Griffish Isles to remain at the Pendulum for 2024

I missed posting this earlier, but the Griffish Isles committee have put out an announcement saying that they "have decided the Pendulum remains the best location for next year" (11/12 May). This is the hotel in Manchester where GI has been held ever since the con resumed after the Covid break. The announcement also mentions that the vendor hall will be in a different, larger room for 2024. I expect that will go down well with vendors and attendees alike.

I've heard entirely unofficially in a "someone told me they'd been told" way that the GI folks did look at some venues in Liverpool (which would be a great city to have as a base) and also Birmingham (maybe slightly weird when there's already a Midlands con in UK PonyCon), and perhaps some alternatives in Manchester, but that none of them were better. Finding a convention venue is incredibly difficult, so I can see why change might not be workable.

That said, it's only fair to say that the Pendulum is not a venue that is universally loved. Some of the issues with it in its few years have been more significant than others, but certainly it's not a place that really appeals to me. If things are looking better financially by then I don't entirely rule out attending GI, perhaps just for the day, but the location announcement makes it unlikely. I nevertheless wish the con well and hope its 2024 iteration is a big success.

Griffish Isles 2023 dates released

We interrupt this series of UK PonyCon reports to bring you some Griffish Isles news. Their social media and official site now state that the next GI will take place on 6th and 7th May 2023, and with a theme of "Back to the 80s". A fun choice, I think! The venue will be the Pendulum Hotel in central Manchester, as indeed was the case this year.

This was the weekend I think most people had expected. However, there's an extra factor next year: Saturday 6th May will be Coronation Day. While the demographic that goes to Pony conventions is not the most monarchist in the country, I have already seen people wondering how events in London might affect the one in Manchester.

Think back to the date of the Queen's funeral. A lot of shops, restaurants etc across the country were closed for the whole day, and others for several hours during the service itself. Will this be the case again for the Coronation? What about people flying in from abroad, especially if they're coming via London? And so on.

For myself, I was already rather unlikely to attend Griffish Isles, but I think the clash with the Coronation now makes it very unlikely. Even though I'm not a huge flag-waver either, I'd rather like to experience that event, at least on TV. I nevertheless wish the convention all the best and hope that it puts on a really great show for its attendees.

A chill wind starting to blow through UK fandom finances?

Anyone who hasn't been asleep for the past few months will have noticed that all is not well economically in the UK. I don't want to get into partisan political stuff here, so I'll simply note that energy bills are generally expected to go through the roof this winter, with inflation now heading strongly upwards as well. What does this mean? Well, for one thing, a lot of people are going to have a lot less money to spare on fun things than they'd like. If you're reading this, it's an easy guess what "fun things" might include for you.

Since I'm about My Little Pony on this blog, let's consider what that means for British Pony fans. First, it probably means buying less merch. Okay, the range of G5 official merch in our shops is really pretty poor anyway, borderline pathetic in the case of what's getting into supermarkets – but there is some around. And though it's not physical merch, there's also the question of Netflix. A standard subscription is now £10.99 a month. If you only use the service to watch MLP, that's absolutely not a nothing sum.

I expect there to be a knock-on effect on fan-made merch as well. I already know of people who used to be willing to spend say £50-100 on a piece of art from time to time who are now wondering whether they can really justify continuing doing that once their new gas bills hit the mat. The really expensive stuff like big plushies or ponysuits even more so.¹ Since we now have to pay chunky VAT and/or import duties from EU sellers, not the case in the first few years of the G4 fandom, I think these sales may be especially vulnerable.
¹ Okay, ponysuits are usually one-off purchases, but plushies a bit less so

Right, past the break I will get to the subject of conventions.

Griffish Isles tickets released

The Griffish Isles website is, in keeping with one of the convention's less welcome traditions, out of date. However, since they've shared a link directly to the ticket-buying portal on the official GI Twitter, I can now say with confidence that you can buy Griffish Isles tickets here. As a reminder, the con will be held at the Pyramid Hotel in central Manchester on the weekend of 7th & 8th May.

