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Starcon
Status	Active
Genre	Science fiction comics fantasy movie TV video games science cosmonautics
Venue	“Expoforum” Convention and Exhibition Centre (2016)
Location(s)	Saint Petersburg
Country	Russia
Inaugurated	1999; 25 years ago (1999)
Organized by	Geekers
Website	www.starcon.pro

Starcon is a science and pop culture festival which takes place annually in Saint Petersburg. It is the oldest and largest festival of its kind in the CIS and Baltic region of Eastern Europe and Asia.^[1]

Format

The festival consists of three main zones:

Main stage, where people can see show programs and cosplay competitions.
Exhibition area, which includes stands themed around various movies, video games, comics, and other forms of media. Participants in these stands also wear costumes and organize competitions, quests, and activities.
Science zone, which includes an exhibition and a conference, where people can attend lectures.

History

Before 2013

The first Starcon was held in Moscow in 1999 as a Star Wars valfesti. This form continued from 1999 to 2010, gathering about 100-300 people. In 2011, Starcon expanded its scope to include all science fiction media.

In 2012, the festival was passed off to Igor Pylaev and a team of volunteer organizers. Since then, there have been a few changes.

The festival moved to Saint Petersburg.
The scope of the event was expanded. Starcon became a festival dedicated to science fiction in pop culture.
The scientific section was added.

2013

In 2013, Starcon changed location and took place at the Garden City Expocentre, becoming the first event in such a format in Russia. The first release of the Adventure Time comics^[2] in the Russian language, and the premier of the first Russian zombie movie “Meteletsa: Winter of the Dead”,^[3] were presented at Starcon.

2014

In 2014, Starcon again changed location to Lenexpo Exhibition Complex. The festival also added a movie section for the first time.

2015

In 2015, Starcon again took place in Lenexpo Exhibition Complex, but for the first time it lasted three days and took all three pavilions. The total festival area included 20,000 square meters, and the number of attendees was over 40,000.^[4]

Movie section

Special screenings
The premiere of Fantastic Four from Twentieth Century Fox

Special guests

Elena Serova - Cosmonaut, Hero of the Russian Federation
Mark Serov - Cosmonaut
Writers Dmitry Puchkov and Maria Semyonova

Festivals

Date	City	Place	Number of participants
1999–2002	Moscow	—	—
2003	Moscow	HC “Mayak”	Over 100
2004	Saint-Petersburg	DUM	Over 150
2005–2011	Moscow	HK “VVC”	Over 350
2012	Saint-Petersburg	KDZ “ Moskovskiy"
2013	Saint-Petersburg	GARDEN CITY Expocentre
2014	Saint-Petersburg	Lenexpo Exhibition Complex
2015	Saint-Petersburg	Lenexpo Exhibition Complex

Starcon 2016

In 2016, Starcon was held from July 8-10 in EXPOFORUM Convention and Exhibition Centre, utilizing 40,000 m² (430,000 sq ft).^[5]