UK PonyCon announces Rebecca Shoichet!

Ponyfic Roundup is delayed again – but for a good reason this time! 

Some big news from UK PonyCon last night: none other than Rebecca Shoichet has been announced as a special guest. VA for Sunset Shimmer, Night Glider and Sugar Belle, not to mention singing voice for Twilight Sparkle, the reveal of her attendance has been extremely popular. I'm not surprised now that the staff who were in the know were finding it a real strain to keep things quiet until they were in a position to announce more!

Also in UKPC news, the weekend schedule is up! There's a lot going on considering the forced move to a smaller venue this year, and on a personal note I'm thrilled that Archer's Pub Quiz will be early enough in the evening that I can attend without having to sprint to the station for my train home at the end! :P Inevitably there are times when two events I'm interested in clash, but that's conventions for you! I'm really looking forward to the first weekend in October. :) 

UK PonyCon is (very nearly) completely sold out!

Yeah, I know Ponyfic Roundup still awaits, and it will be here tomorrow – but this news has taken precedence. UK PonyCon is very nearly completely sold out, a mere twelve days after tickets went on sale! As I write this on Thursday evening, All Weekend, Saturday and Sunday tickets are now sold. The only ones left on sale are purely for the music event on Friday night. If you want to be part of UKPC 2025, that really is now your only remaining option. At £15, the tickets aren't going to break the bank, either.

Why has the convention sold out in record-breaking time? I think it's a combination of several reasons. The largest is surely the significantly reduced capacity of this year's venue over the (unavailable) Nottingham one. The fact that tickets didn't go on sale until 12th July gave people time to save up, so more bought instantly than usual. A new venue adds a frisson of excitement. We're just starting to see G6 hints appearing. But mostly I think it's that reduced capacity. But even so, twelve days. Wow. 

UK PonyCon tickets selling fast. Very fast

You know how I often mention that UK PonyCon has maintained serious popularity for so many years? And I mean many – it's the world's longest-running MLP convention, after all! Well, yesterday UKPC put out this blog post, noting that although the Birmingham Conference and Events Centre has its bonuses, one compromise that's had to be made is on total capacity. I don't think the number has been officially published, but most people I speak to expect attendance this year to be around 1,000 rather than the 1,300 of 2024. Anyway, I'll quote the part that stood out to many of us:

For Friday we have sold 55% of our available tickets

For Saturday we have sold 73% of our available tickets

For Sunday we have sold 59% of our available tickets

That's a whole lot of tickets! In fact, it suggests pretty strongly that if you want to attend on Saturday, which of course includes wanting to be there all weekend, you're going to have to get your skates on. (Or roller skates, if you're Hip-Hop, Jazzie or Melody.) Selling out early is not unprecedented – in fact, in 2018 UKPC sold out of everything but Sunday-only tickets in July. But in recent years they've been available almost until the day of the con.

Not this time, methinks! Remember, those percentages were before the flurry of sales that I know the announcement caused. I was one of those, by the way: I took the announcement to heart and bought my own ticket (Bronze sponsor) yesterday, almost as soon as I learnt about the official blog post. I'm very glad I did, because waiting much longer might have ended up turning into waiting for next year!

UK PonyCon news – venue change reasons and stalls changes

I said in my post on Thursday that one reason UK PonyCon was trusted was that it fronted up when things were awkward instead of hiding. The excellent Reskell (UKPC comms lead) did just that recently. There's now a Stallholder Clarification article, but that title is a little deceptive as there's quite a bit of info in it that's of interest to all potential attendees. It's only really the first section on carer and helper tickets that's narrowly focused. I'd strongly advise you to read the full piece for yourself, but a few bullet points of things that stood out to me:

• UK PonyCon did not choose to leave Nottingham. Rather, Nottingham Trent University (NTU) was not available for the usual UKPC dates and alternative dates offered clashed with other conventions. UKPC doesn't rule out going back to NTU one day; the language used suggests that relations are still good.
• Reasons for the choice of Birmingham venue. There are quite a few of these, but notable is the extremely central location of the Birmingham Conference and Events Centre. It also has better air circulation systems, which will be good news to those of us who were dropping like flies at last year's auction!
• Running UKPC at BCEC costs more than at NTU. This is given as the (main, anyway) reason ticket prices had to increase. We're not going to get fine details since no significant venue wants its contract details in the public domain, but you can make a few more or less educated guesses about why the cost is higher.
• Reduced stalls space compared with 2024. It seems that the available stalls area is significantly reduced this year compared to what NTU could offer. I suspect it's a painful but necessary trade-off for the other advantages that BCEC brings. But it will mean single tables only, and fewer of them, so be prepared.

There is also a concerning section right at the bottom of the post about certain people having taken it upon themselves to contact the venue directly about booking extra space. Please do not do this! It's really important that concerns and questions go through the UK PonyCon team themselves. A con having good relations with a venue is worth its weight in gold. 

Finally, I'd once again like to compliment Reskell's handling of this. This is how you do it. Front up, give details where you can, be polite but clear and firm, keep your head. They're good at this. No names, no pack drill, but we can all think of other events that would not have dealt with this as calmly and speedily. But as a rule, those events don't survive for 21 years...

UK PonyCon 2025 ticket details!

You know how when I posted a revised schedule on Tuesday I said that "[i]f any big news intervenes then so be it." Well, about that...

With exactly 100 days to go until UK PonyCon 2025, last night saw ticket details announced! They will go on sale at 7pm BST on Saturday 12th July. That's still over a fortnight away, but nevertheless the tickets page itself is now live, allowing you to see what you get for your money. I'll put some thoughts after the main bit, for which I'll keep to the format I used in 2024:

I'm using Adult Weekend ticket prices here, since I imagine the large majority of people reading Louder Yay will be buying those. There are also one-day, child and family rates – and a cheaper (£15) option granting entry only to the new-for-2025 Friday night music event. The tiers remain as they were last year, except that Silver numbers fall from 75 to 60 and Gold from five to four. That returns the totals to where they were in 2023.

Standard: £75 (+25% on 2024) – entrance to all days of the convention (including the Friday night music), con book, basic blue lanyard. You can have a personalised con badge if you book by 15th August.

