There isn't a formal post about this on the UK PonyCon website, but the Tickets page has now been updated with 2026 ticket tiers and prices! As I usually do on these occasions, I'm going to go through each tier and see how it compares to last year. In fact, there isn't a lot of change – but there is some, so keep reading.
First, the tickets go on sale at 18:00 on Saturday 18th April. That time is BST. Unlike last year, we get plenty of notice! It's very nice to have time to think once more.
As for those all-important prices, for 2026 we have:
Standard: £75 (held at 2025 price) – 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 1st August.
Bronze: £99 (held at 2025 price) – nicer lanyard, Bronze sponsor badge, name in con book (if you want it), Bronze button badge, sponsor-exclusive magnet, £5 donation to UKPC's long-standing charity, the RDA. As with last year, you get the option to purchase (for £60) the sponsor hoodie. As far as I can see at a glance, the one change is the replacement of the sticker sheet with the magnet.
Silver: £220 (+5%) – priority queue, silver sponsor badge, messenger bag, Silver/Gold sponsor-exclusive T-shirt or long-sleeve shirt, beanie, sticker collecting book, vinyl stickers, enamel pin, two autograph/photo tokens, one photo print if relevant, £10 RDA donation. Several changes here, for example the art print and water bottle have gone but the beanie and sticker book are new. We're also back to messenger bags after last year's drawstring variety. There will be 75 Silver tickets.
Gold: £525 (held at 2025 price) – 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. That hand-made Britannia plushie with themed accessory, which this year will come from Noxi Plushies, is probably the stand-out among the various exclusive merch. There will be five Gold tickets.
Platinum: £950 (new!) – this is a brand new tier which consists largely of the UKPC folks throwing¹ everything they can think of at you. As well as the Gold perks, some of what you get here is admission for a plus one, being the very first person through the doors, £50 RDA donation, eight autograph/photo credits, a 3D printed figure of Britannia and your OC, five mass-produced Britannia plushies, a blanket, and one of all the other new pieces of merch not already mentioned. You also have a chance to go up on stage at the opening and closing ceremonies, and to participate in a UKPC-hosted² event. Phew! There will be one Platinum ticket. Yes, one.
¹ Not literally! Health & Safety is a thing at cons, you know...
² One hosted by the con itself, not by an attendee submitting an event.
So, thoughts? Well, most of the prices being held at 2025 levels is a nice touch and very welcome. I'm pleased the UKPC folks have managed to do that, especially keeping Bronze below that psychologically important £100 barrier!
Mind you, putting only the Silver of the main four tiers up, and then by only a tenner, seems a little on the bizarre side. It would have been fantastic PR to keep them all at last year's cost, and the maximum the increase can additionally raise is £750 – a fraction of the running costs of a convention UKPC's size. So this one stumps me a bit.
As for the Platinum ticket? I don't know, really, as it's entirely irrelevant to most of us! In any case, it's only the same few people each year who tended to get Gold, so presumably one of them will get Platinum. As such, I'm going to largely ignore it now I've mentioned it for completeness here.
Will I be attending this year? Same answer as every year! I hope so, but I can't yet be certain. Let's hope for a great attendance for this perennially great convention, though!
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