Welcome
The London in 2014 bid website is no longer active. Now that we have won the bid, the convention website is at www.loncon3.org — please visit that website to join the convention or see the latest news
Welcome to the London in 2014 website. We are running a bid to bring the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention, or Worldcon, to London in August 2014. The site for 2014 will be selected by vote of members of the Chicon 7, 2012 Worldcon. Between now and 2012, the bid committee will be publicising and promoting the bid to science fiction fans all around the world.
The Worldcon is the premier international science fiction event, and awards the prestigious Hugo Awards for achievement in the field of science fiction. 2014 will be the 75th anniversary of the first Worldcon, in New York in 1939, since when the event has been held every year apart from a break during the Second World War. It was last hosted by London in 1965, nearly fifty years ago. Typically the Worldcon attracts about 5,000 attendees from around the world, including hundreds of professional authors, editors, artists and publishers. It has a five-day multi-track programme with hundreds of hours of talks, panels, book signings, videos, etc.
Assuming the bid is successful, the convention will be held from Thursday 14 to Monday 18 August 2014 in the new International Convention Centre, which is part of the ExCeL exhibition centre complex in London's Docklands. The name of the convention, and its Guests of Honour, will only be announced once the bid has been won. The bid, and the convention itself, will be non-profit-making organisations run entirely by unpaid volunteers.
"Worldcon", "World Science Fiction Convention" and "Hugo Award" are registered service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.
Website Inactive
The London in 2014 bid website is no longer active. Now that we have won the bid, the convention website is at www.loncon3.org — please visit that website to join the convention or see the latest news
London in 2014 Succeeds!
2 September, 2012 - 18:49The London in 2014 bid has won the site selection vote, with 864 votes compared with two for None of the Above and four for the most popular write-in bid, and the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention will be Loncon 3 in London. This is the last update on the bid website—for the Guests of Honour and much more information, look at the new convention website at www.loncon3.org.
Online Membership is Closed
1 September, 2012 - 11:58Online purchase of bid membership has now closed. If you are at Chicon 7, you can still buy or upgrade your membership from our bid desk until the 2014 site selection voting closes at 6pm on Saturday.
If the bid wins the 2014 site selection vote, you will be able to buy membership in the convention from the new convention website (which will be linked from this site) from Sunday morning (Chicago time).
Once again, we'd like to thank all of our Pre-Supporters and Friends for their support of the bid.
London Party
29 August, 2012 - 15:34For anyone who will be in London rather than Chicago this weekend, we'll be having a party in London on Sunday afternoon for the announcement of the site selection result. It's at the Green Man pub on Great Portland Street, from 4pm. The result should be announced around 5pm UK time. Come and help us to celebrate or drown our sorrows.
Updated Supporter List
29 August, 2012 - 07:02We've just updated the supporter list on the website for the last time before we head off to Chicago. You can still buy memberships on the website until midnight on Friday (UK time), but they won't necessarily be included in the bid website, although of course they'll be recorded and carried forward to the convention membership list if the bid wins the site selection vote.
We now have 889 Pre-Supporters, 912 Friends, 69 Young Friends and 38 Subscribers—so we're approaching three times the previous record for the number of Friends of a bid, which we believe was 335 for the Glasgow in 2005 bid, and we still have three days at Chicon 7 in which to sign up more. Thank you to you all for supporting the bid.
Last Chance to Join the Bid
28 August, 2012 - 09:16It's just two days until the beginning of Chicon 7, and we're looking forward to seeing many of you in Chicago. We'll be selling Pre-Supporting and Friend memberships of the bid right up until the 2014 site selection voting closes on Saturday afternoon.
If you won't be in Chicago, please note that we'll be closing online memberships of the bid at midnight (UK time) on Friday. You have 2½ days left to become a Friend of the bid, which will save you money when joining the convention (assuming that the bid wins the site selection vote at Chicon 7).
Chicon 7
16 August, 2012 - 13:02It's two weeks until Chicon 7 and the site selection for the 2014 Worldcon.
If you're attending Chicon 7, why not come and help your favourite Worldcon Bid. We'll be doing a lot at Chicon, and we need everybody who can help. Just come along to our bid desk in the Chicon 7 Concourse and sign up. We need people to help at the bid desk, at the bid parties, and if we win we will need help on the Sunday and Monday of Chicon at the convention information desk, convention membership desk and our first convention party.
Progress Report Minus One
25 July, 2012 - 06:25We have published a progress report for the bid, which is available as an electronic publication only, and is now available for download. You can download either a hi-res PDF (24MB) or a low-res PDF (3MB).
All of our Pre-Supporters and Friends will be receiving both a postcard and an email (unless you asked for paper publications only) to let them know that the progress report is available. If you have not received them by mid August at the latest, it means that we don't have your current address details, so please email to let us know. Or visit our bid desk at Chicon 7, this year's Worldcon.
Many thanks to John Coxon for editing, to Alison Scott for the cover, and to all the contributors.
Updated Supporter Numbers
17 July, 2012 - 06:51We've updated the supporter list, and we now have 913 Pre-Supporters, 797 Friends, 61 Young Friends and 40 Subscribers. With six weeks to go until Chicon 7, and then three days at Chicon for selling additional Pre-Support and Friend memberships before site selection voting closes, we may yet hit over 1,000 Friends, which would be three times as many as the previous record of 335 (as far as we're aware). Thanks to everyone who has supported us -- and if you haven't done so yet, you still have six weeks.
Westercon 65
30 June, 2012 - 12:13We'll be hosting a party on the Friday night at ConClusion: Westercon 65, in Seattle, and we hope to meet some of you there. We will also have a bid desk during the day. We're still bidding hard and selling Pre-Supporting and Friend memberships as we prepare for the crucial site selection vote in Chicago in September.
If anyone would like to volunteer to help with running the party or the desk, please email .
Dublin Wins 2014 Eurocon
1 May, 2012 - 09:47The Dublin bid to hold the Eurocon a week after the London in 2014 Worldcon (although of course we still have to win our own bid) was the winner of the voting at this year's Eurocon, held in Croatia last weekend, and so there will definitely be a Eurocon in Dublin from 22-24 August 2014. The name of the convention is Shamrokon, and their website is http://www.shamrokon.ie/. Guests of Honour are Seanan McGuire and Jim Fitzpatrick.
Our congratulations to the Shamrokon team. There are up to six flights per day from London City Airport (located right by the ExCeL convention centre) to Dublin, so it should be very easy to attend both conventions.