| Hi everyone, It's just over two months to go until Octocon 2026, and the whole team is getting very excited and a little bit frantic about it. We're also working hard on our plans for 2027 - we already have a venue picked, but we'd love to get your input on who you'd like to see as our guests and other programme participants! You can email ideas to [email protected] or tell us in the #2027-plans channel on Discord. |
Octocon's 2026 Charity Partner: Cork Penny Dinners[td] |
Cork Penny Dinners has been providing homeless support in Cork for over 137 years! In 1888, inspired by a growing movement in London where a single penny could buy a hot, nourishing meal, a group of women in Cork took action to bring the Penny Dinner idea to their city — not as charity in the traditional sense, but as a dignified, structured form of nourishment and care. The purpose of Cork Penny Dinners is simple: to provide nutritious meals in a warm welcoming space where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As always, we’ll be raising money for Cork Penny Dinners during Octocon – we are planning a charity raffle and our usual table quiz. But you can donate to them right now! [/td]
Guest NewsRuth EnnisFirst up, we're delighted to announce that Ruth Ennis will be joining us in Cork on Sunday.[td] |
You can find her as @rurooie on all major social platforms.
Find out more about Ruth.
Octothorpe
But that's not all: we've also got a Three-For-One special this month on online guests, as we welcome Octothorpe to Octocon for 2026![td]
[/td]
Find Octothorpe at their website (where you can also listen to all episodes), Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon. [/td]
What's happening?August Hangout - with Dublin WorldCon 2029!We’re looking forward to joining up with the team from the Dublin 2029 WorldCon Bid for our August Hangout - and this time we’ll be hanging out in person in Dublin!We’ll be meeting in the evening of Monday 10th August from 6pm till 8pm, in Tapped on Nassau Street (their website). If you have any questions, or just want to let us know you hope to join, please get in touch with Donal ([email protected]) who will be coordinating from the Octocon side. Octocon PresentsAlthough we're going to take a break from our online events during August, we had a very successful Octocon Presents July interview with Adrian Tchaikovsky (one of our Octocon 2026 Guests of Honour!) on the release of his new book, Green City Wars.You can watch Adrian being interviewed by our very own David Green here on our YouTube channel. And you can watch back all of the previous Octocon Presents events on our YouTube channel in the Live section! [td] |
Dublin Comic Con
Octocon will have a table at Dublin Comic Con, on the 8th and 9th of August in the Convention Centre Dublin. If you're coming along to DCC make sure to pop by the table and say hi! [/td]RemindersVolunteer FormOctocon cannot happen without all our valued volunteers, and although we’re grateful for everyone who can spend time helping out on the weekend of the convention, it’s a year-round endeavour.There are so many ways to get involved, and the first step is to fill out the Volunteer Form at this link! This will give us a sense of how you’d like to help, and will give you an idea of the kind of things that we need support with to make Octocon happen. Fill it out and we’ll be in touch! ProgrammeWe’re creating a really exciting programme for Octocon 2026 and would love you be involved! If you would like to be on the Octocon programme and/or have a suggestion for something you'd like to see, fill in our programme form.TradeApplications are now open for the Octocon 2026 Trade Hall. Tables cost €50 plus a concession/YA membership for each person working on the table.This year, we are in-person for two days (Saturday October 10th and Sunday 11th) but will be potentially offering one day spots for those interested, pro-rata. Each application is for one table space – if additional space is needed, please state that and we will be in touch. We are not allocating tables on a first come, first served basis. Instead, we will be considering a number of factors, including the need for a variety of types of traders who sell items that we know are popular with Octocon attendees. The closing date for applications is Monday 17 August 2026. You can apply for the Octocon 2026 Trade Hall here. Community FundYou can apply for support to attend Octocon in Cork. We have free memberships available for Cork locals, and bursaries available to members outside Cork.You can find out more and apply for the Community Fund or a membership here. Thank you to everyone who has already contributed to the Community Fund, and a quick reminder to all that you still can! You can contribute to our Community Fund in the Octocon Shop on our Ko-fi or when you purchase your membership using the Contribute to the Octocon Community Fund option. |
What we’re enjoying!From Padraig Mac Donnchadha: I had a great time at Otherworlds in Wexford at the end of June. It was really cool listening to great panel discussions by Irish authors of SciFi and Fantasy discuss topics like Ireland as a setting for Sci Fi & Fantasy, and the impact of AI on writers among other topics.You can read more about Otherworlds on their Instagram page here, and on their Facebook page here. From our chair Catherine Sharp (who's somehow found some time recently to read): I've been working my way through all the Hugo finalists including the graphic novels, and my favourite has been 'A Wizard of Earthsea: A Graphic Novel', written by Ursula K. Le Guin and adapted and art by Fred Fordham. I read the first chapter in PDF, and immediately ordered a physical copy. Thanks Padraig and Catherine for sharing! If you have anything you’ve been enjoying reading, watching, playing or attending recently please do share with us a few short sentences at [email protected] and we’ll include some submissions in our next newsletter. |
Find us at octocon.com Follow us on Facebook | Instagram | BlueSky | Twitch | YouTube Support us on Ko-fi Unsubscribe · Preferences Supporting: |