Bronze: £99 (+16%) – nicer lanyard, Bronze sponsor badge, name in con book (if you want it), Bronze button badge, vinyl sticker sheet, £5 donation to UKPC's long-standing charity, the RDA. New for this year is the option to purchase (for £60) the sponsor hoodie, which previously could only be obtained by Silver or Gold ticket-holders.

Silver: £210 (+14%) – priority queue, silver sponsor badge, drawstring bag, Silver/Gold sponsor-exclusive T-shirt, art print, water bottle, wooden pin, two autograph tokens, £10 RDA donation. New for this year is a special guest signing session just for Silver sponsors.

Gold: £525 (+17%) – all the Silver perks and sponsor hoodie, Britannia plushie, top-table seating at Afternoon Tea, personalised welcome letter, four autograph/photo tokens, £20 RDA donation. New for this year is custom artwork from a member of the UKPC Arts Team in both digital and various physical forms. The Britannia this year is not a Sewpoke one. It's the mass-produced one from last year, but with a fitted-to-size themed shirt (with each buyer getting a unique design) from the highly regarded shadowonthemoon.

There are more perks I haven't listed, especially for the top two tiers, so go and read those on the Tickets page itself if you're curious! (And why wouldn't you be?)

Anyway, thoughts. First, I'm happy and relieved to see tickets announced. Except for the 2021 iteration, which was held in very unusual circumstances as we emerged from the Covid pandemic, this is by some distance the latest tickets have gone on sale since I started attending UKPC over a decade ago. In 2018, the last time the con switched venues, they could be bought before the end of April. So yeah, this is unusually late even considering the fact that the con has a new location.

Prices? Well, I would first like to compliment the UK PonyCon folks on fronting up on this issue in their announcement blog post. One of the reasons (though by no means the only) that this convention is so trusted is that its staff don't try to sweep things like this under the carpet. I also recognise the amount of effort that went into keeping the popular Bronze tier under £100. I think it's probably still the best value tier, as was the case last year. The gap between Standard and Bronze is in fact now very slightly smaller than it was in 2024.

As I said last year, annual rises of roughly 15% are not sustainable in the longer term and have to end before too much longer.¹ But that's the only real note of concern I'm going to sound in this post. So to get back to good things! I'm glad Friday pre-registration is staying; it was an excellent innovation last year. With that and a Friday night concert this year, it may become more challenging to fit in the informal pre-meets that a lot of us really enjoy, but that can be worked out. Of course one unknown is the venue staff. If they're as good with attendees as the Nottingham ones were, we'll be in good shape.
¹ A 15% rise for the next 15 years brings a Standard ticket to £600+ by 2040, four times what it would be with 5% rises. 

At this point it is traditional for me to say that I don't know whether or for how long I'll be able to attend. This year, with the convention in a city that's convenient for me to access, I'm cautiously on the side of "I will be there". The question for me this time will be whether I stay over or commute in each day – or even adopt a hybrid approach, perhaps staying on Friday night but not the much more expensive (in hotel terms) Saturday. That's not something I yet know, but we shall see!

This post is long enough now, I think. I remain of the opinion that UK PonyCon is a wonderful event that is run in a way that reflects very well on the British My Little Pony fandom. It is, after all, the longest-running MLP convention in the world, and you don't earn that status by accident. In the old days, coming of age used to be your 21st birthday. Unless you're an American wanting to buy beer, turning 21 now has less resonance – so I'll borrow UK PonyCon's 2025 theme title and simply say... Adventure Awaits!

UK PonyCon dates and new venue announced!

Given the importance of this news to so many My Little Pony fans in the UK, I've chosen to post this tonight rather than wait. For that reason, and to give people a little time to digest the news, Ponyfic Roundup will now appear on Friday. Apologies for any inconvenience, as they say when there are temporary traffic lights in the town centre for 874 days running. Anyway...

Earlier on this evening, UK PonyCon announced the dates and venue for this year's 21st iteration of what has become the world's longest-running My Little Pony convention. And they are:

Friday 3rd (evening), Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th October 2025

The Birmingham Conference and Events Centre

That's right – after being in Nottingham since 2018, UKPC is on the move! Those who've attended (or at least known of) the convention for many years will recall that, before it moved to Nottingham, it tended to move around the country. In a way, then, this is a return to the event's roots. Although I know Birmingham fairly well (since I only live 20-25 miles away) I don't think I've ever attended an event at this particular venue, so I can't comment on that.

What I can say is that the place is extremely well connected. As the BCEC's website shows, it's within sight of Birmingham New Street Station, the city's main rail hub – and that is a ten-minute train ride from Birmingham International Airport. As you'd expect from a city with a population of well over a million, 3-4 times that of Nottingham, Birmingham has no shortage of hotel options in the centre either. Whether I'll actually stay over or commute in (if I go – as usual, I can't commit just yet!) I don't know.

As the PonyCon folks say in their announcement post (not yet fully updated) this year it will be possible to stay at the venue, with a special rate for attendees forthcoming. That's not yet live, so be aware of that if you do the instabooking thing. UKPC hasn't been held in a hotel since it was in Leicester in 2014 and 2015, but I remember that plenty of people took the opportunity to stay on site back then. The other big change is the addition of an extra music event on Friday evening, The last con I attended that did that was BUCK 2014!

Lots to think about, but this has blindsided a lot of us as we didn't really expect UK PonyCon to be able to secure a venue in Birmingham city centre. The initial reaction I've seen has been really very positive, though, so I'm feeling pretty optimistic about it all as I type this. Many thanks and congratulations to the convention committee for managing to get something so complex and impressive worked out.

UK PonyCon 2024 report, part seven: The merch haul

Click to expand to a larger version with numbers you don't have to squint at!

