SALT LAKE CITY — At a press conference to announce its inclusion of Simon Pegg as a guest, FantasyCon said it has the largest contingent of Tolkien guests at a fan convention ever, including parts of the staff of TheOneRing.net.
Coming from the Lord of the Rings films:
Sean Astin
Billy Boyd
John Rhys-Davies.
Scheduled for visits from The Hobbit films are:
Adam Brown
John Callen
Peter Hambleton
Jed Brophy
William Kircher
Ken Stott
Graham McTavish
Sylvester McCoy
Other Tolkien-related content:
TheOneRing.net
Doug Adams
Artist Donato Giancola
Artist Justin Gerard
You can read the full article, including the announcement of Simon Pegg, right here.
SALT LAKE CITY — FantasyCon, with an already potent lineup of guests from “The Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” movies, announced that Billy Boyd will be joining the show. The convention, with its obvious fantasy theme, is striving to be different from the many popular-culture events that dot North America with increased interactivity and an emphasis on fantasy art.
Set for July 3 – 5, capitalizing on the 4th of July weekend in Salt Lake City, the convention is self described as “the first convention of its kind to answer the call for an interactive, immersive experience that encompasses all things in the genre of pop culture fantasy.”
Boyd joins LOTR partners Sean Astin and John Rhys-Davies, along with Hobbit actors Slyvester McCoy, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, William Kircher, and Jed Brophy. The convention is Stott’s first convention appearance in North America.
FantasyCon is also a major sponsor of TheOneRing.net and the show will feature several of our own staffers, including FantasyCon Program Director Larry D. Curtis, MrCere here at TheOneRing.net. According to him, “There are more Middle-earth names to come, and by the time all the announcements are done we will offer a unparallelled Tolkien lineup. We mostly have all of these guys for three days helping us celebrate fantasy and of course signing autographs and providing photo ops with fans.
Billy Boyd at TORn’s booth, DragonCon 2012“FantasyCon’s founder Josh Patel had most of these pieces in place before he reached out to me so I was delighted immediately with his plans. I just talked to these guys about the show while we were together in Germany at HobbitCon 2 and they are excited and we are doing some really fun programming stuff, not just talking from the stage. This is a chance for fans in the U.S. to meet an army of talent from these franchises. What is more, there is a lot of other really good related content. We are having a world-class Middle-earth convention inside a spectacular fantasy convention.”
The convention also includes a group of masterwork fantasy artists, many who are bringing commissioned paintings to the event. Artists include TORn friend and Middle-earth artist Donato Giancola and Brom. The full list of artists can be found right here.
The show starts Thursday July 3rd and will finish Saturday July 5th in Salt Lake City. The Salt Palace Convention Center will host the event, close to many hotels and close to the Salt Lake airport.
The convention season is about to start in a big way with TheOneRing.net appearing at shows across the U.S. and even at a special event in Europe. HobbitCon in Bonn, Germany, is packed full of Hobbit and Tolkien guests, including our own MrCere (Larry D. Curtis) who will present several panels about, as you might guess, The Hobbit.
Joining him is an amazing collection of 12 star guests that includes actors from The Hobbit film and Royd Tolkien, great-grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien. The lineup of special guests includes Sir Richard Taylor, some fan films and other prominent figures from the world-wide Tolkien community. Tickets are no longer on sale online but day or weekend tickets can be purchased directly from the event at the Maritim Hotel If you are in Europe this is an event without peer.
WONDERCON
From the same folks who stage the world-famous San Diego Comic-Con, comes WonderCon in Anaheim, with a pretty incredible lineup that also includes TheOneRing.net staff previewing the last movie from Peter Jackson about Middle-earth, “The Hobbit: There and Back Again.” That can’t-miss panel takes place Saturday, April 19 at 5:30 p.m., in room 300DE.
We also will have a table on the sales floor to get exclusive TORn t-shirts and talk to staffers about all things Middle-earth. Our all-volunteer staff has an abundant representation in Los Angeles, making this a way to meet our friends.
MORE CONVENTIONS
CALGARY EXPO: April 24-27, Calgary. Staffers greendragon and Deej join a powerful Middle-earth lineup of guests that includes Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Jed Brophy, Manu Bennett, and Dean O’Gorman. Also featured is Weta’s incomparable Richard Taylor. TORn will sell our exclusive convention shirts and meet fans and friends face-to-face!
FANTASYCON July 3 – 5, Salt Lake City. This show, focused on fantasy, has a heavy Middle-earth influence with celebrity guests and rumor has it they will add several others to a lineup that includes Sean Astin, John Rhys-Davies, Sylvester McCoy, Ken Stott and Graham McTavish. TheOneRing.net is partnering with the show and will be present at the celebration of all things fantasy with a booth, panels and some surprises.
SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON The grandaddy of pop-culture events in the world will once again feature Hobbit content from Warner Bros. and TORn. Director Peter Jackson is a likely candidate to be here and as well as a list of celebrities from the film to make their “Hall H” appearance. Plan to wait or camp in line. Our own panel is also in high demand and while nobody can camp overnight, we fill any room the SDCC hands us. This is Mecca for pop-culture. See you there!
DRAGON CON The annual event in Atlanta, Georgia is something of a home for all things Tolkien with the Tolkien Track of programming that definitely features TheOneRing.net and always includes some celebrities from the film world. This focuses on books, film, pop-culture, costuming, dancing, music and everything else you can think of. TORn staffers attending include greendragon, Deej, MrCere, Thorongil, often Quickbeam and usually a few more.
More conventions are likely including the New York Comic Con so expect lots more convention updates.
SALT LAKE CITY — At a press conference to announce its inclusion of Simon Pegg as a guest, FantasyCon said it has the largest contingent of Tolkien guests at a fan convention ever, including parts of the staff of TheOneRing.net.
