New Zealand National Science Fiction Convention

The New Zealand National Science Fiction Convention is a volunteer run science fiction convention that is scheduled annually, and usually takes place either at Easter or at Queen's Birthday weekend (end of May/early June). It is usually abbreviated as NatCon. New Zealand's premier science fiction award, the Sir Julius Vogel Award, is presented each year at the national convention. Unlike the case with many other countries' national conventions, each convention is run by a different committee, unaffiliated with any national fannish body. Bids for running the NatCons are voted on by attendees at the NatCon two years ahead. These votes are organised by the current NatCon committee in liaison with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand. In the early years of the national convention, the four main cities (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin) all held the NatCon, but in recent years, the conventions have mostly been held in one of the two largest cities, Wellington and Auckland, both in the North Island.

Note: in this list, websites whose addresses end in sf. org. nz are, in most cases, mirrors of the original websites, some of which have been removed. NatCon no. yearnamelocationguests of honour (GoH)fan guests of honour (FGoH) 1 1979 Wellcon Wellington 2 1980 Wellcon B Wellington Merv Binns 3 1981 Norcon Auckland A. Bertram Chandler 4 1982 Octacon Dunedin David Harvey Frank Macskasy 5 1983 Windycon Wellington Harlan Ellison 6 1984 Norcon II Auckland Sandi Hall, David Harvey 7 1986 Halleycon Dunedin Craig Harrison Frank Macskasy 8 1987 Windycon II '87 Wellington Joe Haldeman Alan Robson 9 1988 Confusion Christchurch Bjo Trimble, Margaret Mahy Lana Brown 10 1989 Satyricon Dunedin David Brin Alex Heatley 11 1990 ConVerge 2 Wellington Tracy Tormé, Richard Arnold James Benson 12 1991 ForryCon Wellington Forrest Ackerman Tim Jones 13 1992 ShakyCon Wellington Joe Haldeman Rex Thompson 14 1993 DefCon Wellington D. C. Fontana, Julian May, Larry Niven, Dennis Skotak, Gail Adams Mark Harris 15 1994 SiliCon Dunedin Barbara Hambly Tom Cardy 16 1995 Conquest Auckland Roger Zelazny, Vonda McIntyre, Richard Taylor, Jane Lindskold Keith Smith 17 1996 Constellation Christchurch Robert Sheckley, Wes Takahashi, Wayne Stables, Margaret Mahy, Ged Maybury James Dignan 18 1997 Conspiracy Wellington Danny John Jules, Pat Cadigan, Chris Chitty Dan McCarthy 19 1998 Construction Wellington Neil Gaiman, Michael Hurst Norman Cates 20 1999 Conquest 2 Auckland Richard Hatch, Alan Dean Foster, John Howe Mike Hansen 21 2000 Con d'Or Wellington Tad Williams, Sean McMullen Maree Sole 22 2001 Odyssey Con Auckland Mercedes Lackey, Larry Dixon, Lyn McConchie, Sean McMullen Brian Howell 23 2002 Con with the Wind Wellington Joe and Gay Haldeman, Dan Hennah, Lucy Sussex, Dale Elvy, Charles N. Brown, Stephen Dedman Yvonne Harrison, Alan Robson, Renaldo 24 2003 EmotiCon Auckland Lois McMaster Bujold, J. G. Hertzler Mary Maclachlan 25 2004 ConTour Rotorua Gregory Benford Ross Temple 26 2005 iCon Wellington Orson Scott Card Bill Geradts 27 2006 Conclave Auckland Steve Jackson, Joan Vinge, Jim Frenkel Kevin Maclean 28 2007 Conspiracy 2 Wellington Eric Flint, Dylan Horrocks, Marianne de Pierres, Isobelle Carmody, Fred Gallagher, Barbara Clendon 29 2008 Conjunction Wellington Elizabeth Moon, Kate Orman, Jon Blum, Philippa Ballantine, Andrew Ivamy 30 2009 Conscription Auckland Julie E. Czerneda, Nalini Singh, Russell Kirkpatrick Robbie Matthews 31 2010 Au Contraire Wellington Sean Williams, Elizabeth Knox Paul Mannering 32 2011 ConText Auckland Catherine Asaro Lynelle Howell 33 2012 UnCONventional Auckland Trudi Canavan Lorain Clark 34 2013 Au Contraire 2013 Wellington Jennifer Fallon Anna Klein 35 2014 Conclave II Auckland Dave Freer, Lyn McConchie, Paul Scoones Paul Scoones was upgraded from Fan GoH to full GoH and was not replaced. 36 2015 Reconnaissance Rotorua Gail Carriger, Philippa Ballantine, Tee Morris Alan Parker & Norman Cates 37 2016 Au Contraire 2016 Wellington Martin Wallace, Stephanie Paul, AJ Fitzwater 38 2017 LexiCon Taupō Seanan McGuire John Toon, Orville (Ghost of Honour) 39 2018 Conclave 3 Auckland Karen Miller, Steve Wheeler Daphne Lawless402019GeyserConRotoruaJonathan Maberry, Kaaron Warren

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, some convention bids were made only a year in advance. At Norcon II in 1984 there was no bid by any group to hold a national convention in 1985. One reason for this was an assumption that many New Zealanders would instead attend Aussiecon II, the 1985 Worldcon, in Melbourne, Australia. However, a group from Dunedin at Norcon II announced that it was willing to stage a national convention in 1986, and won the bid for that year's convention. It was then taken for granted that Halleycon in 1986 would be the next national convention New Zealand's seventh. A few months after Norcon II, a group of Auckland fans decided to stage Orcon at Easter in 1985 and in their publicity called it the seventh national convention. A few weeks prior to Easter 1985 the Halleycon committee contacted the Orcon committee and made it clear to them that they had no right to call it a national convention. The Orcon committee accepted this however by that point the convention programme booklet had already been printed which stated it was the seventh national convention. All of Halleycon's progress reports and publicity stated that it was the seventh national convention, and numbering of national conventions has continued from this, with the 1987 convention being officially the eighth New Zealand national convention.

The Armageddon Expo, an event held annually in several New Zealand cities, is a more commercially orientated event. It is mostly made up of comic, toy, video game and DVD stalls, run by local businesses.