Ticket prices

Adult Weekend: £53.32 (£49.00 + £4.42 fee)
Adult Saturday: £35.08 (£32.00 + £3.08 fee)
Adult Sunday: £24.20 (£22.00 + £2.20 fee)

Foal (12 and under) free with a paying adult
Carer free with relevant documentation (see above link)

VIP Weekend: £107.32 (£99.00 + £8.32 fee)

Golden Ticket: £539.59 (£500.00 + £39.59 fee)

Thoughts

In terms of the ticket most people will be interested in, the Adult Weekend, I'd been expecting a price around the £50 mark so this isn't a surprise. It's a bit more expensive than UK PonyCon, but not enormously so. I really wish they quoted all-in prices without the booking fee, but that's Eventbrite for you, I suppose. I went to GI in 2019 and had a good time, so I expect it will be a decent experience for those who do attend.

The VIP tier gives you "first two rows seating, and T Shirt, plus conbook mention in helping set up the convention" (plus possible extra unspecified perks such as autographs), while the staggeringly expensive Golden Ticket's blurb says: "The ticket to sponsor us, front row dedicated seat in theatre, personal named thanks from con chair. First access to the event, plus all VIP perks". 

And as for me...

Last year, on top of all the uncertainties brought by the wider situation (and who knows where we'll be with those by May?) GI rather suffered by being only a month apart from UK PonyCon. This year there's a five-month gap, which will make it more practical for people with normal budgets to do both cons. I am tempted by at least a one-day trip, though annoyingly Manchester is just too far away to do that without some annoying compromises. It will be quite some while yet before I'm sure either way, though.

Griffish Isles 2020 cancelled; GI 2021 scheduled for November

Twitter thread here announcing the news.

Officially this is being called a postponement, and I understand why the Griffish Isles people have used that term – but in the everyday world away from careful contractual language it's a cancellation. Though frankly one pretty much everybody I know was expecting. GI 2020 had been scheduled for October, and the situation in the UK is such that a convention in October is very much in "not happening" territory.

The Twitter thread does state that GI's new venue "could have accommodated us within government social distancing rules" – though I must admit I'm at a loss as to how any indoor gathering of several hundred people would have been permitted in Manchester. Maybe they were planning on having it all in the hotel car park with one person per alternate space! Okay, not a serious suggestion.

GI have said that they're now going for the weekend of 21st and 22nd November 2021 for their con. The May date used in previous years isn't practical as UK PonyCon 2021 will be then... if that can go ahead, which of course is itself up in the air right now. (For what it's worth, I think UKPC is a possible if a lot of things go right in the next few months, but it's well short of being a surefire bet.)

The dates GI have chosen is roughly the time the now-no-more BronyScot convention used to happen, so people in the UK are used to doing cons in November. The venue has agreed to the new date, as have the guests. So we'll see how it goes. I enjoyed my half-day at GI in 2019, so I may be open to attending this. If and only if, of course, I consider that it's sensible for me to do so. 

One other point: unlike many other conventions, Griffish Isles have chosen not to do an online version of their event. There isn't really a reason given for this beyond "we are interested in providing an in person event" – which is a bit of a non-answer really, as they're not mutually exclusive. But as I said the other day, maybe the online con field is a bit saturated by now anyway.

This blog isn't really the place for me to go into detail about my views on the wider health, societal and political issues connected with Covid-19, but I think it's fair to say that November 2021 is so far off right now that nobody but a fool would claim certainty about what that date will bring. It'll be great if the con can go ahead in recognisable form. I do have hope that it will. But as ever, time will tell.

UK PonyCon postponed to May 2021

This isn't really news that should surprise anyone in the current circumstances, but UK PonyCon will not be going ahead in October. UKPC's communication on the matter states that:

UK PonyCon prides itself on being a welcoming, friendly, safe and fun event for all attendees. At this time, we find it difficult to imagine holding an event in person this October that maintains all of these qualities due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

You can't really argue with that. The convention has been rescheduled to 8/9 May 2021, at the same Nottingham venue originally announced. The UKPC communication goes on to say that guest of honour Kelly Sheridan has agreed to the new date. The "SpookyCon" theme has been dropped, though, presumably because it was tied in with Hallowe'en and so was felt not to really work for May.

Of course, none of us know what the situation will be in a year's time. We all hope that in-person conventions will be possible again by next May, but there's so much uncertainty at the moment that even a date very nearly a full year hence can't be considered nailed on by any means. After all, some of the last restrictions to be eased are likely to be those on mass-attendance indoor events. That means conventions.

