the top three:

• The Montréal Gaming Arcade Expo, MEGA for short, is a celebration of the indie scene and the new home of the Montréal Independent Game Awards. 

• LAN ETS is one of the biggest LAN parties on the East Coast, where more than 2000 gamers compete for prize money. They also offer other activities like cosplay competitions and an exhibitor floor.

• Dreamhack is home to many game finales including the StarCraft II World Championship Circuit. Enjoy the competitions, take part in a BYOC tournament, and check out the booths in the exhibition zone.