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BABSCon

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BABSCon
StatusDefunct
GenreMy Little Pony fan convention
VenueHyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
LocationBurlingame, California
CountryUnited States
Inaugurated18–20 April 2014
Most recent18–20 April 2025
Attendance2,084 in 2025[‡ 1]
Websitehttps://babscon.com/

BABSCon (short for Bay Area Brony Spectacular, a reference to the character Babs Seed from "One Bad Apple"[1]) was an annual My Little Pony fan convention held in the San Francisco Bay Area organized for the fandom of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, whose adult fans are commonly referred to as bronies. In 2019, BABSCon was the third-largest brony convention in the United States.[2]

BABSCon operated from April 2014 until its cessation in April 2025.[‡ 2][‡ 3]

Overview

[edit]
See also: My Little Pony fan convention
John de Lancie, the voice actor for Discord, at a Q&A panel at BABSCon 2018
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
Spin-offs
Media
Films & specials

Music

Games

Other media

Brony fandom
Fan works (list)

Fan culture

My Little Pony conventions

BABSCon is an annual convention primarily dedicated to fans of the animated television show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, particularly the adult fans known as bronies. The convention was founded in 2013[‡ 2] by Sonya Hipper and co-founded by Sophianna Ardinger.[3] The event features a rainbow-maned, yellow pony mascot named Golden Gates.[2]

BABSCon was the first brony convention in the San Francisco Bay Area[4] and was described by its founders as the "fandom version of Burning Man."[3] In 2019, the convention was the third-largest brony convention in the United States (after BronyCon and Everfree Northwest) and attracted approximately 2,000 attendees.[2]

In 2015, Samuel Miller presented his doctoral research on the brony fandom at a BABSCon panel and subsequently published it in The Journal of Men's Studies.[5]

2025 BABSCon's Pillow Fight event

BABSCon themes included: a cinema-themed "And, Action!" in 2017; a renaissance-based "Fables and Fantasy" in 2018; "Cyberpunk City" in 2019; "SPAAACE!" from 2020–2022; a 90s styled "Memory Lane" in 2023; "Sweet Tooth" in 2024; and finally a "Slumber Party" theme in 2025. [‡ 2]

Burning Mare and Pinkaboo's Neighhem

[edit]
The Fox Theatre in Redwood City, California
See also: Music of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom

In March 2025, the BABSCon convention chairs dismissed its music concert coordinator, Pinkaboo.[‡ 4] The decision prompted all of its brony musicians to withdraw from the official concert. With funding from 15 (the creator of 15.ai) and a separate GoFundMe campaign, Pinkaboo and the musicians organized an alternative event called "Pinkaboo's Neighhem" that was to be held immediately after the end of the convention at the Fox Theatre in Redwood City, California.[6][7]

BABSCon promised an alternative concert and proposed the event "Burning Mare" which would take place on Saturday night. On April 11th, they announced their headliner, Mystery Skulls,[‡ 3] with alternative musical acts "Tuo Li presents Brony Syndrome", HTO (The Summoning); as well as the events "Party Cannon Panel" with guest Elley-Ray Hennessy, "The Burning", and "The wedding of Cadence and Twilight and the Final Ca-Dance Party".[‡ 5]