UK PonyCon's news also raises the question of whether the other British autumn convention planned for this year -- Griffish Isles in November -- will be happening. That's a smaller event, so it might be able to operate in some form while larger events still can't -- and I wouldn't expect any official word for a little while -- but GI can't be considered certain to go ahead. Let's see how things look by August or September.

Going back to UKPC, the change of date actually makes it a little more likely that I might be able to attend. I have to be a little more careful than some people owing to an underlying medical condition, and I'd largely made my mind up not to attend this October. With another seven months to wait, there's a chance now that attending may be a reasonable thing for me to do, though I don't intend to take foolish risks, not even for Pony. We'll have to see how things develop.

Griffish Isles rescheduled for November

No real surprise, but the Griffish Isles convention has been forced to abandon its originally planned early May slot. According to a notice on its website, the new dates are 21/22 November. The venue remains the same – the Pyramid Hotel in central Manchester – and Guest of Honour Ian Hanlin has agreed to attend on the new date. Having criticised GI more than once for comms shortcomings in the past, I feel it only fair to commend it this time for the pretty detailed and clear statement put out here. A huge and very welcome improvement.

Of course, we all know that even November is far from certain. It's very unlikely there will be a vaccine for Covid-19 by the autumn, so pretty much all big social events are up in the air even if it's been possible for restrictions to have been loosened a bit. It would be lovely to think that GI could go ahead, but if I'm entirely honest I think the odds are somewhat against it. I would be utterly delighted to be wrong. I enjoyed the con last year, even if I could only make part of it, and it would be nice to think people (not me) could do so this year.

We shall see.

Griffish Isles ticket details announced!

The Manchester-based Griffish Isles convention, which for next year has expanded to two days (9/10 May) and has a new venue (the Pyramid Hotel) has announced that tickets will go on sale on Saturday 23rd November at midday UK time. A few people already have tickets, as they were doing pre-sales at UK PonyCon (and maybe BronyScot; I'm not sure), but for most people, Saturday is when they'll have their chance. Here's how the ticket prices stack up for attendees; vendor ticket applications will be handled separately.

Adult Standard Weekend: £45
VIP ticket (limited) : £95
Golden Ticket (two only) : £500
Saturday only: £38
Sunday only: £18
Foals (under-12s) free with paying adults; must leave by 6pm
Carers also free

The above prices do not include the booking fee; if you order a ticket in person at a Lancashire Brony event, that will be waived. Here are a couple more details from the Twitter thread that was how I found out about this:

• VIP tickets include T Shirt, Front two row seating in mane theatre, early access and additional perks as per previous years.
• Golden Tickets include dedicated front row seating in the mane theatre, along with personal thanks from the conference Chair for them helping to make the convention a success. 

The basic weekend ticket price is about what I'd expected: it's a little bit more than UK PonyCon was this year (£37) but then UKPC has economies of scale. The disparity between Saturday and Sunday prices seems very wide (cf UKPC: Sat £25, Sun £20) which leads me to wonder what the difference in scheduling will be like; I'm assuming Saturday's events will go on quite a way into the night.

As for the Golden Tickets? Well. £500 will be the single most expensive ticket in British MLP convention history – from memory, the Celestia tickets at BUCK were somewhere in the £300-£350 range. And those got you a lot of perks. The Golden Tickets are so dear that I can only think they're intended for people who feel like making a statement of how much GI means to them. I'm a little bemused, if I'm honest.

I attended Griffish Isles last year and had a good time. Some of my concerns in 2019 still exist, and I'll be watching particularly closely to see whether the sometimes poor communications (especially regarding the con's website) have improved since last year. It's less likely that I'll actually attend in 2020, as I have a holiday only a few weeks away, but it's not impossible. Naturally, I hope Griffish Isles 2020 is a happy, successful event!

Griffish Isles, Final Thoughts

A few hours later than I'd intended this post to go up, but here's my final (planned) post about Griffish Isles for the time being. The con will be sending out official requests for feedback at some point in the near future, and I certainly intend to complete mine – but I also want to give some thoughts in public. So...

Edit: Whoops, forgot to include a page break! This is fairly long, so I'll add one now.

