Con of Thrones 2023 is cancelled

Well, that’s a bummer. According to a post on the official Con of Thrones website, this year’s event has been called off.

Con of Thrones is the world’s premiere unofficial convention dedicated to all things Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon and A Song of Ice and Fire. I’ve been to the convention a few times and it was always a ton of fun. This year’s event was going to be held at the Hyatt Regency Orlando in Orlando, Florida from August 25-27, but no more. From the website:

"We’ve made the difficult decision to cancel Con of Thrones 2023. Due to the increasingly anti-humanitarian legislation and atmosphere in Florida and based on additional feedback from partners, attendees, and guests, it has become clear that if we were to proceed, Con of Thrones 2023 would not be the level of event that the community expects and deserves."

Con of Thrones 2023 in part due to “increasingly anti-humanitarian legislation and atmosphere in Florida”

So far as the “anti-humanitarian legislation and atmosphere” is concerned, this likely refers to the record number of racist and anti-LGBTQIA+ bills debated among legislators under Florida governor Ron DeSantis, including bans on gender-affirming healthcare, criminal punishments for trans people who use bathrooms matching their gender, restrictions of what subjects college students can study, and more. As for “additional feedback from partners, attendees, and guests,” we can only guess at the details.

Fans who have already purchased tickets or add-on experiences will receive an email with refund and transfer options. Previously reserved hotel accommodations will be automatically cancelled.

After Con of Thrones 2019, the con went dark for a while during the pandemic. I was looking forward to getting back there and hope the con finds a new venue in time.

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