oh!con logo

Sci-fi, fantasy, comics, games and all that stuff

Tickets and programme

This year's OH!CON will be held in An Lanntair and the Town Hall.

Tickets

Day tickets

You need a day ticket to get in to OH!CON. Day Tickets allow access to all talks, cosplay masquerades, drop-in activities and gaming at both venues.  Your day ticket comes with a wristband that allows you to enter and leave both venues throughout the day.

Day tickets cost:

  • Adult £8
  • Child £5
  • Family (2 adults + 2 children or 1 adult + 3 children) £20
  • Children aged 0 to 4-years-old: Free

IMPORTANT: Both venues have maximum capacities that we cannot exceed. At peak times, you may have to queue to enter one or other venue. 

Buy your tickets on the An Lanntair website (or in person at An Lanntair)

Early bird workshop tickets

You can join any of the OH!CON workshops for free on the day, but places are limited – once a workshop is full, that’s it. If there is a workshop that you really want to attend, you can buy an early bird workshop ticket – this will guarantee you a place at that workshop. Note: You must have a day ticket to enter the venues - early bird workshop tickets aren’t valid unless you have a day ticket. 

Buy your tickets on the An Lanntair website (or in person at An Lanntair)

Programme

We've got workshops, talks, drop-in activities, gaming, merch and more.

So here's what's going on (but do keep checking back – we may add more!)

You can also download the programme as a PDF (and you can get a physical copy of this when you arrive at OH!CON).

 

Workshops for children (up to 13 years)

These workshops are suitable for children up to 13-years-old. They are free to join on the day if spaces are available (first come, first served), but if you want to make sure of a place in advance, you can buy an early bird workshop ticket (£3) for the workshop you want to attend.

Parents please note: due to limited space, you cannot accompany children to the workshops – please drop them off and pick them up at the end of the session.

Schools and pupils event with Lauren James

  • When: Wednesday 9 October, time tbc
  • Where: Online
  • Suitable for: 11 years plus
  • Duration: 1 hour

Lauren James talks about her writing, with a focus specifically on how she came to write science fiction after studying chemistry and physics at masters level, and discusses how scientific research she has done, has inspired events in her novels. 

Lauren shares spreadsheets used to accurately calculate the figures involved in her writing, such as spaceship travel times and time travel figures and also includes discussion of climate change and Einstein’s theory of relativity, extinction and evolution - all talked about in an enthusiastic, easy-to-understand way. 

Includes a Q&A session. 

This is a schools and pupils event – contact beammeup@ohcon.info for further information.

Art Workshop for 8 to 13 year olds with Eira Richards

  • When: 10.15 to 12.15
  • Where:  Art Room, An Lanntair
  • Suitable for: 8 to 13 years 

Description: In this fun and informal workshop, you will learn how to draw in manga style, and invent your own manga characters and fantasy creatures. If you love drawing and making up characters and stories, this session is for you! Artists of all abilities are welcome.  

Note: Due to limited room, parents must drop their children off for the workshop and collect them again when it is finished.

Cost: If you have an OH!CON day ticket, it is £3 to reserve a place in advance or free on the day if spaces are available (first come, first served).

Book for Manga Heroes and Crazy Creatures on the An Lanntair website

Creative writing workshop for 9 to 13 year-olds with Alastair Chisholm

  • When: 1pm  to 2.30pm
  • Where: Art Room, An Lanntair
  • Suitable for: 9-13 yrs

You can change the future! 

Join award-winning author Alastair Chisholm (Orion Lost, Adam-2, I Am Wolf) to learn about sci-fi, world building, and inventing awesome  characters, settings and stories. Then create your own sci-fi adventures and design the world of tomorrow…

Note: Due to limited room, parents must drop their children off for the workshop and collect them again when it is finished.

Cost: If you have an OH!CON day ticket, it is £3 to reserve a place in advance or free on the day if spaces are available (first come, first served).

Book for Write the Future! on the An Lanntair website

Workshop on Painting Miniature Figures for 5 year-olds plus

  • When: 3pm to 3.30pm
  • Where: Art Room, An Lanntair
  • Suitable for: ages 5 years plus

Description: Learn to paint your first miniature! Perfect for beginners eager to get into model painting. This workshop is for those who have never painted before.

Note: Due to limited room, parents must drop their children off for the workshop and collect them again when it is finished.

Cost: If you have an OH!CON day ticket, it is £3 to reserve a place in advance or free on the day if spaces are available (first come, first served).

Book for Miniature figure painting (session 1) on the An Lanntair website

Workshop on Painting Miniature Figures for 5 year-olds plus

  • When: 4pm - 4:30pm
  • Where: Art Room, An Lanntair
  • Suitable for: 5 years plus

Learn to paint your first miniature! Perfect for beginners eager to get into model painting. This workshop is for those who have never painted before. 

Note: Due to limited room, parents must drop their children off for the workshop, and collect them again when it is finished.

Cost: If you have an OH!CON day ticket, it is £3 to reserve a place in advance or free on the day if spaces are available (first come, first served).

Book for Miniature figure painting (session 2) on the An Lanntair website

Workshops for young people (13 years+) and adults

These workshops are suitable anyone over 13-years-old.