Over two months after UK PonyCon 2024 closed its doors, I am finally rounding off my con report! You already know that I thought the convention was a very good one, with a few little irritations vastly outweighed by all the good stuff. And here is some of that good stuff! I didn't have the funds to buy a lot this year, but here's what I did acquire. This photo was taken in my hotel room (on the bed, as there wasn't room anywhere else!) hence the poor lighting and foreshortened appearance. The orange numbers correspond to the explanations below:

1 – Sundance G1 brushable. Normal size, not as tiny as she looks in the photo!
2 – UK PonyCon 2024 T-shirt, size XL.
3 – Con book. Particularly nicely produced this year.
4 – Small original Celestia canvas by Carousel Wishes.
5 – Saturday night concert guide leaflet.
6a to 6d¹ – A4 prints by JowyB. (The Fluttershy one was a gift from a friend.)
7 – Bronze Sponsor lanyard and con badge.
8 – Bronze Sponsor button badge.
9 – Scootatrix "Got Meegan" badge and business card.
10 – "He/him" and "Want a hug? Please ask" free stickers.
11 – Cute sticker from the freebies table.
12 – Business card for KNAB.
13 –"Gen1us" ribbon, only available to attendees of the Scootertrix panel.
14 – Celestia marker pen drawing by Sparkler.
15 – Sponsor bonus sticker sheet.
16 – UKPC 20th anniversary mug.

¹ 6d was erroneously labelled 8d. Go me.

Next time... well, there won't be a next time! Not until and unless I attend next year, anyway...

UK PonyCon report, part six: Monday

Sundance needed all her cunning to get a drink that morning

I'm not going to pretend that a two-week gap since part five of this report is anything other than embarrassing, but at least I'm here now! Anyway, I set the alarm on Monday earlier than I really needed to, since it was the only day I could have breakfast at my hotel and I wanted to make the most of it. All-you-can-eat buffet breakfasts being what they are, I consumed far more than was really sensible. Bacon, sausages, eggs, baked beans, hash browns, croissants, pancakes, yoghurt, cereal, coffee... the list goes on. It was an absolute disgrace and I loved every minute of it!

I'd already packed everything, so all I needed to do after breakfast was to grab my bags and check out. Then came the irritating walk to the station around that massive roundabout. Fortunately, again it was dry. I wasn't heading back home quite yet, though, as Hawthorn had set up the usual (in recent years, anyway) farewell coffee meet in the Starbucks by Nottingham station. This did mean I had to make an extra trip back there – my train home went in the other direction – but it wasn't expensive and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to say some kind of goodbye.

It worked out all right. Various people came and went: Ace, Zen, Mike, Hawthorn and half a dozen others, not all of whom I knew that well. We chatted away about how the convention had gone, mostly agreeing that it had been great but that they really needed to do something about the aircon and the length of the auction if they were going to come back to Nottingham next year. I had a toffee apple muffin, which I liked but one or two others were less keen on. There were awkward hugs (best kind!) from a couple of willing folks, but one by one we wrenched ourselves away and departed.

"Cafe to Go" – but I sat inside. Rebel that I am...

My train home was pretty uneventful. I stopped off in Birmingham for another drink and a snack, though in truth that was mostly to drag out my UK PonyCon weekend just that little bit longer. It was going to be back to everyday boringness the next day, after all, and I doubt I was the only person who wasn't really looking forward to it. Our bank managers, if such people still existed, might have answered rather differently! Only my last train back to Kidderminster was at all late, and that only by a few minutes. And then, suddenly, I was back in a world where adults didn't wave toy ponies about. Boo.

As that hasn't taken up much space, let's have a quick run-down of what I liked and what I didn't about this year's UKPC:

Things I liked

• The packed schedule. It inevitably meant a few clashes, but you could tell they'd gone all-out for the con's 20th birthday.
• The guests. Ashleigh Ball and AJ Bridel? No grumbles there! AJ in particular absolutely threw herself into things and won a lot of hearts.
• The record amount raised for the RDA. To make £20,000 at UKPC 20 was wonderfully fitting.
  
• The stalls. For the second year running, a Europe-leading number and a very satisfying variety.
• The official merch. I really liked the T-shirt design, and having mugs for sale (for only £6, at that) on the con's china anniversary was a great touch.
• The café. Okay, it's not amazing – Leeds and Bristol had better ones – but it's good enough, and it did serve muffins, which I don't remember it doing in the past.
• The friendship. Sure, it's not as family-orientated a con as it once was (which is a pity) but it's still got a really special atmosphere through being a Pony event, not a brony one.
• Pre-registration. An instant hit, and something that will surely be retained for future UKPCs.
  

Things I didn't like

• The heat. The aircon in the auction room (LT2, I think) in particular was woefully inadequate.
• The waits. I didn't suffer in the enormous autograph queues, but the auction overran so far it was almost comical.
• The water. I've since been told there was a drinking fountain or two, but it still wasn't sufficient.
• The WiFi. Not the con's fault, but nowhere near good enough for a place where people are using it for financial transactions. I'm going to go back to using cash at cons for a while, I think.

You'll notice that the first list is considerably longer than the second one, and that reflects my experience. I think this was one of the very best UK PonyCons out of the ten I've now attended. 2018 was special to me because of EileMonty, 2022 was special to me because of Andrea Libman, but 2024 was special to me in many ways. It wasn't absolutely perfect. It was still a roaring success. Well done, everyone, and thank you!

It was often quite difficult to remember how many years UKPC had been running for...

Next time: The merch haul photo... after which I will finally be done.

UK PonyCon report, part five: Sunday, second half

This "accessibility" intro was a typically thoughtful touch

Back with the UK PonyCon report at last! I tell you what, while I didn't really want to take quite so long over this, and while I hope any future reports will be written in a considerably snappier time frame, doing this year's so slowly has at least allowed me to keep alive a little of the UKPC spirit for rather longer than I normally would! Today's instalment is the last one that contains details of stuff actually at the convention, though I'll have a shorter one covering the few things that happened on the Monday, then the final merch haul post.

Anyway, after the World's Biggest Tea Party panel, thoughts were turning to the end of the con drawing near, but there was still more to come. My last actual panel was Storywriting and Storytelling, presented by PiratPeter and Amy. The former was in the room, the latter joining via Zoom. Inevitably there were a few issues with the link, but Petey is pretty unflappable and took everything in his stride. They'd gone for a broader approach than just fanfic, looking at all kinds of stories, and that worked very well. The panel didn't contain a great deal that was ultra-startling, but that wasn't its intention. A very solid and well thought out panel.