Locations, attendances, charity totals, and notable guests by year

[edit]
Year Dates Location Venue Attendance Charity Recipient Charity Total Notable guests
2014 April 18–20 Burlingame, California Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport ~2,350 Amy Keating Rogers, Andrea Libman, Andy Price (artist), Ashleigh Ball, Brian Drummond, Cathy Weseluck, Jayson Thiessen, Meghan McCarthy, Nicole Oliver, Peter New, Tabitha St. Germain, Tara Strong
2015[‡ 6] April 3–5 2,648[‡ 7] San Francisco Suicide Prevention, New Horizon School and Learning Center Andrea Libman, Brian Drummond, Bryanna Drummond, Cathy Weseluck, Daniel Ingram (composer), Gillian "GM" Berrow, Heather Breckel, Ian James Corlett, Maryke Hendrikse, Peter New, Rebecca Shoichet, Tara Strong, Tony Fleecs
2016[‡ 8] April 20–24 ~2,100 LYRIC, Doctors without borders Andrea Libman, Andy Price (artist), Gillian "GM" Berrow, John de Lancie, Kelly Sheridan, Lauren Faust, Nicole Oliver
2017[‡ 9] April 14–16 1,772[‡ 10] San Francisco Suicide Prevention, LYRIC Andy Price (artist), Ashleigh Ball, Peter New, Tabitha St. Germain, Tara Strong, Tony Fleecs
2018[‡ 11] March 30–April 1 1,663[‡ 12] Guitars Not Guns, The Game Academy[‡ 12] $15,066[‡ 12] Amy Keating Rogers, Andrea Libman, Bill Newton, Brenda Hickey, Christina Rice, Heather Breckel, John de Lancie, Kelly Sheridan, Nicole Dubuc, Trevor Devall
2019[‡ 13] April 19–22 1,599[‡ 14] Billy DeFrank LGBTQ Center of Silicon Valley, Parents Helping Parents Inc. $12,890[‡ 14] Agnes Garbowska, Andy Price (artist), Bill Newton, Bryan Hohlfeld, Josh Haber, Kazumi Evans, Maurice LaMarche, Mike Vogel, Nicole Dubuc, Rebecca Shoichet, Sara Richard, Shannon Chan-Kent, Tabitha St. Germain, Tony Fleecs
2020[‡ 15] Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[‡ 16]
BABSConline 2020[‡ 17] May 8–9 Online BABSCon Discord server N/A N/A Brian Drummond, Claire Corlett, Peter New, Sunny Westbrook
2021[‡ 18] Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[‡ 16]
2022[‡ 19] April 15–17 Burlingame, California Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport 1,512[‡ 20] The Game Academy $21,445.75[‡ 20] Andy Price (artist), Grey DeLisle, Nicole Oliver, Peter New, Vincent Tong (voice actor)
2023[‡ 21] April 7–9 ~800 Trans Lifeline[‡ 22] $20,000[‡ 23] Charlotte Fullerton, Gillian "GM" Berrow, Katrina Salisbury, Sarah-Nicole Robles, Thom Zahler, Tony Fleecs
2024[‡ 24] March 29–31 ~700 Angela's House, SF LGBT Center[‡ 25] $25,250[‡ 26] Andrea Libman, Andy Price (artist), Elley-Ray Hennessy, Jeremy Whitley
2025[‡ 27] April 18–20 2,084[‡ 28] Frameline[‡ 29] $35,708[‡ 28] Andrea Libman, Andy Price (artist), Ashleigh Ball, Elley-Ray Hennessy, Tabitha St. Germain, Thom Zahler, Tony Fleecs

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Connelly, Sherilyn (2017). Ponyville Confidential: The History and Culture of My Little Pony, 1981–2016. McFarland. p. 59. ISBN 9781476662091.
  2. ^ a b c Bartlett, Amanda (August 18, 2019). "Local bronies mourn the loss of BronyCon, the nation's largest 'My Little Pony' convention". SFGate. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
  3. ^ a b Idelson, Karen (October 5, 2017). "The Mane Event: My Little Pony: The Movie Gallops to Theaters". Animation Magazine. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
  4. ^ Stewart, Kris (November 20, 2014). "My Little Brony: Friendship is magic". The Pioneer. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
  5. ^ Miller, Samuel (2018). "Rebooting Ponies and Men: Discordant Masculinity and the Brony Fandom". The Journal of Men's Studies. 26 (3): 328–345. doi:10.1177/1060826518773468.
  6. ^ Irpan, Alex (July 21, 2025). "Brony Musicians Seize The Means of Production: My Eyewitness Account to BABSCon 2025". Alex Irpan. Retrieved July 30, 2025.
  7. ^ PhoenixFire (April 3, 2025). "Final BABSCon Neighhem Concert Has A New Venue". Equestria Daily. Retrieved July 30, 2025.