Griffish Isles, Merch Haul

Today is a Bank Holiday and I've been quite busy over the (extended) weekend, so the episode review will be up tomorrow. I'll be back to my usual schedule for the rest of the week. To fill in the gap, here's the penultimate part of my Griffish Isles report: the obligatory Merch Haul photo!

For scale, the large prints at the top are A4

If you click on the picture to see it at a larger size, you'll also notice that I've annotated the photo. From that guide, here's who created the works shown. An asterisk after a work indicates that it's an original.

1 & 2: prints by JowyBean
3 & 6: prints by GreenFly
4: canvas by JowyBean*
5: con poster by Ponebooth (writing: Lee Tockar* :P )
7: print by Featherpaw
8: con T-shirt by StormBlaze
9: ACEO by Sparklepaws*
10: coaster by Torben Goldmund, art by Setharu
11: conbook, cover by StormBlaze
12: marker pen pic by StormBlaze*

Nearly done with GI 2019! My Final Thoughts post will probably go up on Friday, assuming I have the time to write it by then.

Griffish Isles, Saturday: A Tale of Two Venues

Marvel at the stunning architectural flair of my hotel

I'd set my alarm for six o'clock on Griffish Isles Saturday, and I was pleased when I woke up a few minutes before it went off. I was somewhat less pleased when I dozed off again... the next time I looked at my watch, it was 6:46! I'd wanted to be out of the hotel by seven at the latest, but this wasn't going to happen now. Thank Celestia I'd packed up the previous night. One quick shower later, without even tasting the complimentary coffee, I was checking out.

It was still only around 7:12 when I left the hotel, and happily it was a sunny morning, the weather much nicer than it had been on Friday. Irritatingly, I just missed a tram, but that gave me time to work out the ticket machine and buy a tram-and-bus one in case I needed buses later on. (I didn't.) When the next tram appeared, I was off into Manchester, marvelling at the area's weird combination of mighty skyscrapers and near-derelict plots.

Fooooooooood!

Once I was back in the other city (meaning Manchester; Salford is a city too!) I headed for the Paramount, an early-opening Wetherspoons in a former cinema. It was fairly empty and quite relaxing. Breakfast is the most important meal of con days, so I pigged out on the large fry-up and a couple of mugs of cappuccino. Then it was back on the tram (past the Bridgewater Hall and Manchester Central again) to Piccadilly, from where I'd be walking to the con venue.

Ardwick has a slightly dodgy reputation, but I didn't have any problems on the short walk from the station. Okay, it may be different after dark; I don't know. I arrived outside the venue a little after 9am – nearly an hour before the scheduled start of the con, but at UK PonyCon this is necessary if you don't want a long wait! At this smaller event, it... wasn't. There were about five of us for a while, until some of Team Custard emerged from the house they were sharing nearby.

The St Thomas Centre. A former church, as you'd doubtless guessed

More past the cut!

Griffish Isles 2019, Friday: The Twibrella Saga

Here's the first part of my con report for Griffish Isles 2019. There'll be four of these: Friday, Saturday, Merch Haul and Final Thoughts.

The Friendship Express!

This would be the first convention I'd attended that wasn't UK PonyCon for almost five years – the last time was BUCK 2014. In fact, that had been the last time I'd been in Manchester at all, other than passing through on the train! For personal reasons unconnected to MLP I knew I'd have to come home at teatime on Saturday, so I was hoping Griffish Isles (hereafter simply "GI") would be worth the effort. I'll spare you the suspense: it was.

I started off in style, travelling the first few miles by steam train! I'd always wanted to head for a Pony convention like this, but I'd never quite managed it: UK PonyCon takes place after the local heritage railway's seven-day timetable has ended, while for BUCK I just had too much luggage. I had a tight connection at the other end, so I was relieved when the train arrived dead on time. Fluttershy certainly enjoyed the view of the animals in the local Safari Park.

Fluttershy travels in comfort

The weather I would arrive to in Manchester was forecast to be wet, so I'd bought a cheap purple umbrella – inevitably dubbed the "Twibrella". I managed to leave this at the station. Oh well, I thought, I can easily pick one up in Manchester. Silly me. There isn't a lot to report about the rest of my (non-steam!) train trip, though I did remember to watch an appropriate FiM episode on my phone: "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone". I quite enjoyed it, and it helped pass the time.