Then it was back to the Mane Stage, although we weren't having the Closing Ceremony just yet. First were the grand finals of Pony Kart! I hadn't seen this at the con before now, but it's not the most difficult game to pick up and seeing the split-screen action on the big screen was great fun, especially as by this stage the competitors could usually actually drive reasonably straight. The fun was doubled (huzzah!) by having running commentary provided – though sadly not by Pinkie and Spike – and by the crowd in the hall getting quite involved themselves. FWIW the eight characters available were the Mane Six, Trixie and Derpy. Because Derpy, of course.

I'll admit to half wishing we'd had Rainbow Dash Attack like this in the old days

After several rounds of this and a fun post-final race between a couple of staffers on Rainbow Road (what else?) we were at the Closing Ceremony. This went on in pretty much the same way as it has done in previous years. Lots of thanks, contest winners rewarded, mild antics from the Britannia ponysuiter, more thanks, you get the idea. There were two special notes, though: all-time UKPC records for both overall attendance (1,371) and money raised for charity (£20,000). That attendance is up there with BUCK 2013 and 2014 at the very height of the fandom – pretty impressive stuff!

AJ Bridel, who'd become extremely popular with us all this weekend, also joined the staff on stage near the end, though Ashleigh Ball was unable to be there – apparently because she was still finishing off signing autographs! (The ridiculously long queues for these, and the way many people had to be turned away, are things that will need to be looked at carefully if any similarly big-name guests attend next year.) Right at the end, there was the traditional selfie of the con staff up on the stage and the rest of us cheering and waving plushies in the background. We really didn't want to go. Who would, when this had been such an enjoyable iteration of the convention?

And then it was over and we had to leave the venue for boring old academic events and industry conferences. I left one or two tiny things on the freebies table (new for this year and a very good innovation) for any late-leavers and hung around briefly before heading outside for the last time – well, the last time in 2024, at least – to wait for my friends for the traditional Worcester Shires private group photo. It was coming on to rain by this time, and a couple of bikers turned to jeer at us Pony folk as they rode past. Sadly they did not immediately slip on the wet tram tracks and wreck their bikes, but you can't have everything. I'm pretty sure they were just jealous we'd had more fun than them.

The end is neigh...

Then another Worcester tradition: the walk up to the Gooseberry Bush for the post-convention meal together. I always look forward to this as I find it very laid-back and without the “Is it going to work out?” stress that's at the back of some minds during the Friday night Roebuck meet. That's still nice, but this one is just a bunch of friends having a good time together after sharing a great weekend. I couldn't quite match Patrick's remarkable burger with extra burgers (seven in all...) but I still ate plenty, and I was delighted that, unlike some Wetherspoons, this one did offer custard with certain desserts! I had chocolate fudge cake.

An hour or so into our meal it started raining properly. I was slightly on edge about that, since I had to do a fair bit of walking later and I didn't want to get soaked with no way of drying wet clothes before I checked out. The buses run hourly on Sundays, so once I'd decided I wasn't going to make the 8:30 there was no option but to eat and drink and chat more. How sad! We'd put about three tables together, and there were... I dunno, 15 of us? Something like that. It was a much more pleasant experience than breakfast in this same pub in the morning!

All good things do come to an end, though, and – still with my con badge around my neck – I set off for the bus station. I was in luck and by this time it was barely raining at all. The Red Arrow was dead on time and, barring some irritating roadworks in Nottingham city centre, there were no delays. I was back in the hotel at about eleven. I spent a little while on Discord (both chatting to any friends who were around and reading stuff on the UK PonyCon server) and then I reluctantly took to my bed. Okay, not my bed, Travelodge's. Taking towels would be one thing, not that I do that either, but... :P

Fluttershy, cake, custard, cider, ponies and friends. Hard to beat that combo!

I'll reflect in more detail on UK PonyCon 2024 as a whole later, perhaps at the end of the Monday post and before the merch haul one. Suffice it to say now that I was very, very sorry it was over. Everyone desperately wanted UKPC's landmark 20th birthday celebration to be a big success. It was. It really was.

UK PonyCon 2024 report, part four: Sunday, first half

AJ Ember proving an expert at stand up

I slept well on Saturday night – oh, the joys of not being in the city centre! – and decided to be slightly more leisurely in my preparations the next morning. I was going by Red Arrow again, so I was a little at the mercy of the relatively limited Sunday timetable, but there were no issues. The weather forecast had suggested it might rain at times this day, but for the moment it was dry, if rather cloudy and dull. This is always the risk when staying at my favoured Travelodge – short of a taxi, there's no covered way to get to the bus/rail stations.

Coming to Derby, I'd packed the small seapony rucksack I'd bought for not much in B&M years ago. It was an impulse decision to bring it, but it was so light it was easy to pack and so worth the flyer. I decided that I was going to use it as my main bag for Sunday, unlike on Saturday where I'd carried the old faithful Tesco MLP carrier that dated way back to the 2017 movie. The rucksack only had a few compartments, which was a point in its favour – bag checks take longer if you have 28 zipped pockets! It was just large enough for an A4 art folder and a bottle of water, which was really all I needed.¹

¹ Water is exempt from the "no outside food" rule, a good job as drinking water provision on-site is surprisingly limited for a uni building in 2024.

I thought I'd go to the Gooseberry Bush for breakfast this time, partly because it was basically on my route to the venue, partly because I've occasionally met other UK PonyCon-goers there, and partly because it's generally quiet on Sunday mornings. Unfortunately, things went slightly awry this time – I did spot a guy in a PrinceWhateverer hoodie, though someone I only barely knew by sight and didn't really feel able to chat to. I'd parked myself in a quiet corner, but within minutes a whole bunch of rather loud lads (as in laddishness) had appeared nearby. While they didn't actually bother me, it did slightly sour the atmosphere, so I moved out a little before I really wanted to.

A small part of the substantial stalls area

This did at least allow me to walk slowly to the venue rather than have a Rainbow need to Dash. No opening ceremony to make this time, after all! Having had no time to do so on Saturday, I was very much intending to do some shopping today. (Spoiler: I did.) I'd decided to skip karaoke, all the more so as I wasn't especially enthused by the addition of dance game Trotmania. I later heard from Stu that the singing was of the “sing as a small group” format too, which again isn't what I really prefer. I don't imagine I'll ignore karaoke for evermore, but I don't feel bad about doing so this time.

