Photo from signing prior to Belfast Moot 1 2009 taken by theMountainGoat. George RR Martin [and standing R-L] Ron Donachie (Rodrik Cassell), Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy), Kit Harrington (Jon Snow), Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and Richard Madden (Robb Stark).
Starting life as a collaboration between the Brotherhood Without Banners (BWB), Belfast SF/F society The Other Ones, Arkham Gaming Centre and TableTopNorth the convention has evolved into a celebration of all the weird and wonderful worlds speculative fiction has to offer.
With a particular focus on literature, TitanCon is honoured to have counted George R. R. Martin, Ian McDonald, Peadar Ó Guilín, Leigh Bardugo, Ruth Frances Long, Sarah Pinborough, Pat Cadigan, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Peter F Hamilton and Joe Abercrombie among its guests.
After a two year hiatus due to the pandemic, we’re thrilled to be running an in-person convention this year on August 5th to 7th at the Hilton Belfast. Our Guests of Honour are Jeannette Ng, Robert Sawyer and Jodi Taylor, and our confirmed guests include Ian McDonald, Ruth Frances Long and Pat Cadigan.
There’ll be an exciting mixture of panels, workshops, readings, tabletop gaming and other events. One of the highlights of every TitanCon is our literature night, which features readings from our guests and up-and-coming local talent, and this year’s is certain to be a high point of the convention. We’ll also have a fabulous selection of dealers in the merch hall, so you can shop ‘til you drop; just remember to bring an extra suitcase for everything!
We’re already counting down the days until this year’s TitanCon. Why not join in on the excitement and pick up your membership today? After all, a TitanCon membership isn’t just a convention ticket; it’s an invitation to get involved in Northern Ireland’s growing fan scene and to make some great friends!
The Game of Thrones Legacy
In 2009 HBO announced that they would be making a pilot episode of Game of Thrones to be filmed in Belfast. To coincide with the filming George decided to travel over for his first ever signing event in Northern Ireland and as ever he invited the BWB to a Moot after the signing to which he “might” bring along some cast members too. Fans were thrilled to meet some of the cast and crew members for the first time including Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Richard Madden (Robb Stark), Ron Donachie (Rodrik Cassell), Esme Bianco (Ros), Visual Effects Producer Julia Frey and weapons advisor and combat choreographer Paul Hardwyck. Full report available here (Word format document named Ireland 2009).
It was after that first moot that theMountainGoat floated the idea of a fan convention for the show to be held in Belfast. But at that time we could not be sure that the show would even go into full production and we did not have enough contacts and people with con running experience in Belfast, we knew that the BWB could not put on a convention like this on our own.
Then at WorldCon 2010 in Melbourne Australia theMountainGoat asked Parris if we could have a second moot in Belfast when George goes back to Ireland for Octocon in Dublin and then on to Belfast a couple of weeks later. She was extremely excited by the idea and tasked theMountainGoat with getting it organised. By the time Octocon came around everything was ready, a venue was arranged and booked by BWB and Winter-is-Coming contributors Silverjaime and Rimshot, date and time announced on Westeros and over 50 people signed up for the guestlist and to receive details of the venue privately to prevent gatecrashers. We had invite cards printed for George to hand out to the cast and crew. Kristian Nairn who plays Hodor in the series was also at Octocon and he took some posters back to the production office for us to help promote Moot 2.
It was at Octocon that theMountainGoat got talking to some of the other BWB members about the possibility of upgrading the Moots to being a full blown convention. A great idea but how do we get there? An hour or so later theMountainGoat met up with Bruce, they had met before at the first Belfast Moot in 2009 and by one of those cosmic events of happenstance Bruce wanted to invite the BWB to join up with his group to put on a convention in Belfast. theMountainGoat spoke with George and Parris about the idea over breakfast the next morning and they were supportive and gave solid and realistic advice about what our expectations should be and how to get started.
Moot 2 was a huge success with many cast members attending including Mark Addy (Robert Baratheon), Gethin Anthony (Renly Baratheon), Finn Jones (Loras Tyrell), Jamie Sives (Jory Cassell), Miltos Yerelemou (Syrio Forel), Eugene Simon (Lancel Lannister), John Bradley-West (Samwell Tarly), Josef Altin (Pypar), Mark Stanley (Grenn), Luke McEwan (Rast), Kit Harrington (Jon Snow), James Cosmo (Jeor Mormont), Kristian Nairn (Hodor), episode writer Bryan Cogman, storyboarder William Simpson and a whole host of extras. Reports on the 2010 Moot can be found on Westeros and Winter-is-Coming.