They are free to join on the day if spaces are available (first come, first served), but if you want to make sure of a place in advance, you can buy an early bird workshop ticket (£3) for the workshop you want to attend.

Illustration workshop with Tanya Roberts

  • When: 10.15am to 11.45am
  • Where: Drum Room, An Lanntair
  • Suitable for: Adults and young people (13 years plus)

Want to find out how to create stories and the characters that make up those worlds? Come and hang out with Tanya Roberts while she takes you through world building and how to cultivate compelling characters.

Cost: If you have an OH!CON day ticket, it is £3 to reserve a place in advance or free on the day if spaces are available (first come, first served).

Book for Tanya's workshop on the An Lanntair website

  • When: 1:15 to 2:45pm
  • Where: Drum Room, An Lanntair
  • Suitable for: Adults and young people (13+)

Workshop details to follow.

Cost: If you have an OH!CON day ticket, it is £3 to reserve a place in advance or free on the day if spaces are available (first come, first served).

Tickets available soon.

Cosplay masquerades

  • 12 noon: Children (0-15yrs) and families
  • 3pm: Adults (16 yrs+)

The masquerades will take place in the An Lanntair auditorium. They are free to enter, but there are limited spaces so you must register at the OH!CON merch table at least 30 minutes before the start of the masquerade. Make sure to check out our cosplay guidelines.

Talks

All talks are free with your day ticket. No need to book - just turn up and as long as there are spaces available, you're good to go.

  • When: 11am-11:50am
  • Where: Balcony, Town Hall

Join our panel of guests to discuss how they imagine the future in their work.

Is today the future their younger selves imagined it would be? And how do they imagine the future now? Are we heading for utopia or dystopia? Come along and find out.

  • When: 12noon to 1:00pm
  • Where: Drum Room, An Lanntair

Brian Tyrell (Stout Stoat Press) speaks about challenges faced while working on Carved in Stone, a Pictish roleplaying encyclopedia.

How can we prime players to explore faded faiths and ancient kingdoms? How do we discuss dark histories without glorifying or vilifying those who came before? How do we bring the human heart back into histories we don't know much about? Brian can't promise any firm answers, but he can point out the pitfalls and how his team have tried to navigate them.

45 min talk, with 15 min Q&A. Recommended 13+, content warnings provided at the start of the talk.

  • When: 12:30 to 1:30pm
  • Where: Balcony, Town Hall

Join award-winning writer Tereza Kovanicova and discover how to write great fanfiction.

Fanfiction is a specific genre. Writing fanfiction is really easy. Writing good fanfiction? Not that much. What do you need to keep in mind? And is fanfiction really that different from original works?

  • When: 2pm to 3pm
  • Where: Balcony, Town Hall

Between Storms coverManga artist and illustrator Eira Richards talks about her latest book, Between Storms – a historical fantasy graphic novel with a Hebridean setting.

Eira will discuss the sources of inspiration behind the book, the Gaelic folklore and mythology that informed aspects of the story, and the process of interpreting history and folklore through the manga format. 

  • When: 4pm to 5pm
  • Where: Drum Room, An Lanntair

Tara Togs: The Secrets of Unicorns coverStref, aka Stevie White, talks about his new comic creation, Tara Togs. His work and career as an artist, the inspiration for the story and style of Tara, along with the experience of using Kickstarter to support its publication.

Copies of the first Tara Togs, The Silence of Unicorns, will be on sale and Stref will be available to sign copies after the talk.

Where: An Lanntair auditorium

For everyone who knows who to call.

Des O'Gorman performs his one man Ghostbusters tribute show, Still Ready to Believe You, celebrating 40 years of Ghostbusters.

Des first premiered this show for the 30th anniversary of Ghostbusters, meaning not only is this year the 40th anniversary of the movie but the tenth anniversary of his show. Since the show premiered, he has brought Still Ready across the UK including sell-out shows In Edinburgh, Belfast, and at the Britannia Panopticon Glasgow, as well as being a popular entertainment at comic and sci-fi conventions across the country.

Fun, funny, and moving, Des talks about everything Ghostbusters and how growing up a GB fan has its ups and downs. Covering the movies, comics, cartoons, toys, and the recent installments, Ghostbusters Afterlife  and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.

Recommended: 16+

Sword skills demonstration

Come and watch masters of the blade!

  • 10:30am An Lanntair auditorium
  • 1:30pm Town Hall
  • 4:30pm An Lanntair auditorium

Drop-in activities

There's a lot of other stuff happening around OH!CON - all included in your day ticket.

Town Hall

  • Video games
  • Tabletop games
  • VR games
  • Wargames
  • Vendors and merch

An Lanntair

  • Build a spaceship (community room): Build a spaceship with control panels, switches and instruments.  Imagine what’s out there in space through window drawings. Suitable for all ages.  Drop-in and stay to build and play for as long as you like. 
  • RPG sessions (Harbour room)
  • Guest signing tables - meet our fabulous guests
  • OH!CON merch and cosplay registration
  • Green screen photography and props
  • Star Trek table
  • Face painting
  • Archery
  • NERF

Please note: all guests and activities are confirmed but may be subject to cancellation or alteration due to guests' sickness or professional obligations, equipment failure, venues changes, space-time continuum irregularities, alien invasion or other circumstances beyond our control.