It was a choice between Year of the Dragon (a look at fantasy creatures in the MLP universe) and Britannia Master on the Mane Stage. Inertia took over and I stayed for the latter. This was based on the long-running British TV show Taskmaster, in which contestants – here Ashleigh Ball, AJ Bridel and two UKPC staffers – are set various weird and (sometimes) wonderful, well, tasks. A representative round was asking them to stand when they felt exactly 40 seconds had passed. AJ Staffer Ember got this almost perfect! There was laughter, there were feels, there were silly memes, you get the idea I'm sure.

And then it was time for a long-standing set piece of UKPC: the Charity Auction. If you've read Ghost Mike's report on this already, you'll know that the highlight was his Batannia plush reaching an astounding £1,350. Not having expected anything like this (who did?) Mike's face was quite a picture from a couple of seats away! Unsurprisingly, this proved to be the highest bid received for any single lot this time around – it's very rare for anything to reach four figures in a British Pony convention auction. It was certainly a big talking point this year.

This Scootachicken went for a mere £240

There were some eye-opening bids elsewhere, too. A set of the first nine IDW Friends Forever comics, in good condition but unsigned, went for something like £200 – I had to blink quite a lot at that, since I'm the proud owner of the entire 38-issue run. (And no, I'm not selling it!) However, for the first time in years I didn't stay to the end. The aircon was completely inadequate and I was melting, especially as the auction massively overran. This really is going to need to be looked at next year, despite how lucrative the auction is for the wonderful RDA. UKPC has perhaps outgrown the current auction format.

I went to the coffee vending machine in the basement (which unlike most in such venues wasn't overpriced!) and then sat around in the general areas for a bit, simply because it was cooler and a blessed relief. Every so often, someone else exited the auction hall, usually also because of incipient heatstroke. I also took this opportunity to finally have a good look around the stalls. Financial constraints meant I had to pass on quite a few nice things, but I was very pleased to have a brief chat with JowyB, one of my favourite Pony artists¹ and a very nice, affable guy to boot. I bought three of his A4 prints, as you'll see when I eventually reach the Merch Haul post.

¹ He's long since branched out into much other stuff, but this wasn't UK OtherStuffCon! ;)

This kind of multi-gen love is part of UKPC's appeal

I wasn't entirely sure what to do next, but eventually I decided to go to Nelson's panel on the World's Biggest Tea Party. Yes, the G3 live show. Oilyvalves was already there when I entered the room, and I spotted Juniper and a couple of others I knew as well. It turned out to be really interesting, not to mention superbly researched – this guy had it more accurate than the actual G3 wiki! Nelson also took the line that the sneering and laughter some bronies had directed towards the Tea Party was unfair: the show was aimed squarely at little girls, and reaction at the time from them (and parents) had been very positive. This panel did change my mind about the WBTP at least somewhat.

There was one sour note right at the end. As the Q&A was winding up, Oily and I got the sense that one guy was about to set off on a harangue regarding some personal bonnet-bee. This kind of thing isn't that uncommon and is normally only mildly irritating, but we didn't really want to hear it so we left smartly. Before long, though, we heard on the con grapevine (which doesn't hang around) that things had got more serious, involving inappropriate and even racist comments from this person, and that both con and venue staff had had to make a strong intervention. I really hope Nelson isn't put off by this from presenting more panels in the future, since he was very good at it and I'd certainly consider attending.

I did think quite carefully about whether to mention this, especially as it's a slight downer to have it at the end of a post – but in the end this is a report, not an advert. By all accounts it was handled swiftly, anyway. While I don't think there was any reason for the staff to mention the unpleasantness at the convention itself (they didn't), I don't feel I need to ignore it entirely here. As it happens the subject of when and where to mention serious/problematic things in our fandom has been on my mind since just before the con, for reasons I won't go into, and I plan a more general post on that topic before too long. Not just yet, though, as there's still more fun UK PonyCon stuff to write about!

Next time: Sunday part two, featuring colourful storytelling, Rainbow Road... and bright yellow custard. Yes, at last!

UK PonyCon 2024 report, part three: Saturday, second half

Imagine converting "Art of the Dress" for the BBC Micro. Who'd be that silly?

Halfway through Saturday and I still didn’t have the time to go shopping, because I had a date with destiny Hawthorn’s chiptunes panel. This was something I’d only discovered was happening at all shortly before the con, but I could hardly miss it! The panel was great, both amusing and informative, with Hawthorn’s preparation paying off and his enthusiasm for this slightly neglected aspect of music shining through. He hadn’t told me he was going to feature one of my own 8-bit pieces in the end montage, though! Oops. :P

Fortunately Hawthorn’s panel finished on time, since the special guest script reading and Q&A followed immediately over at the Mane Stage. As usual for UK PonyCon, the script reading was short, though as ever it was fun to hear the pro VAs doing live the voices we knew them so well for in the cartoons. There were big queues to ask the stars questions and after a little thought I chose not to join them. Still, nicely the guests were willing to allow the panel to run a little over time, so as to get in as many people as they could. :)

Next up was something I’d been disappointed to have to miss through not being able to stay for more than three-quarters of one day in 2023: The Great Britannia Bake-Off! This has its roots in the UKPonyConline events held during the pandemic, and as such it’s heavily video-based. Members of the con committee record themselves attempting to bake cakes or similar, and this is edited together into an hour-long highlights video with suitably snarky captions and in-jokes. At the end, we in the audience vote on the winners. A really nice way to relax for a bit.

Not a spare seat in the house for the VIP script reading

That brought Saturday’s daytime events to a close. At the same time in another room the kids’ disco was going on, advertised in the con book as a perfect way for children to end their day. While UKPC does not have an age limit on attending in the evening, requiring only that all under-16s are accompanied by adults,¹ very few young families do stay on after dusk falls. Unsurprisingly, the convention does shift into a slightly different atmosphere from this point onward.
¹ In the daytime 14- and 15-year-olds don't need adults with them all the time.

