VCON 44 Invites Fans to “Pick Your Punk” This November
Canada’s oldest fan-organized speculative-fiction and games convention returns to Burnaby with Guests of Honour Holly Schofield and Eric Chu, plus a special appearance by William Gibson.
On Saturday, November 14, 2026, VCON returns with VCON 44: Pick Your Punk — Living Through the 21st Century, a one-day celebration of speculative fiction, games, creativity, and fan community at BCIT Burnaby Campus, in Buildings SE02 and SE06. The event runs from 10:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Founded in 1971 as the Vancouver SF Convention, VCON is the oldest fan-organized convention event in Canada and the Pacific Northwest, including Washington and Oregon. The West Coast Speculative Fiction Association (WCSFA), VCON’s parent non-profit organization, has hosted the event since 1993.
The theme, Pick Your Punk — Living Through the 21st Century, looks at the futures we fear, the futures we hope for, and the weird, scrappy, inventive worlds we build along the way. From cyberpunk and solarpunk to steampunk, dieselpunk, biopunk, hopepunk, lunarpunk, and beyond, VCON 44 invites attendees to explore the stories, technologies, communities, cautions, and possibilities that shape our present and our imagined futures.
VCON 44’s Guests of Honour are author Holly Schofield, whose work explores science fiction, environmental imagination, technology, and hopeful futures, and artist Eric Chu, the Vancouver-based concept designer and illustrator known for his work on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica and for creating VCON 44’s poster art.
The convention will also feature a special appearance by William Gibson, widely known as “The Father of Cyberpunk” and author of Neuromancer, Virtual Light, and Pattern Recognition. Gibson will speak about his history with VCON and his connection with the cyberpunk genre.
Attendees can expect panels, presentations, and workshops; two dedicated tabletop game rooms; and a Hospitality Snack Room with fresh fruit, snacks, coffee, tea, water, juice, and more, all available by donation.
VCON 44 will also host the VCON 44 Marketplace in BCIT’s Grand Hall. Featuring the Makers Square for creators and designers and the Merchants Square for retailers and resellers, the Marketplace will be open to the public — no convention admission required to browse and shop.
VCON 44 is an all-ages event.
Additional event details are available at vcon.ca. Register at s.wcsfa.org/v44-registration.
Event venue
BCIT SE2, SE 2, BCIT, Burnaby, BC V5G 3L1, Canada
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.