My train reached Manchester Piccadilly station in the midst of a torrential downpour, but I had a nice surprise when I got off – unbeknownst to either of us, I'd been sharing my train with Griffin. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to join him for a coffee, but we did at least chat briefly. I splashed through the puddles to get to the Arndale shopping centre. Considering it was rebuilt only 20 years ago (after the 1996 IRA bombing) the place is horribly designed, with a very confusing interior layout.

You can see why I call them Derpy Trams!

Still, I eventually found Poundland and bought Twibrella 2. Then it was back on the tram for the 15-minute ride to Salford Quays, the nearest tram stop to my hotel. On the way we passed both the Bridgewater Hall (venue for BUCK 2013) and Manchester Central (venue for BUCK 2014), which made me enormously nostalgic. I checked into the Travelodge, which was... well, much like any other budget hotel. Basic but serviceable. At least I was on the fifth floor, avoiding the worst of the road noise.

There wasn't much unpacking to do for a one-night stay. Then I found my plushies (Fluttershy and Octavia) and headed straight back to the tram stop. I wasn't expecting much food at the pre-meet pub, so I thought I'd have a snack beforehand. I had an hour or so spare, so I went to Costa – surprisingly uncrowded for 5pm on a Friday, maybe because it was Ramadan – and had a relaxing cappuccino and the requisite muffin (lemon). Sadly I didn't see any other obvious GI people around.

Scootaloo enjoys the view from my fifth-floor hotel window

Then it was time to head for The Waldorf, handily located near Piccadilly station. The GI people had booked us a function room upstairs, but quite a few of us got there early so had to wait outside for a while. Since the rain held off, this wasn't a hardship and allowed me to catch up with friends and have a good chat. HypnoHooves (the con chairman for GI) was there and kept us pretty well informed, and the mood was pleasant. PrinceWhateverer was also there, though I don't remember seeing him.

In we went at 6:30pm. The function room was fine: a little crowded, but not a total squash. It was noisy inside, but again not unbearably so. Griffin kindly bought me a cider (the beer from Prancing Pony brewery had gone off!) and some of us in Team Custard (yes, I'm responsible for that name) managed to grab a table. Everyone seemed in pretty good spirits, as you'd expect. There was even a free buffet laid on by GI, though with our numbers that meant about two sandwiches each.

The Waldorf (centre)
(pic © Gerald England; cc by-sa 2.0)

After a while, there was a call for quiet, so we knew an announcement was coming. I think most of us thought it would just be along the lines of "Welcome to GI and have a good time", but in fact it was something much better than that. Despite severe jetlag, we were getting an early appearance by none other than con Guest of Honour Lee Tockar! This was his first time in the UK, other than when passing through airports, so he wanted a) to have a good time and b) to listen to our accents!

I didn't take photos inside the pub, but some fun things did happen. I avoided the Cards Against Humanity games (I hate CAH, ponyfied or not) but I was amused to watch the darts – with the dartboard covered by someone's sketch of Chancellor Neighsay. It was also interesting to have Torben Goldmund at the table for a while; he gave us quite an eye-opening insight into the enormous amount of work necessary to be a full-time pro fandom artist.

Twibrella 2!

It was very nice, as it always is when you return to a con, to catch up with old friends and make a few new ones. Still, it was loud, and I was tired and needed at least a few hours' sleep before convention day proper on the morrow. So I bade my farewells at about ten and headed back to Piccadilly to catch the tram back. I picked up a sausage roll and some chocolate from the Co-op next to the station to tide me through until breakfast. Not the healthiest of snacks perhaps, but I wasn't going to worry too much right then.

Back at the Travelodge, although I was very tired I forced myself to get everything in order so that I could check out quickly the following morning. As things turned out, it was a good job I did. You'll see why in the next report. The road noise was constant, but I find this easier than on-off traffic and it wasn't that loud so I didn't have too much trouble getting to sleep. Things had started off pretty well, but it was Saturday that was going to be the really important one. More on that next time!

Back from Griffish Isles

You know, I did occasionally wonder over the past few weeks whether travelling to Manchester for a one-day con – and only part of one at that, given I had to miss the evening session – was going to be worth it.

It was.