The major event of the evening at UK PonyCon since it moved to Nottingham in 2018 has always been the concert. While this is well handled and enjoyed by a lot of people, I only tend to pay serious attention in fits and starts. It’s excellent that old stagers like like PrinceWhateverer come back every year and support the con, but I prefer more variety.¹ As such, I took most notice of Coltastrophe, making their UKPC debut, and Pagan Pegasus, whose music I find interestingly varied.
¹ Also, the Mane Stage area wasn’t built for live music, and its rather poor acoustics bear that out.

That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to do anything musical, however! Bexi was putting on the convention’s very first #CHEESEFEST (yes, all caps with hashtag) – which sounded exactly my kind of thing. Actually some of the music was a little new for me: I’d have preferred something like “Rasputin” over the overrated “Cha Cha Slide”, sorry Bexi! But it was lots of fun and we still got Steps, the Macarena and so on, with glow sticks for all. Mind you, most of our group sat at the back, not entirely so we could hide when Roku managed to unplug one of the lights while moving tables about...

Cheesefest in full swing. Add your own music!

Saturday evening is the only time when alcohol is available on-site (although this was sometimes different at former UKPC venues) but the queues for the pop-up bar were enormous. Hawthorn extremely kindly offered to get me a Diet Coke despite the wait, and as I was parched I accepted. I’m not the first person to mention that Hawthorn is a really nice guy. The bar also sold pony-themed cocktails and mocktails, but for the most part these featured spirits I wasn’t too fond of and about a kilo of sugar. Not ideal for me as a diabetic!

And then? Archer’s Pub Quiz, of course. A legendary aspect of UK PonyCon Saturday evenings, and the Worcester group’s legendarily oversize team (12? 14? Something like that) was in evidence once again. In fact there seemed slightly fewer impossibly difficult questions than usual, and we only ended up answering “Batman” once. At one point we were worried we might actually do well and ruin our reputation, but equal third was about right. It was really odd not to have Derpy as the answer to any question in an Archer-run event, though.

PiratPeter’s Cartoon Riff rounded off the night, and I’d have liked to have stayed for that as his engaging manner is appealing even when terrible cartoons are on screen. I had to make the commute back to Derby, though, and I wasn't willing to wait until after eleven even to start. So, off I went to the bus station. This time the Red Arrow was a coach – huzzah! – and everything again went smoothly. It had certainly been a busy day for me, probably even more so than in 2022, but I wasn’t exhausted. A quick cuppa in my new UKPC mug, and then bed beckoned.

Coltastrophe rocking out

Next time: Sunday part one, featuring timed standing, extreme bidding and vague shopping.

UK PonyCon 2024 report, part two: Saturday, first half

Near Derby bus station – three hours to UKPC time!

I slept fairly well on Friday night, probably just about getting in the requisite six hours. I still woke fairly early, but that did allow me time for a reasonably leisurely shower. I'd decided to get the Red Arrow express bus into Nottingham rather than the train, since it meant slightly less walking and slightly less expense. I had no problems getting to the bus station in enough time to get an inexpensive bottle of Highland Spring. I was a little disappointed to find that the bus was, well, a bus rather than the usual coach, but the journey itself was uneventful.

I was in Nottingham by a little after eight o'clock, which meant time for breakfast. I'd decided to use the one city centre Wetherspoons I'd never visited, the Lloyds No 1 Bar. Usually these (unlike other Spoons) have music playing, but that wasn't the case today. I'd expected to be eating alone but Cozy (no, not that Cozy) offered to join me for a bit, which was very nice of them. I had my usual fry-up, though with only water to drink rather than coffee. Then, off to the venue! On hoof, since the weather was good enough that taking the tram seemed unnecessary.

Despite pre-registration, I was still keen to be reasonably near the front of the queue, since attendance was going to be large enough that processing would still take a while if you were near the back. All tickets had sold out for the first time since 2018, and capacity had been increased see then. QueueCon¹ is generally quite an enjoyable experience if it's not wet, and on this occasion Luna (not that Luna either) produced a deck of MLP cards and we had a few rounds of Chase the Ace while waiting for ten. I saw a few other people I knew, but not many.
¹ Don't you give me that "LineCon" malarkey; I'm not American! :P

Bexi and Britannia – costume by Snow Gryphon Suits.

At last it was time! The priority folks, such as Silver/Gold Sponsors and those granted early entry for accessibility reasons, moved through fast and then it was our turn! We were a bit surprised that those who hadn't pre-regged went in first, but on reflection it made sense as they'd take longer to process. At any rate, things worked out, and once I was through the bag check (carried out with customary smoothness by the venue staff) I was inside... and home!

Plenty of people were already gathering in front of the Mane Stage for the opening ceremony. UKPC has a very informal singalong at this point, but not many attendees participate, which is a bit of a shame. I didn't care; I was belting out the My Little Pony Tales theme with some gusto! I did pop off briefly to reacquaint myself with the venue layout and to have a quick scout of the large stalls section. In the event, all I bought was the official UKPC T-shirt and mug; I wouldn't have time to shop again until Sunday!

This year, UK PonyCon was celebrating its 20th birthday. It had become the longest running My Little Pony convention in the world, and this year's theme was appropriately "We're Making History". Committee member Moomin had worked wonders by procuring a big screen for the stage; although Bexi found it a bit unnerving to see herself in multiple, it was definitely a fine addition. We settled down for the usual welcome waffling before things began in earnest.

The surprise anniversary animation!

Except that this year, there was something extra... unbeknownst to all but one of the con committee, a group had been working for months on a very special animation, which I've embedded here. Long-standing friend and Worcester Shires stalwart Patrick Rowberry, who directed the piece, told me it had been a nightmare keeping quiet for so many months! It was lovely that something like 20 conventions agreed to their mascots being included, and Bexi was overcome and in tears.

It was going to be hard to follow such an opening act, but there was a whole con weekend ahead of us! With the busiest UKPC schedule I can remember, I had to make a few tough choices. After briefly looking in on Dr Pony's history of G1 panel, I plumped for "MLP Fan Animation: Behind the Scenes". It turned out that this nondescript title had also been chosen to throw people off the scent, since it was a look the making of the opening ceremony animation! Very interesting, and nicely judged to be understandable to non-animation people like me without being overly simplistic.

