Convention News
You can find all the latest news about the Irish Discworld Convention on this page, including such things as guest announcements, membership and merchandise availability, theme backstory, and other such updates. Be sure to check back often!
ONE MONTH SINCE SEKTOBERFEST
29th April, Year of the Incontrovertible Skunk
This time last month, nearly 300 Discworld fans gathered in Cork to meet and celebrate our love of all things Terry Pratchett. We talked, we sang, we hugged, we drank, and we hope that a great time was had by all. We took the opportunity to Be More Terry, and by doing so, raised over €7500 for our charities at our auction (a new IDWCon record!). More information about what went on will become available on our website in the coming weeks.
In order to help us continue to improve, we have put together a post-convention survey for attendees to let us know what went right, what went wrong, and what you'd like to see more or less of next time. Several committee members are stepping down before IDWCon 2021, so if you'd be interested in getting involved in the future committee, please fill in the relevant question (43) on the post-con survey, or email us at info@idwcon.org to let us know.
PROGRAMME NOW AVAILABLE
13th March, Year of the Incontrovertible Skunk
Ladies, gentlemen, differently-alive, Igors, and Others, with just two weeks to go until the start of Sektoberfest, we are proud to present you with the event programme for our convention festivities. You can find out all about our events, not to mention when and where they'll be happening, on this page (in PDF format), as well as instructions on how to get an up-to-the-minute version of our timetable on your portable clacks devices. We hope that reading through this programme will make you nearly as excited for the next fortnight as we are!
GALA DINNER BOOKING NOW OPEN
15th December, Year of the Justifiably Defensive Lobster
Sektoberfest is a time of celebration, but it is also a time of remembrance. We continue our pledge to use garlic only in cooking, to use silver only in decoration, and to acknowledge that while dwarfs are tasty they are not food. In the grand tradition of Sektoberfest, we show our serious commitment through eating and drinking, and so we invite you all to the Diet of Bugs Commemoration Dinner.
This special event is our only separate-ticketed event at Sektoberfest, and if you want to attend, you can purchase your tickets over on our Buy Stuff page. There will be food for all palates (including those avoiding garlic): if you have any allergies, please provide full details when requesting your food. Like many Überwaldeans, you may wish to keep friends close and enemies closer; to facilitate this, you can provide the details of all the people you would like to sit with, or avoid.
Ladies, gentlemen, and others – get your tickets for the Diet of Bugs Commemoration Dinner, and make it Schnappy!
CONVENTION MERCH NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER
12th October, Year of the Justifiably Defensive Lobster
The Sektoberfest Planning Committee are proud to announce a selection of wonderful IDWCon-exclusive merchandise, now available to pre-order. The inhabitants of Schnapp have toiled night and day (mostly night, given their vital status) to hand-craft a wide assortment of Überwaldean goodies for you to peruse, including three different types of shirts (some of them magic!) – all available in unisex and ladies' fit – as well as two different kinds of drinking receptacles (well, you'll certainly need them for Sektoberfest). You can order them over on our Buy Stuff page.
Please bear in mind that we're not able to ship any merchandise out, so all pre-ordered merchandise must be collected in person at the convention. If you can't make it for any reason, you'll need to nominate another member that will be going who can pick it up for you. It's also important to note that while there may be a very small amount of these merchandise items available for purchase at the convention itself, this is by no means guaranteed, so we strongly recommend you pre-order to avoid disappointment.
The final day to order all your pre-order merchandise will be Thursday 28th February 2019.
MEMBERSHIPS SOLD OUT!!!!!
3rd August, Year of the Justifiably Defensive Lobster
“OH NO! I want to come to IDWCon but there are no memberships left!”
Firstly, please don’t panic! We’re delighted you want to come and we’d love to have you join us. The membership list is currently full, but you may still get a chance to join it. As we approach the convention in March 2019, some current members will have real life intervene and will no longer be able to make it. This is sad news for them, but may be good news for you.