Write-up coming later on this week, I hope.

Griffish Isles schedule released!

Yesterday, the one-day Griffish Isles convention – which takes place this coming Saturday in Ardwick, Manchester – published its schedule. As many of you will know, I'm going to this con, so I was more than interested to see what would be happening on the day! As in 2018, the events will be split between two venues. The daytime events at St Thomas Centre will run from 10am to 5pm, while the evening events at the nearby Powerleague venue will run from 7pm to midnight.

That represents a slight change to last year's schedule structure, and it's one that has a significant effect on me personally, but I'll get to that later. First, I'll say that the events list looks about what I'd expect for a small convention. I'm definitely interested in "MLP and the Meaning of Life", and of course Lee Tockar's panel. Not sure about "History of MLP", so I may play that by ear. The same goes with Ali Milner's voice call, though Ember's VA is certainly a nice addition.

Talking of playing things by ear, I'm very happy to see karaoke sessions listed! I may not have the opportunity to sing myself if other things clash or the room is oversubscribed, but I've had the chance at other cons so I don't mind too much. I'm not all that excited by a plushie-making class, and I'm not an artist, so I'll probably skip the creative sessions. I don't play the CCG either. The vendor hall is a must, though: I know several creators I admire will be there. And "Pony Museum"? Intriguing!

As always at conventions, finding time to eat without missing too much will be an art form in itself. I'll make sure I have a good breakfast, though it remains to be seen whether I can find any fellow attendees to eat with. That might be too much of a long shot this time. Lunch may have to be a sandwich run to the nearby petrol station, since there's not a lot of space in the timetable! Evening food will be easier, given the gap between daytime and evening sessions.

In all honesty, I find the two-hour gap between daytime and evening sessions rather puzzling. While I appreciate that people will want time to have some food without rushing too much, do we really need that much time? The two venues are five minutes' walk apart. I can only guess that perhaps the organisers are assuming we'll go all the way back into the city centre for refreshment. The Ardwick area is a bit of a food desert, after all, with very few outlets within walking distance.

Which leads me to my one big personal disappointment. For non-fandom reasons I'll have to catch a train from Piccadilly at a little after 8pm, so there really isn't much point in my going to the evening venue. Last year, at the same venue, its doors opened two hours earlier at 5pm, and I was expecting something similar this time. If that had been the case I'd certainly have gone. The rejigged schedule also means I'll miss my beloved pub quiz – I could (just) have done it on the 2018 timetable.

So my Griffish Isles experience looks like consisting of Friday's pre-meet and the daytime portion of the convention itself. I may be back home in Worcestershire before BassPon3 has even begun his set. Not ideal, but circumstances have somewhat conspired against me. Despite this, I certainly don't regret committing to this con. I want to support it and I'm still intrigued to see what it's like. I will, of course, be reporting on my trip at some point next week!

Louder Yay schedule changes in the next couple of weeks

Since I'll be at the Griffish Isles convention next weekend, there'll be some small changes to my usual timetable on this blog. The big one is that I'll be doing as I usually do when this happens, and skipping a week of Ponyfic Roundup. PR 249 will appear as normal this coming Wednesday (8th) but there will not be an edition on the 15th. Ponyfic Roundup 250 (yikes!) will be posted on 22nd May.

The other regulars will just be shifted back slightly. My review of FiM S9E07 will be up on the Tuesday or Wednesday after it airs, and Text Review Roundup will probably appear on the Friday. At any rate, my aim is to have my coverage of that episode done before E08 turns up. I'm not sure when my Griffish Isles report will come out, but I'll try to get it done reasonably quickly.

Griffish Isles 2019: Some places to get food

Last year, I wrote a guide to eating places near UK PonyCon. I'm going to try to do this again now for this year's Griffish Isles convention. It's going to be rather trickier, because the GI location is in a bit of a food desert, but I'll do my best. Note that I don't know the area at all, so I can't vouch for the quality of the non-chain places I mention. Note also that a couple of places on Google maps, eg Chancellors and the Delicious Deli, are not open at weekends.

It's probably best to note that a friend who's lived in Greater Manchester for years says that Ardwick is quite a rough area. I don't think it's anything to be too scared of as long as you're sensible, but it might be an idea not to go wandering about alone after dark. Okay, on to the guide. I've given directions from the daytime venue at the St Thomas Centre, as apparently the evening host at Powerleague does at least have bar snacks.

