Sci-Fi Valley Con
Annual convention held in Altoona, PA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sci-Fi Valley Con (formerly Sci-Fi in the Valley Con) is an biannual three day multi-genre convention held during June and October/November at the Blair County Convention Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania.[1][4] The conventions organizers also created Momento Con in Pittsburgh.[4]
| Sci-Fi Valley Con | |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Multi-genre[1] |
| Venue | Blair County Convention Center |
| Location | Altoona, Pennsylvania |
| Country | United States |
| Inaugurated | 2012[2] |
| Attendance | Nearly 4,000 in 2015[3] |
| Organized by | Assett Conventions LLC[2] |
| Website | scifivalleycon |
Programming
The convention typically offers board gaming, charity auction, costume contest, film festival, guest panels, role-playing gaming, table-top gaming, trivia tournaments, vendors, video gaming, and workshops.[1][3][5][6] The 2012 charity auction raised $1200 for The Machine Gun Preacher's Save the Children Foundation.[7] 2013's charity auction benefited Shriners Hospitals for Children and raised almost $1500.[8] The 2022 charity auction benefited the Children's Miracle Network.[9]
History
Sci-Fi in the Valley Con 2012 was moved from the Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, Pennsylvania to the North Central Recreation Center in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania. This occurred due to a local fee that would affect the conventions dealers.[2][10][11] In 2013, the convention moved to the Jaffa Shrine and used the bottom floor.[12][13] It used both of the Jaffa's floors in 2014.[14] The convention used half of the Blair County Convention Center in 2015, and the whole facility in 2016.[3][15] Sci-Fi Valley Con 2020 was moved from June to August due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and later cancelled.[16][17][18][19] Sci-Fi Valley Con 2021 was moved from June to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[20][21][22] The October 2021 convention had lower than normal attendance.[9] The June 2024 event had additional parking offsite.[23]
Starting with the November 2024 event, Sci-Fi Valley Con expanded to two events per year.[4]
Event history
| Dates | Location | Atten. | Guests |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 18–20, 2012[11] | North Central Recreation Center Ebensburg, Pennsylvania | 1,000 (est.) or 1,200[12][13] | Jeremy Ambler, Joshua Emerick, Chiara Fattorusso, Garrett Free, Jeremy McHugh, Mark Tierno, Tod Allen Smith, and April A. Taylor.[24] |
| May 17–19, 2013[25] | Jaffa Shrine Altoona, Pennsylvania | 2,000[14] | Brian O'Halloran[12][13] |
| June 27–29, 2014 | Jaffa Shrine Altoona, Pennsylvania | Almost 3,000[5] | Rusty Gilligan, The Mandalorian Mercs,[26] Robert Bruce, Brian O’Halloran,[27] and Scott Schiaffo.[14] |
| May 15–17, 2015[28] | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | Almost 4,000[3] | Blair Murphy[5] |
| June 10–12, 2016 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | Brian O'Halloran, John Rhys-Davies,[29] Zach Galligan, Alaina Huffman, John Morton, Alex Vincent, and Fred Williamson.[3] | |
| June 9–11, 2017 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | Nicholas Brendon, Dameon Clarke, David Eddings, Donald Fullilove, Harry Waters, Jr., Jeffrey Weissman,[30] Bob Gunton, Sam Jones, and Martin Klebba.[1] | |
| June 8–10, 2018 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | Nicholas Brendon, Melissa Fahn, Richard Horvitz, Brian O'Halloran, Rob Paulsen, Rikki Simons, Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simons,[31] Lee Arenberg, Olivia d'Abo, and Tracie Thoms.[32] | |
| June 7–9, 2019 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | Rodger Bumpass, Seth Gilliam, Maurice LaMarche, Rob Paulsen, Billy West,[33] Adam Fergus, David Haydn-Jones, Mark Pellegrino,[6] David Lee Madison, and John Russo.[34] | |
| October 8-10, 2021 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | Jim Cummings, Gigi Edgley, Olivia Hack, Sam J. Jones, Jennie Kwan, James "Brad Mick" McDonough, Michaela Jill Murphy, and Emily Swallow.[22] | |
| June 17-19, 2022 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | Cam Clarke, Townsend Coleman, Grey DeLisle, Barry Gordon, Nolan North, Rob Paulsen, and Billy West.[35] | |
| June 9-11, 2023 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | Carlos Alazraqui, Greg Baldwin, Dante Basco, Grey DeLisle, Jennie Kwan, Maurice LaMarche, Cricket Leigh, Michaela Jill Murphy, Rob Paulsen, Janet Varney, Kari Wahlgren,[36] and Greg Sestero.[37] | |
| June 7-9, 2024 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | Greg Baldwin, Roger Clark, Maurice LaMarche, Phil LaMarr, Nolan North, Steven Ogg, Maggie Robertson, Lauren Tom, Billy West, Rob Wiethoff,[38] Shawn Fonteno, and Ned Luke.[23] | |
| November 8-10, 2024 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | Ruth Connell, Bill Farmer, Jason Marsden, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, DJ Qualls, Mark Sheppard, Emily Swallow,[39] Omri Katz, Dave B. Mitchell, Bradley Pierce, Vinessa Shaw, and Rick Worthy.[4] | |
| June 13-15, 2025 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | Dante Basco, Barbara Dunkelman, Kara Eberle, Peter Facinelli, Maggie Grace, Lindsay Jones, Michael Vincent Jones, Kellan Lutz, Ross Marquand, Nolan North, Jackson Rathbone, Arryn Zech,[40] Gil Birmingham, Julia Jones, Chaske Spencer, and Michael Welch.[41] | |
| October 17-19, 2025 | Blair County Convention Center Altoona, Pennsylvania | Roger Clark, Jason Marsden, DJ Qualls, and Rob Wiethoff.[42] |