The Butt Ugly Weblog

Finncon visit

Hey, there's a Totoro behind you!

Yesterday, I managed to clock a few hours in Finncon, the biggest European Science Fiction / Fantasy convention (according to their website anyway). I heard that they were expecting 6000 visitors - partly due to the fact that the AnimeCon was at the same time at the same premises. Too bad the fire safety limit of the venue, Paasitorni, is around 3500 people. So the place was totally packed, hot, and smelly, and if you left, you couldn't get back in until you had queued for a while, as they were letting people in only after others had left. All seminars were so overbooked, that they filled up about 20 minutes before the previous program was even finished.

So, the end result was that I and many others spent the afternoon outside, drinking beer at the adjacent terrace restaurant. Wa-hey. But, as some seasoned con-goer pointed out, that is, ultimately, the deeper Finncon experience anyway.

What I found somewhat ironic was that I realized that a role-playing convention such as Ropecon - considered by many to be the ultimate freak show - looked downright conservative compared to the average Finncon participant. Now, I like Gothic Lolitas and furries as much as the next guy (not to mention Totoro), but, you know, too much is just too much. (Flickr has some pictures).

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