Click on the name of each eating place to see a Google Maps walking route from the St Thomas Centre. Personally I suspect I'll be going either to the Tesco Express or, if I want hot food, to McDonald's.

1. Convenience stores

Tesco Extra, Esso petrol station, Ardwick Green S, M13 9XF
Open 6am–10pm; 3 mins' walk

Spar, BP petrol station, Chancellor La, M12 6JZ
Open 24 hours; 10 mins' walk

2. Chain restaurants

McDonald's, Stockport Rd, M12 4AB
Open 24 hours; 11 mins' walk

Subway, Stockport Rd, M12 4AB
Open 10am–9pm; 13 mins' walk

NB: both these are on the A6, an extremely busy bus route.

3. Asian food

House of Beijing, Polygon St, M13 9SG (Chinese)
Open midday–10pm; 5 mins' walk
NB: this opened recently; Street View (from 2015) still shows derelict land!

Spicy Grill, Higher Ardwick, M12 6DB (Indian)
Open 11am–4pm

I'm going to Griffish Isles!

The odd price is because there is (as so often, sigh) a booking fee

I've been thinking about this for a few months now, but things have finally fallen into place. So in just under a month, I'll be off to the one-day Griffish Isles convention in Manchester. This will be my first purely brony convention since 2014, as I've only been to the multi-gen UK PonyCon since. It will, I think, also be the first time I've been to Manchester (as opposed to just passing through) since my last purely brony convention, BUCK 2014! I'll be travelling up the day before and staying in a nearby hotel on the Friday night.

As so often in life, not everything is perfect. For reasons unrelated to the con or the fandom, I need to be back home the following morning. Given the poor standard of Sunday-morning trains, my only option is to head home late on Saturday night – which will require me to leave the con by around 7:30pm. I'll therefore miss some of the evening entertainment, though it does mean I'll continue my run of avoiding 18+ Pony events as the venue's all-ages licence cutoff is 8:00pm!

Still, I'm looking forward to it, despite the slightly awkward venue, which is not exactly in the classiest area of the city, and is a 20-minute walk or a short bus ride from the city centre. The main reason is (as ever) the chance to catch up with friends, especially those I don't often see. There's also the fact that S9 might have ended by the time UK PonyCon rolls around in October, so Griffish Isles might turn out to be the last time I'm at a Pony convention while Friendship is Magic is still a live series.

Griffish Isles announces Lee Tockar as Guest of Honour

Those who know me will also know that up until now I've been a little disappointed with the dearth of information from the one-day Griffish Isles convention in Manchester, given that it's now barely two months away. Conventions aren't cheap, and nor are most Manchester hotels, so for most people cons need to be a bit more than "a big meet with games" to justify the outlay.

However, yesterday there was a proper, big-ticket announcement: Lee Tockar will be GI's Guest of Honour and will host a panel on the day. As I'm sure most people know, Tockar has had several voice roles in Friendship is Magic, most notably Steven Magnet, Snips and Gummy. This is definitely a coup for the con. It's going to be hard to match the immense popularity of Elley Ray's visit last year, but I hope they can do it!

And since someone's bound to ask: I really don't know if I'll go. If the con were in Birmingham, it'd be a near-certainty. But of course it isn't. I really wish Brum got as many Pony cons as Manchester – or any at all, actually! Manchester is just close enough for me to visit for the day, thus saving on hotel bills, but the train ticket is well over £40, so realistically with con entry, food and a little merch I'd be looking at a £100+ day out.

As such, doing GI and UK PonyCon in the autumn may not be something I can justify. Since I'm not staying overnight, I can make the decision very late on – unless tickets sell out, of course! Still, none of this takes away from the fact that Griffish Isles have now got something specific and eye-catching that they can point to and say, "This. This is something you'll get if you join us in May." And that has to be applauded. Well done, GI.