I'd enjoyed myself a lot, but another hard decision awaited. I had to take only the briefest glimpse of the Cosplay Contest as Hawthorn had persuaded me that "G1 is Genius Actually" was the place to be. This was presented by Jack Getschman, the brains behind Scootertrix, both the G4 abridged series and the more recent G1 shorts. Jack clearly truly likes G1, and that affection made his lampooning of it all the more entertaining.¹ We even got a sneak preview of the latest G1 piece, containing "Meegan" getting seriously fed up with the ponies always running to her for help. :D
¹ There was even an exclusive "Gen1us" ribbon, available only to those of us who attended the panel.

Sage advice from the Scootertrix panel.

Things really didn't let up for the daytime portion of Saturday, and a few minutes later it was time for "A Zen Guide to Rail". This was a bit different from previous years, with the aviation aspect removed for a completely railway focus, and plane and cake pone Ace now largely in a technical support role to Zen. A nice and relaxed panel with a genial host, though in the Q&A I did sneak in a question that started out seriously but ended with "...would anyone like any toast?" I absolutely, totally and utterly blame Dodj for putting me up to this, but I regret nothing!

Next time: Saturday part two, featuring chips, cakes and cheese.

UK PonyCon 2024 report, part one: Friday

My second train, arriving at Smethwick Galton Bridge station.

Welcome at last to the first part of my report on UK PonyCon 2024. Even though I have to do this in a slightly kludgey way while I don't have a proper computer available, I hope these blogs won't look too terrible! Before I go any further, though, I'll say that I had a great time at the convention and that even though I will mention a few grumbles along the way, I thought it was a roaring success overall.

Unlike last year, this time around I was fortunate enough to be able to attend for the full long weekend, ie travelling up on Friday and returning on Monday. Better yet, for the first time in three years there were no public transport strikes to contend with!¹ TrainCon was happening again. As I usually do, I wore last year's UKPC T-shirt on the trip, but I noticed nobody who was certainly going my way.
¹ At one point the Nottingham trams were on strike, but the dispute was resolved before UKPC weekend.

Given the sometimes ridiculous prices of Nottingham hotels during the weekend of both UK PonyCon and the Goose Fair (listed in order of importance, yes) I'd again chosen to base myself in Derby. I'd done this twice before, so I knew exactly what I was doing. [That'd be a first, then! —Ed] Normally Travelodge has a 3pm check-in, but I found it well worth paying the extra tenner to check in at midday.

My luxurious room in the Travelodge. Isn't it fancy?

Having done the minimum of unpacking and had a quick splash under the shower, I walked back to the station I'd just left. Derby's road system includes an enormous roundabout in an awkward place for pedestrians, but oh well. Many of the Worcester Shires people who attend UKPC, plus a few guests, gather on the Friday evening in the Roebuck Inn pub in central Nottingham, and I wasn't going to miss that.

But first, something new: pre-registration! Last year there were enormous queues for registration on Saturday morning, and with an even bigger attendance expected this time it was clear something had to be done. So, anyone with a ticket valid for Saturday could grab their badges in advance at the Hilton. Me being me, I walked straight past it, but fortunately Frost was passing and told me where to go.¹
¹ In a manner of speaking.

Pre-reg itself was very efficient – I was in and out in less than ten minutes – and I hope it's retained in future. With my Bronze Sponsor badge around my neck, something of a strange experience on a Friday, I headed across the city centre to the Roebuck. Last year we'd had to squash into rather cramped and very noisy booths upstairs, so I'd had the bright idea of getting to the pub early to grab a better space.

The first hour of the Roebuck pre-meet. Not shown: cider.

This was a good plan in theory. In practice, I got there way too early and ended up sitting alone for well over an hour, with only a pint of cider to console me. It was probably the least enjoyable period of my entire con weekend, and I certainly won't be doing it this way again if I come to UKPC next year! I'll probably revert to what I did in 2022 and have a coffee somewhere first.

Still, eventually a few people did start trickling in, and from then on things improved significantly, apart from a bizarre interlude when a guy started loudly preaching by the bar and had to be escorted out. The space I'd chosen was not in fact ideal, as it had two tables with a large gap between them, meaning it was very hard to speak to anyone at the other one. My fish and chips (with baked beans, since the Roebuck had contrived to run out of mushy peas...) was perfectly okay, at least.

Despite the pre-meet's slightly iffy beginnings, I did get a few hours of nice conviviality. I didn't know everyone there particularly well, but the majority were long-standing friends. I think I probably left about nine in order to board the tram back to the station. As regular readers know, Nottingham at night isn't always my favourite place, but I had no issues and I was back at the hotel in Derby by a bit after ten.

Next time: Saturday part one, featuring (happy) tears, Meegan and toast.

UK PonyCon: It's a sell-out! (Actually!)

A day or two ago I noted that Adult Weekend tickets for UK PonyCon had sold out. Well, now the single-day Saturday and Sunday tickets are gone as well! That means the convention is a complete sell-out. What a fantastic achievement. The biggest UKPC in history and demand has been so high that there are literally no tickets left. The longest running MLP con in the world is marking its 20th birthday in style!

UK PonyCon: It's a sell-out! (Well, nearly)

In spite of the venue for UK PonyCon having an increased capacity this year, weekend and sponsor tickets have completely sold out! There are still some one-day passes left, so you could still attend the whole thing by buying a Saturday ticket and a Sunday one, but that's more expensive than a weekend badge.

Despite what you may read elsewhere, this is not the first time UKPC has sold out, not even in its current Nottingham home. The convention sold out entirely in 2018 – the first year it took place in the city – and thanks to archive.org you can see the proof on UKPC's own website from September of that year.

That said, I think that the greater ticket availability this year means that selling out in 2024 is a bigger achievement than it was in 2018. All the more so since we're now a full five years from the ending of Friendship is Magic, the show that brought such expansion to the My Little Pony fandom. Congratulations to all concerned!

Maybe Nottingham isn't cursed after all!

The tram strike has been called off! Apparently an agreement was reached. I don't know the details and won't be commenting on the politics on a blog like this anyway. But it's a major relief.

I'm still not entirely enthralled by the thought of attending next year if the con is in Nottingham at Goose Fair time again, but for this year things are very definitely looking up. :)

Is Nottingham cursed or something? :(

For the third year running, UK PonyCon weekend will have an unwanted extra in the shape of transport strikes. In 2022 and 2023 it was the trains, this time it's the trams. This isn't the place for political comments, but the practicalities of a multi-day strike over a Goose Fair weekend are not good. It won't stop me going to UKPC, but it will make the travelling that little bit more of a pain each day.