We've now released our waiting list, which will enable you to get to the front of the queue for any returned memberships, as well as allowing the unfortunate souls to pass on any unneeded memberships. As well as the information on the waiting list pages, you can find out more in the following ways: Firstly, make sure you've added yourself to our newsletter, signed up to our Facebook group, and followed us on Twitter – that way you’ll be able to keep up with any convention updates and announcments pertaining to the membership waiting list. Secondly, in our second newsletter (see our newsletters page) there was a detailed article about how the waiting list works, entitled ‘Make Room! Make Room!’, so please have a read through that, as well as our About Membership section. Finally, if you still have questions after reading those, then you can get in touch with us via members@idwcon.org.
Please note that we don’t refund memberships – transfer of memberships, including any payment, must be arranged between the parties concerned (though of course we will need to know the details so we can update our membership list). IDWCon will simply facilitate contact between people with unneeded memberships and people who've let us know they want to attend.
MEMBERSHIP & PRE-CON T-SHIRTS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE
19th April, Year of the Justifiably Defensive Lobster
A Special Announcement From the Schnapp Sektoberfest Committee
Velcome! Ve vould like to invite you to join uth for the Thchnapp Thektoberfest – Sorry, this’ll never do, we’ll have to write in Morporkian for the tourists.
Many of you have been awaiting this moment with glee, but some of you are probably wondering what all the fuss is about. In order to come along to the Irish Discworld Convention 2019 (taking place 29th of March – 1st of April 2019) and join your fellow Discworld fans in a weekend of fun and frivolity in Überwald, you’ll need a membership.
You can find out all about membership on our About Membership page. If you’re happy with all of our Terms & Conditions, then head on over to our Buy Stuff section, where you’ll find a link to the membership sign-up page. Membership prices are currently €55 for full and €45 for concessions – but be aware that these prices will rise on 1st October 2018.
As well as our wonderful memberships, you can now order a Pre-Con T-Shirt, also available in the Buy Stuff section. This fetching ensemble will announce to the world your love of Discworld, Ireland, Bats, and Puns. Definitely not to be missed. These T-shirts will only be available to order until 2nd July 2018, and they’ll all be shipped out in late July (or you can also collect it from us at the International DWCon in the UK this August, if you’re going along to that).
Please bear in mind that you’ll need an account on this website before you can buy anything from us. We recommend that you create your account and log in before you make any purchases, as it’ll make the whole process smoother. You can make an account or log in to an existing account by using the ‘Account’ link on the signpost above, or by clicking here.
Once you have a membership (and its corresponding all-important Membership Number), you may want to think about booking a room at the convention hotel. Information on how to book your hotel room is also now available.
Some eager Igors have already been asking about Gala Dinner tickets and how to pre-order exclusive convention merchandise. Never fear, we do plan to offer both of these exciting opportunities for you to give us your hard earned monies in due course, so sign up for our newsletters and keep an eye on this website and our social media for updates.
WELCOME TO SCHNAPP, ÜBERWALD
29th March, Year of the Justifiably Defensive Lobster
Greetings! Whether you’ve stumbled onto this page by accident, curiously clicked a mysterious social media link, or been eagerly awaiting our 2019 website launch, we bid you welcome.
The Irish Discworld Convention (IDWCon) will return to the Cork International Hotel for our sixth convention. We are holding it from the 29th of March to the 1st of April 2019. Our membership sales are due to launch on the 19th of April 2018. In the meantime, why not have a browse around our website to find out more about the convention?
We have an About the Convention section which should answer most of your questions, especially if you’re new to the idea of Discworld Conventions. We’re a bit different from events such as a ComicCon – Discworld conventions don’t focus on the commercial aspects of fandom, but rather on the joy of spending time together as fans. We like to create a friendly, cosy atmosphere where people who share the same sense of humour can relax and let their hair down.
This IDWCon we’ll be visiting the Discworld region of Überwald, focusing on the delightful village of Schnapp, whose inhabitants are keen to tempt tourists to their Sektoberfest. Schnapp’s tourist board will be sending out promotional material and further information as we near the convention, so make sure you sign up to our newsletters to keep up to date.
If you’d like to become more involved prior to the convention, or you have a question that isn’t answered on our website, please feel free to email info@idwcon.org (or contact us through our Facebook Page or our Twitter) and our team will get back to you.