List of fan conventions by date of founding

The list of modern fan conventions for various genres of entertainment extends to the first conventions held in the 1930s.

Some fan historians claim that the 1936 Philadelphia Science Fiction Conference, a.k.a. Philcon, was the first science fiction convention ever held. Others, such as Fred Patten and Rob Hansen, make this claim for the January 1937 event in Leeds, England,^[1] organized by the Leeds Science Fiction League, which was specifically organized as a conference, with a program and speakers. Out of this came the first incarnation of the British Science Fiction Association.

While a few conventions were created in various parts of the world within the period between 1935 and 1960, the number of convention establishments increased slightly in the 1960s and then increased dramatically in the 1970s, with many of the largest conventions in the modern era being established during the latter decade. Impetuses for further establishment of local fan conventions include:

• The return of superhero characters and franchises during the Silver Age of Comic Books (1956-1970)
• science fiction adaptations for television serials (e.g., Star Trek) in the 1960s-1970s
• the growth of role-playing (in the 1970s and 1980s) as a genre of tabletop, live-action and eventually video/computer gaming, which not only inspired roleplay of favorite characters in full-body costumes but also inspired existing franchises to adapt their themes for said methods of gaming
• the growth in home taping (starting with VHS in the late 1970s) of television broadcasts, including popular serials.
• the growth of computerized communication, including the Internet and Internet-dependent applications in the 1980s and 1990s.