I'd already been musing over whether it's time to consider doing something else next year. This will be my tenth UKPC and sixth in Nottingham, and much as I like it I've already mentioned going to the same place every year starting to feel a little repetitive – though I can't deny that it's very well connected by road and rail and that the venue itself is pretty well set up for us convention people.

I think this latest news has swayed me to the point where if UK PonyCon is in Nottingham again next year and it clashes with the Goose Fair again, the balance of probabilities is that I won't be going to UKPC. Instead I might be choosing to attend Griffish Isles (in Manchester) or Festival of Friendship (in Southampton), or even having a year off going to conventions entirely. They're increasingly heavy hits on the wallet.

There is a compromise option: go to UKPC but only stay the Friday night, as I did in 2022. That was especially awkward as there were train strikes, and I wouldn't do it again if those recurred – but without those I could have a reasonable chunk of the Saturday at the con. It might reduce my costs to the point where I could wait until the last minute (ie when it was known if there would be strikes) before making firm plans.

As I've said, I'm still going to the con next week, and I think I'll only have to miss one late-night event on the Saturday (one that I might not have gone to anyway). But I was so hoping that for the first time since the post-Covid resumption I'd have a UK PonyCon that didn't include fretting about transport. No such bloody luck. It's very tiring, apart from anything else – and I'm not as young as I was!

UK PonyCon schedule is out!

Yesterday, I posted briefly about the UK PonyCon concert line-up and said I wasn't personally that excited by it. This is not the feeling I have when looking at the UKPC schedule, which has just been released – although without lots of details about each event as yet. I'm seriously hyped after seeing this so far.

From a quick scan, it looks really good, and it's very nice on this 20th anniversary of UK PonyCon – now the world's longest running MLP convention! – that there are some non-G4 events sprinkled through the programme. Slightly to my surprise, I can't see any specifically G5 panels, but G1 and G3 are certainly represented.

It may have been corrected by the time you read this, but there was one error in the schedule initially released: there is a panel on The World's Biggest Tea Party on Sunday afternoon which was accidentally omitted from the timetable. Since Sunday is so much quieter a day, I'm almost tempted to attend that one myself.

Since I will after all be able to go to the whole UKPC weekend this year (though that was in doubt for quite some while) I will be able to take part in Archer's Pub Quiz again. I adore that and I was very sad to miss it last year owing to having to go home earlier than hoped on Saturday evening due to train strikes.

Naturally the VA script reading/Q&A is going to be a highlight with Ashleigh Ball in attendance this year. But as anyone who's ever been to a convention will know all too well, plans usually change quite a bit over the course of the event, so all I'll say on that for now is that I am looking forward greatly to three weeks' time.

UK PonyCon reveals music lineup

Fresh from the official UK PonyCon blog, here's the list for this year's Saturday evening concert. Each performer gets 45 minutes:

Coltastrophe¹
Pagan Pegasus
Blackened Blue
PrinceWhateverer
BassPon3
¹ Making their UKPC debuts.

So, what do I think? To be honest, somewhat mixed feelings. I'm pleased to see newcomers to UKPC (I think) in Coltastrophe, and Pagan Pegasus in particular is an act I tend to really like. On the other hand, it's quite a samey lineup in terms of genres. Pagan does mix things up – witness electro-swing, drum'n'bass and dubstep in one song – but otherwise it's basically the usual hard rock fest with a DJ to end.

I obviously appreciate that there's only so much a UK-based convention can do, and also that acts like Blackened Blue are both good at their job and really popular. What I personally like is not necessarily what's sensible to choose for a con. But I really wish we had say an acoustic set or someone like EileMonty (yes, I know she herself no longer does Pony stuff) to provide something completely different from the loudness around her.

So... this year, I think I've finally reached the point, for the first time since the concerts began in 2018, at which it is going to be a secondary consideration. It'll be a thing to attend if there's nothing else that interests me more, rather than a big centrepiece of the con. Again, for me. But this is my blog and so my thoughts are what you get. If you want your thoughts, start your own blog! Or comment on this one, obviously...

UK PonyCon guest news: Ashleigh Ball to join AJ Bridel in attendance!

We'd known for a while now that the (series) voice of Pipp Petals, AJ Bridel, would be a special guest at UK PonyCon 2024. That in itself was an announcement that was decidedly popular among UKPC's multi-gen base. Then, the day before yesterday, we started getting teasers from the con committee that another major announcement was in the works. Of course, this led to a flurry of wild guessing, but at 7pm all was revealed: Ashleigh Ball will be joining UKPC in Nottingham too!

I don't think anyone much predicted this to happen. I don't have specifics at my hooftips as to whether she's attended any cons in this fandom recently, but I believe Ashleigh Ball has not been a Pony convention regular for quite some years now, since before Covid indeed.¹ Certainly the announcement has brought a lot of excitement, and I'd hope and imagine quite a few more ticket sales as well. I warmly congratulate everyone at UKPC who helped make this possible!
¹ She was at Vanhoover Pony Expo 2023, but they have a fairly major location advantage for VAs!

As for me, I am going to get there this year if I can. I've now bought a ticket, but it remains to be seen how much of the con I can actually attend. Hotel prices have soared since Covid, and with con tickets also rising above inflation as their own costs increase conventions are becoming, if not an unaffordable luxury, certainly one many people have to think harder about than they did five years ago. I may make a post here on this general subject in the nearish future.

But that's for another day. For now, I am still bouncing around like a bouncy thing. Meeting Actual Fluttershy, aka Andrea Libman was basically unbeatable for me, but Ashleigh Ball is one hay of a coup. It means UK PonyCon will have hosted four of the Mane Six's VAs in the last few years, and had Tabitha St. Germain not been defeated by her implacable work schedule last year it could even have been five. Who'd have predicted that five years ago? Certainly not me.

With Applejack's VA joining AJ Bridel (who I'm going to have to tell autocorrect is not "AJ Bridle"!) UKPC this year is quite clearly going to be AJCon! :D