#queen convention

[riaaanna]

Queen Fanclub Convention 2023 Part 1: First Impressions

Hello again! This will be another series of posts on my time at the Official Queen Fanclub Convention 2023! This is the first time I've ever joined the convention, and I signed up as a member last year just to be able to go here.

The convention ran from 6-9 October 2023 and took place at Haven Golden Sands Holiday Park, Mablethorpe. Mablethorpe is in the east, which I've never really been to and trains don't really go there from Manchester. Apparently this has been the traditional venue over the years. It's a holiday park by the beach where we stay in caravans and the main events took place in a big hall. I was a bit wary of it at first because it was unfamiliar but it turned out to be quite nice.

Travelling there would have been a chore from Manchester. I would have had to take a total of four(?) hours of train with two changes and get off at Skegness before taking an hour of shuttle to the venue. But fortunately I didn't have to, thanks to my friend and saviour Ian who very kindly allowed me to tag along from Stafford (only an hour from Manchester) all the way to Mablethorpe. He was the reason I survived the entire convention so big cheers to him from here on!

Here's the full programme for the convention! As you can see lots of fun things ahead - but we'll cover the first welcome night for now!

I decided to arrive as per schedule but it was already so crowded and I struggled to find a spot, until I managed to get one at the back near the bar. So learned my lesson from then on to always come in early if I ever want to get a good spot to see the stage and screens clearly (and avoid the horribly noisy bar). While a good portion of people were properly paying attention to the event there was also about half the room who were just chattering among themselves and catching up with each other. So from early on I could already tell that the place is full of regulars, treating the event as a reunion more than anything. (Looking at photos from previous years, you can tell that "Queen Convention" banner on the stage has been reused too many times lol)

It was a bit intimidating to come in as a newbie (and I missed that newbie welcome session too). I told the reception desk I was new and they were very welcoming. I didn't expect them to do anything for me but then just before the event started, Queen Fanclub president herself Jacky came up to my table just to say hello to me the newbie! She was so nice and really made sure I felt welcome. The picture below is from a later night but here is she!

It was about an hour ish of meeting new friends (including Cilla who ended up being great company through the entire weekend - big shoutout to her!! 🥺💖) and chatting before the event started. Jacky made a lovely welcome speech, which specifically made sure newbies feel welconed right after our chat! And we received a welcome video from Brian - filmed on the first day of the QAL tour in the US just before they went on stage. Credits to David Taylor for the first part of the video which I merged with mine (Brian's part).

Afterwards there was also Doug Bogie (left) making an appearance on stage. He is apparently an active regular at the Queen Convention, being involved behind the scenes and everything, which I didn't know and is pretty cool. Aside from him Barry Mitchell was also quite active but has apparently recently taken ill (right), so we all sent him well wishes (and later on wrote on a huge get well soon card for him).

And finally - the band of the night! Live Killers (a Queen tribute band) took the stage and this was the second time I saw them live, the first being in Montreux. They were with a different vocalist iirc, but they were just as fantastic! And as a bonus... Tim Staffell made a surprise appearance on stage and sang Doin' Alright with the band!

Overall a great first night! I didn't want to stay up too late so I could prepare for the next full day. The next few posts will mostly focus on each guest panel, as they're the highlights and main reasons for me coming to the convention. As always thank you for reading!

[colorful-horses]

nurse

[gilasaurus-art]

toby outdid himself with her fr

[emosonicfan]

anime convention outfit :3

[beachboysnatural]

And if I said Yoon Eun-sung was a deconstruction of the "rich obsessive CEO" love interest trope?? What then??

[perseidlion]

Someone should make an album or put together a group photo of all the people cosplaying from unjustly cancelled shows.

Just saying. It might prove how much potential networks are throwing in the garbage.

[9countsnatchula]

Supporting artists one reverse mortgage at a time.

[queststar]

Elizabeth Mitchell reads Swanqueen! Out loud, even, during the taking of the picture 😂 (she loved it btw 😌)

[thecryptidart1st]

i just started following u

can you talk about your version of henry please he's my blorbo

Here's some fun facts about Henry in the Soldered Wires AU (in order of least to most unhinged):

1) Henry and William often spent their free nights at the local disco club. The duo worked listening to the entire discography of ABBA

2) Henry has had a curiousity with how technology works. As a result, if new technology enters the Emily household, there would be a high chance Henry would've disassembled it in an hour (Likely a sign of neurodivergency in his side of the family)

3) As a result, Henry is a savant in repuposing tech to fit his needs (for better or for worse)

4) There is a good reason why Bon's Burgers never made it past the Rocky Mountains.

5) There was one argument that has not been resolved between Henry and William:

Bonus:

[bloomfish]

the comments on literally everything about this series of taskmaster are actually appalling. i'm not a particular fan of rosie jones myself, not that i dislike her at all i just don't know her stuff that well. but I thought she was really good on this first episode! the "i think i got a bit of umbilical cord" had me in tears. And in general like... you don't have to find her funny but there have been plenty of contestants on taskmaster who aren't that funny either and it's really telling that this is the person everyone thinks is going to "ruin taskmaster." be so fr. alex and greg are good at their jobs and they bring out the humour in all contestants.

"the other contestants must be so mad that nobody's going to watch this series" lmao you're an irrelevant little nobody who likes to whinge on the internet and rosie jones is a professional comedian, i guarantee the others would rather hang out with her than with you. the series seems great so far sorry

[theineffablecon]

When everyone at The Ineffable Con 5 is singing, wherever they are!

💕💕💕💕💕💕

[gawrkin]

Philosophia et septem artes liberales, "philosophy and the seven liberal arts." From the Hortus deliciarum of Herrad of Landsberg (12th century)

[chromatic-symphony]

✨Delicious✨ in dungeon 😌

Chilchuck was super fun to run around in at Queen City Anime Con

Pic credits: @our-monochopsis 💕

[snakedogge]

Every time I see a post about Kamabakka people hate the depiction of the drag queens but like...???? Is it a hot take to love the Kamabakka Queens?? The entire implication is that Ivankov is right there to medically transition them but they don't. They're people happy with how they look, happy with their identity, living outside the norms of society. They're drag queens. I fucking love them??

[thewondersofmorgan]

Dressed as Fionna from Adventure Time. Also I made my grass sword out of real grass!

[wonder-worker]

"[Elizabeth Woodville's] piety as queen seems to have been broadly conventional for a fifteenth-century royal, encompassing pilgrimages, membership of various fraternities, a particular devotion to her name saint, notable generosity to the Carthusians, and the foundation of a chantry at Westminster after her son was born there. ['On other occasions she supported planned religious foundations in London, […] made generous gifts to Eton College, and petitioned the pope to extend the circumstances in which indulgences could be acquired by observing the feast of the Visitation']. One possible indicator of a more personal, and more sophisticated, thread in her piety is a book of Hours of the Guardian Angel which Sutton and Visser-Fuchs have argued was commissioned for her, very possibly at her request."

-J.L. Laynesmith, "Elizabeth Woodville: The Knight's Widow", Later Plantagenet and Wars of the Roses Consorts: Power, Influence, Dynasty