Primary sources

In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):

  1. ^ @BABSCon (April 21, 2025). "2,084 attendees. $35,708 for our charity, Frameline. Thank you for coming to our Slumber Party, and our final BABSCon event. Let's keep those memories alive 🥳🎉" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ a b c "BABSCon Official Website". BABSCon.
  3. ^ a b BABSCon 2025 Conbook (PDF). 2025.
  4. ^ "An update for our attendees". X. April 1, 2025. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
  5. ^ "Burning Mare Schedule. We are almost sold out of the Party Cannon panel! ⚠️". X. April 19, 2025. Retrieved April 19, 2025.
  6. ^ "BABSCon 2015 Official Site". 2015.babscon.com. Archived from the original on March 29, 2025. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
  7. ^ "BABSCon 2016, how about breaking our attendance record of 2648 attendees!? #babscon2015 #brony". X. April 5, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  8. ^ "BABSCon 2016 Official Site". BABSCon. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
  9. ^ "BABSCon – BABSCon". 2017.babscon.com. Archived from the original on March 29, 2025. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
  10. ^ "The Giant My Little Pony Convention & Event Spreadsheet of Doom". Google Docs. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
  11. ^ "BABSCon – BABSCon". 2018.babscon.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2025. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
  12. ^ a b c "2018 final attendance 1,663 people Total collected for charity: US$15066.00 split evenly between Guitarsnotguns1 & The Game Academy". X. August 6, 2018. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  13. ^ "BABSCon – BABSCon". 2019.babscon.com. Archived from the original on March 29, 2025. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
  14. ^ a b "We would like to thank ALL of our 1599 attendees, VIP guests, musicians, CGs, vendors, & volunteers (who raised $12,890 split b/t @billydefrank & @phpeducation because YOU all made #BABS2019 possible! We hope to see you next year, April 10–12, 2020 for "BABSCon and Beyond!"". X. April 23, 2019. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  15. ^ "BABSCon – BABSCon". 2020.babscon.com. Archived from the original on March 29, 2025. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
  16. ^ a b "BABSCon 2020 is Canceled Due to COVID-19. Let's Get Started on BABSCon 2021! - Latest News – BABSCon". 2020.babscon.com. Archived from the original on June 24, 2025. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
  17. ^ "BABSConline Official Site". online.babscon.com. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
  18. ^ "BABSCon – BABSCon". 2021.babscon.com. Archived from the original on April 4, 2025. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
  19. ^ "BABSCon – BABSCon". 2022.babscon.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2025. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
  20. ^ a b "BABS2022 NUMBERS: We had 1512 attendees this year who collectively raised a very impressive $21,445.75 for GameAcademyRPGs!!! Thank you all so much for your incredible generosity!". X. April 17, 2022. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  21. ^ "BABSCon – BABSCon". 2023.babscon.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2025. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
  22. ^ "BABSCon's 2023 Charities – BABSCon". 2023.babscon.com. Archived from the original on March 29, 2025. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
  23. ^ "We are proud to announce that this year's charity auction has raised $20k! A small portion is going to help BABSCon fund more charitable events in the future, and TransLifeline will take the lion's share to forward their wonderful cause". X. April 9, 2023. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  24. ^ "BABSCon 2024 Official Site". 2024.babscon.com. Archived from the original on March 29, 2025. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
  25. ^ "BABSCon's 2024 Charities – BABSCon". 2024.babscon.com. Archived from the original on March 29, 2025. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
  26. ^ "Happy to announce that with everyone's generosity, BABSCons 2024 charity total is…". X. April 1, 2024. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  27. ^ "BABSCon 2025 Official Site". www.babscon.com. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
  28. ^ a b "2,084 attendees. $35,708 for our charity, Frameline. Thank you for coming to our Slumber Party, and our final BABSCon event. Let's keep those memories alive". X. April 21, 2025. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  29. ^ "BABSCon's 2025 Charity, BABSCon Official Site". www.babscon.com. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
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