Missoula's Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention

MisCon

MisCon is a 4-day celebration of fantasy, science fiction, horror, gaming, cosplay, anime, and pop culture that takes over the Missoula County Fairgrounds every June.

Through discussion panels, hangouts, games, author readings, book signings, craft demos, classes, and workshops, we bring fans together with authors, artists, game designers, actors, cosplayers, magicians, and other professionals in the world of speculative fiction.

View and buy art from our Art Gallery, watch our film festival submissions, participate in our Costume Contest on Friday, play RPGs, board games, LARPs, Magic the Gathering, and check out what our Merchants are selling.

If you’re 21 & up, get a drink from the Rhino Mobile Catering, attend the Sake Tasting Friday night, the Mead Tasting Saturday night, and check out our nightly Tent Party in the Campground. 

Whatever your interests, MisCon has something to fascinate, educate, and entertain you.

Thursday to Sunday

For MisCon 40: the Upside Down, we’re trying something new.

Thursday will be a social day. We will open to the public at 4pm, although the Campground and Registration for badge pickup will open at 10am. We’re planning for it to be a day of final setup and to provide early birds a low-key opportunity to meet up with old friends and make new ones before the convention really kicks off Friday morning.

Anyone who wants to volunteer can show up any time Thursday and we’ll find something for you to do, but most things will kick off that afternoon: Merchants, the Art Gallery, and Gaming will open at 4pm.

We’re not going to run our standard panels/programming Thursday so we can give people a chance to hang out and socialize without feeling the need to rush off to learn about editing or cryptids or to get to the Costume Contest or a scheduled D&D game on time.

Instead, we’ll run light programming and social events like Cosplay Tea, Film Festival Best of Years Past, book signings, and artist meetups. We’ll run some of our usual evening events, like the nightly Tent Party in the Campground, music in the Cantina, and open gaming until late into the night. Check out the schedule throughout the spring to watch things shape up.

Most (if not all) of our guests of honor and panelists will be around by Thursday evening, so it’ll be a great opportunity to meet them before things get busy Friday morning. 

Registration (and everything else) opens at 10am Friday, Opening Ceremonies will kick things off at noon, and we’ll run games, discussion panels, activities, magic shows, etc from 10am until 2am Friday, Saturday, and we’ll wrap things up Sunday at 6pm. If you want to stick around for the dead dog party after that, you’re welcome to do so.

MisCon 40 Guests of Honor

Dragon Dronet, Special Guest of Honor

Dragon Dronet is a weapon specialist, armorer, actor, prop master, and Sith Lord who has worked in Hollywood for decades. He appears as Darth Malgus from the video game Star Wars the Old Republic. Dragon has build props for tv shows and movies such as Spiderman No Way Home, Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Heroes, Lost, True Blood, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Total Recall, RoboCop 2, Batman Returns, Eraser, Alien: Resurrection, MacGyver, Alien Nation, Space Rangers, The X-Files, Babylon 5, and Earth 2, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek: First Contact, (among many others).

About Dragon Dronet

Steven L Sears, Special Guest of Honor

Steven L. Sears is an acclaimed writer and producer with over 40 years of experience in Hollywood. He is best known as the Co-Executive Producer of Xena: Warrior Princess and the creator of Sheena. His extensive career began in the 80s, writing for iconic hits like The A-Team, Hardcastle and McCormick, and Riptide. He is also the author of the sci-fi graphic novel Stalag-X.

About Steven L Sears

MisCon 40 Featured Professionals

Jim Wright (Stonekettle), Artist/Author/Activist

Jim Wright is a retired US Navy Chief Warrant Officer and freelance writer. He lives in Florida where he watches American politics in a perpetual state of amused disgust. He's been called the Tool of Satan, but he prefers the title: Satan's Designated Driver. He is the mind behind Stonekettle Station. You can follow him on Twitter @stonekettle, or you can join the boisterous bunch he hosts on Facebook at Facebook/Stonekettle. Remember to bring brownies and mind the white cat, he bites. Hard.

About Jim Wright (Stonekettle)

Jeff Sturgeon, Artist

Jeff Sturgeon is a northwest artist known for his beautiful, award-winning metal paintings. His career spans over thirty years, coming up through the ranks as a young fan artist in the 80s to being hired in the first wave of computer game artists in the late 80s/early 90s. A long career in the 90s as an artist, animator, concept artist, lead artist, game designer, and art director followed most notably for Electronic Arts. He continued to paint and display his work at science fiction conventions around the country and created new cover and interior work for clients such as Harper Collins Publishing and NASA JPL.

About Jeff Sturgeon

Steven K Smith (SKS Props)

Steven K. Smith, also known online as SKS Props, is an award-winning artist, fabricator, and owner of SKS Prop and Costume Supply. While he makes and sells professional-grade cosplay props and replica costumes, his goal is to teach people the techniques and fundamentals they need to create their own props and costumes. Steve has uploaded over 200 instructional cosplay and prop videos to his Youtube channel, SKS Props, and is active in various Facebook cosplay communities.

About Steven K Smith (SKS Props)

Todd Lockwood, Artist/Author

Todd Lockwood is an illustrator and author, whose work has appeared on NY Times best-selling novels, magazines, video games, collectible card games, and fantasy role-playing games. It has been honored with multiple appearances in Spectrum and the Communication Arts Illustration Annual, and with numerous industry awards. Always known for the narrative power of his paintings, Todd's debut novel, "The Summer Dragon" was released by DAW Books to rave reviews, named by B&N and Amazon both on their shortlist of "Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novels of the Year." View his art at http://www.toddlockwood.com or get chummy at https://www.facebook.com/artoftoddlockwood

About Todd Lockwood

See our other attending professionals and panelist volunteers.

MisCon Theme

Our theme changes every year. The yearly theme influences panel topics, invited guests, decoration, and sometimes convention-wide events. We encourage guests, members, and attendees to take each year's theme to heart, and let it influence your thoughts of, and preparation for, MisCon each year.

MisCon 40: The Upside Down

I'm not sure when the Goblin King showed up, or how he got his hands on that old copy of the NeverEnding Story. He keeps muttering about voodoo, magic dances, hypercolor shirts, the Nothingness, and Biff Tannen.

Our seers, scientists, and sages don't know what he's up to, but at least he's stealing books instead of babies these days.

Who is Q Bert? Can we trust Madmartigan? The Dread Pirate Roberts? Those Goonies kids? ...

Read on