Griffish Isles 2019 tickets on sale now

The Griffish Isles MLP convention, which debuted this spring, will be returning for its second iteration on Saturday 11 May 2019. Details are still a little sketchy, not helped by the fact that the con's website has yet to be fully updated from last year. However, this is what we know so far:

Venue 
The website is frankly rather unhelpful here, saying nothing beyond "Manchester". However, the related Eventbrite page is more forthcoming: as in 2018, the con will be held at the St Thomas Centre in Ardwick Green. This is about a 15-minute walk from Manchester Piccadilly station (Google map). Plus points there for accessibility.

In 2018, the con also had an evening component at another venue, but there's no information as yet as to whether that will be the same in 2019, or whether everything will now happen in one place. That other venue's licence meant no kids allowed (even accompanied) after 8pm, so it may be relevant depending on what evening events are planned.

Tickets
There are several classes of ticket, including two adult tiers. Here they are:

Standard: £31.50 + £2.66 booking fee = £34.16
VIP: £89.50 + £6.49 booking fee = £95.99
Foal: FREE (under 12s accompanied by adults; not valid for evening events)
Spirit: £20.00

Standard/Foal tickets can be bought up until the day of the event (though like all UK cons, you can't buy them on the door). VIP/Spirit ticket sales close on 7 April – I don't know whether VIPs are limited in number.

Comparing with last year's tickets, the cost of the Standard tier has gone up by 26%, although there's a reasonable case for saying that the low price of the 2018 iteration could be considered an introductory offer. There's no doubt that the '18 con was well received overall, and the ticket price remains broadly similar to the cost at other UK conventions.

There was no VIP tier in 2018; instead there was a Sponsor tier which was £50.18. (Again, including fee – you can't avoid it, so I treat it as the base cost.) The 2019 upper-tier ticket is thus 91% more expensive, a very sizeable hike by any standards. According to the website, over and above Standard access, VIP will bring you:

• VIP T-shirt
• Front row mane stage seating
• Special perks and access

That last bit is key, but unfortunately there's currently no info about what it actually means. If you're paying almost £100 for a ticket, it matters what your special perks and access are, so I'm a bit disappointed with this.

Obviously, things like special guests won't be announced just yet, so any guest-related perks won't be finalised either – but buying blind still isn't the most attractive offer. When I bought my UK PonyCon VIP ticket, a few minutes after it went on sale, I already knew the exact package of perks it would bring me.

It's very good to see that last year's "Foals go free" offer has been continued. This is a really nice feature that some other conventions (eg UKPC) do not offer, and it does make it a lot more attractive for, say, a parent with a couple of kids to attend. An unqualified yay to Griffish Isles for this initiative.

The Spirit ticket is new. For £20 you get "a mention in the con book", while if you add on a T-shirt you'll get it posted to you along with the con book. Considering my BronyScot equivalent was £8.50 including the con book (and some unexpected badges!), this seems a tad steep.

Am I going?
I'm certainly thinking about it. Friends who went last year have recommended it, and I'm happy with the organising team, who have the right combination of con experience, level-headedness and enthusiasm. This is not a convention I fear falling apart. Manchester is right on the edge of where I can get to for a day trip, and obviously it becomes a much more expensive outing if hotels need to be taken into account, but we'll see. It would definitely have to be a simple Standard ticket, though.

Summing up
With last year's successful debut behind it, the Griffish Isles convention looks stable and well run, and the Standard ticket price remains fairly reasonable. Manchester is a decent choice of host city and one well-established for fandom events (though my West Midlander heart can't help being jealous!) and the venue is easily accessible from the city centre even on foot. That's a big plus.

Where Griffish Isles falls down, for now at least, is in the paucity of actual hard information on its website. It shouldn't be necessary to sift through social media to find exact venue details, while there simply aren't sufficient details about whether there'll be a separate evening venue or what splashing out on a VIP ticket may get you. Once those problems are addressed, things could look very bright for GI2019.

Griffish Isles: tickets now on sale; Elley-Ray announced

Two significant pieces of news from the Griffish Isles convention. First, tickets are now on sale. The pop-up that appears when you click the green "TICKETS" link suggests that Sponsor tickets will be withdrawn from sale on 5 May, a fortnight before the convention, whereas the standard-tier Pony and Foal tickets will remain available until 18 May, the day before the con begins.

Also, the con has announced a show guest! This is Elley-Ray, the voice of Mistmane, as she announced on her own Twitter. Quite a coup for a brand new convention outside North America to get a show guest, so colour me impressed.