Nottingham Conference Centre
This is associated with Nottingham Trent University, so in that sense it's a similar deal to last year's con at UWE in Bristol. A major difference, however, is that the NCC is in the city centre. Well, on the northern edge of it, anyway — it's about a 15-minute walk from the main railway station, and also within reach of a decent range of hotels.
As for tickets, they will go on sale at midday BST on Saturday 28 April, and full details are on the site. For convenience, though, I'll summarise here, especially as the pricing structure has changed a bit since 2017.
The key point is that a Standard Adult Weekend ticket will cost £35. This price has been held since last year, with the trade-off being that there will not be an Early Bird discount this time. I think that's a sensible and fair approach. As I said last year, UK PonyCon has a good reputation for offering reasonably-priced tickets, and it's pleasing to see that the convention is maintaining this in 2018.
The Supporter tier from last year will again be available, but this year it'll be sold as an upgrade rather than a separate ticket type, with a simple pricing setup: upgrading will cost a flat £10 per person. There is one exception, which I'm very pleased to see: upgrading a family ticket will be £20. Last year this cost £40, which I felt was a bit steep, so applause to UKPC for the change.
There'll also be a VIP tier, with various privileges such as early entry, which will carry a £35pp premium. These tickets sold out in the space of six hours last year, so get in quick if you want one! Perhaps unsurprisingly after last year's supplier problems, the included goodie bag does not include a plushie. Instead, you'll get an art print to go with your tote bag, T-shirt, VIP lanyard and badge.
As you'd expect, there will be reduced-price tickets for children (aged 4 to 12), as well as one-day tickets. New for 2018 is that Saturday-only tickets are slightly more expensive than Sunday-only ones, in view of the longer Saturday programme. For example, an Adult Saturday-only ticket will cost £23, whereas the Sunday equivalent will be £19. (Last year they were both £21.)
I'll write up another post in the near future with some more thoughts, for example on transport. But this will do for now. So, although you can't actually buy tickets for another three weeks, I'll end with a link to the place where you will be able to buy them when the time comes:
All very exciting stuff. :D
ReplyDeleteThe committee really do seem to have thought things through very well.
Indeed! And I'm not surprised that they have, but it's still nice to see. :)
DeleteWill I'll be definitely going this year as I've missed the last two. Never been to Nottingham before but my brother has due to the Warhammer events they hold up there.
ReplyDeleteI've only been about three times, which is absurd as it's only about 80 miles from me. Glad you can make it after missing two! The con's changed a bit since the Leicester days, but it's still fantastic.
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