BABSCon
Discontinued My Little Pony fan convention
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
BABSCon (short for Bay Area Brony Spectacular, a reference to the character Babs Seed from "One Bad Apple"[1]) was an annual My Little Pony fan convention held in the San Francisco Bay Area organized for the fandom of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, whose adult fans are commonly referred to as bronies. In 2019, BABSCon was the third-largest brony convention in the United States.[2]
| BABSCon | |
|---|---|
| |
| Status | Defunct |
| Genre | My Little Pony fan convention |
| Venue | Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport |
| Location | Burlingame, California |
| Country | United States |
| Inaugurated | 18–20 April 2014 |
| Most recent | 18–20 April 2025 |
| Attendance | 2,084 in 2025[‡ 1] |
| Website | https://babscon.com/ |
BABSCon operated from April 2014 until its cessation in April 2025.[‡ 2][‡ 3]
Overview
BABSCon is an annual convention primarily dedicated to fans of the animated television show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, particularly the adult fans known as bronies. The convention was founded in 2013[‡ 2] by Sonya Hipper and co-founded by Sophianna Ardinger.[3] The event features a rainbow-maned, yellow pony mascot named Golden Gates.[2]
BABSCon was the first brony convention in the San Francisco Bay Area[4] and was described by its founders as the "fandom version of Burning Man."[3] In 2019, the convention was the third-largest brony convention in the United States (after BronyCon and Everfree Northwest) and attracted approximately 2,000 attendees.[2]
In 2015, Samuel Miller presented his doctoral research on the brony fandom at a BABSCon panel and subsequently published it in The Journal of Men's Studies.[5]
BABSCon themes included: a cinema-themed "And, Action!" in 2017; a renaissance-based "Fables and Fantasy" in 2018; "Cyberpunk City" in 2019; "SPAAACE!" from 2020–2022; a 90s styled "Memory Lane" in 2023; "Sweet Tooth" in 2024; and finally a "Slumber Party" theme in 2025. [‡ 2]
Burning Mare and Pinkaboo's Neighhem
In March 2025, the BABSCon convention chairs dismissed its music concert coordinator, Pinkaboo.[‡ 4] The decision prompted all of its brony musicians to withdraw from the official concert. With funding from 15 (the creator of 15.ai) and a separate GoFundMe campaign, Pinkaboo and the musicians organized an alternative event called "Pinkaboo's Neighhem" that was to be held immediately after the end of the convention at the Fox Theatre in Redwood City, California.[6][7]
BABSCon promised an alternative concert and proposed the event "Burning Mare" which would take place on Saturday night. On April 11th, they announced their headliner, Mystery Skulls,[‡ 3] with alternative musical acts "Tuo Li presents Brony Syndrome", HTO (The Summoning); as well as the events "Party Cannon Panel" with guest Elley-Ray Hennessy, "The Burning", and "The wedding of Cadence and Twilight and the Final Ca-Dance Party".[‡ 5]
Locations, attendances, charity totals, and notable guests by year
| Year | Dates | Location | Venue | Attendance | Charity Recipient | Charity Total | Notable guests |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | April 18–20 | Burlingame, California | Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport | ~2,350 | Amy Keating Rogers, Andrea Libman, Andy Price (artist), Ashleigh Ball, Brian Drummond, Cathy Weseluck, Jayson Thiessen, Meghan McCarthy, Nicole Oliver, Peter New, Tabitha St. Germain, Tara Strong | ||
| 2015[‡ 6] | April 3–5 | 2,648[‡ 7] | San Francisco Suicide Prevention, New Horizon School and Learning Center | Andrea Libman, Brian Drummond, Bryanna Drummond, Cathy Weseluck, Daniel Ingram (composer), Gillian "GM" Berrow, Heather Breckel, Ian James Corlett, Maryke Hendrikse, Peter New, Rebecca Shoichet, Tara Strong, Tony Fleecs | |||
| 2016[‡ 8] | April 20–24 | ~2,100 | LYRIC, Doctors without borders | Andrea Libman, Andy Price (artist), Gillian "GM" Berrow, John de Lancie, Kelly Sheridan, Lauren Faust, Nicole Oliver | |||
| 2017[‡ 9] | April 14–16 | 1,772[‡ 10] | San Francisco Suicide Prevention, LYRIC | Andy Price (artist), Ashleigh Ball, Peter New, Tabitha St. Germain, Tara Strong, Tony Fleecs | |||
| 2018[‡ 11] | March 30–April 1 | 1,663[‡ 12] | Guitars Not Guns, The Game Academy[‡ 12] | $15,066[‡ 12] | Amy Keating Rogers, Andrea Libman, Bill Newton, Brenda Hickey, Christina Rice, Heather Breckel, John de Lancie, Kelly Sheridan, Nicole Dubuc, Trevor Devall | ||
| 2019[‡ 13] | April 19–22 | 1,599[‡ 14] | Billy DeFrank LGBTQ Center of Silicon Valley, Parents Helping Parents Inc. | $12,890[‡ 14] | Agnes Garbowska, Andy Price (artist), Bill Newton, Bryan Hohlfeld, Josh Haber, Kazumi Evans, Maurice LaMarche, Mike Vogel, Nicole Dubuc, Rebecca Shoichet, Sara Richard, Shannon Chan-Kent, Tabitha St. Germain, Tony Fleecs | ||
| 2020[‡ 15] | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[‡ 16] | ||||||
| BABSConline 2020[‡ 17] | May 8–9 | Online | BABSCon Discord server | N/A | N/A | Brian Drummond, Claire Corlett, Peter New, Sunny Westbrook | |
| 2021[‡ 18] | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[‡ 16] | ||||||
| 2022[‡ 19] | April 15–17 | Burlingame, California | Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport | 1,512[‡ 20] | The Game Academy | $21,445.75[‡ 20] | Andy Price (artist), Grey DeLisle, Nicole Oliver, Peter New, Vincent Tong (voice actor) |
| 2023[‡ 21] | April 7–9 | ~800 | Trans Lifeline[‡ 22] | $20,000[‡ 23] | Charlotte Fullerton, Gillian "GM" Berrow, Katrina Salisbury, Sarah-Nicole Robles, Thom Zahler, Tony Fleecs | ||
| 2024[‡ 24] | March 29–31 | ~700 | Angela's House, SF LGBT Center[‡ 25] | $25,250[‡ 26] | Andrea Libman, Andy Price (artist), Elley-Ray Hennessy, Jeremy Whitley | ||
| 2025[‡ 27] | April 18–20 | 2,084[‡ 28] | Frameline[‡ 29] | $35,708[‡ 28] | Andrea Libman, Andy Price (artist), Ashleigh Ball, Elley-Ray Hennessy, Tabitha St. Germain, Thom Zahler, Tony Fleecs | ||