Hal-Con is a sci-fi & fantasy convention run completely by much-too-dedicated volunteers. A board of ten members is supported by 25 staff on our organizing committee. We are community focused, participating in many events around the Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia (such as other festivals, parades, and gaming events).
Hal-Con is registered with the Province of Nova Scotia (Registry of Joint Stocks) as a society, granting NPO status. (#3235985)
History of Hal-Con
In 2008, Malcolm Campbell man had a dream; to create the biggest sci-fi convention in Atlantic Canada.
Through 2008 and 2009 – he assembled a small crew of loyal sci-fi enthusiasts to help him achieve this task. Unfortunately, for personal reasons, Malcolm stepped down as Chair in late 2009. At that time, Jennifer Lambe and Amanda Schreiber took his place as co-chairs, leading the charge to geeky success. Jennifer and Amanda were joined by fellow geeks Baha Baydar, Travers Milo, Leanne Chatham-Milo, Travis Whalen, Matthew De-Serres, Jen Johnston – the dream continued.
October 29-31, 2010 – Hal-Con finally happened. A Science Fiction / Fantasy / Comic convention was held in Halifax, at the Lord Nelson Hotel & Suites. It was a huge success, bringing in over 1500 attendees (selling out attendance!) over the 3-day weekend, with an incredible display of costumes.
Actors: Denise Crosby, Walter Koenig, Bill Murphy & Kevin Corbett.
Writers: Ellen Curtis, Matthew LeDrew, Kenneth Tam, D.C. Rhind, PJ Haarsma, Nina Munteanu
Comic writer/co-creator: Conor McCreery
Fantasy Model: Drakaina Muse
Media: InnerSPACE team Teddy Wilson & Ajay Fry
There were a number of special events; of which one fan favourite was Geeks versus Nerds with a call-in from Nathan Fillion, defending Malcolm Reynolds in the Han v. Mal debate.
Hal-Con 2011 was even bigger and better. We grew into a new home at the World Trade &Convention Centre – increasing our floor space to over 30,000 sq ft and attendance skyrocketed to over 4000 participants! Our 2-day event managed to keep the cozy kitchen party feeling famous with East Coasters, but was big enough to generate a large new audience. Our volunteer numbers moved from about 40 to over 200! A huge effort to make our transition almost seamless. We were also joined by a new family member Nelson, our mascot, created by Jennifer Coe.
On November 12-13, 2011, we were fortunate to be joined by a fantastic group of guests:
Actors: Erin Gray, Nicholas Brendon, JG Hertzler, Robert Maillet
Writers: Ellen Curtis, Matthew LeDrew, D.C. Rhind, Nina Munteanu, Chantal Boudreau, Kelley Armstrong, Darren Hann, John Hillman
Comics : Conor McCreery, Anthony Del Col, Andy Belanger, Geof Isherwood, Mark Oakley, Andrew Power, Darwyn Cooke, Steve McNiven, Faith Erin Hicks, Tim Larade, Dominic Marco, Mike Holmes, Jordyn Bochon, Tim Carpenter, Dave Howlett, Kate Leth
Gaming: Steve Jackson
Horror: Debbie Rochon
Fantasy Model: Drakaina Muse
Local Celebrity: Fat Apollo
Behind the scenes: John Paladin (make-up artist)
Media: InnerSPACE team Teddy Wilson, Ajay Fry, Cynthia Loyst
Hal-Con 2012 has been announced for October 26-28, 2012 at the World Trade & Convention Centre.
