Metropol Con Berlin 2023

MetropolCon 2023 will be a multimedia event, whose goal it is to bring together the three major speculative genres of fiction: fantasy, science fiction, and horror. These will be showcased, discussed, and celebrated in all their manifold manifestations. While MetropolCon is rooted in the classic convention format, thriving to this day with its separate fandoms and target audiences, we want to forge new paths and show speculative fiction in its engaging entirety. Since the turn of the millennium, fantasy, science fiction, and horror have shed their nerdy niche existence for good. They have become vital elements of (popular) culture, anchored deeply in society’s awareness and playing a huge role in the everyday lives of many people. This development coincided with a fundamental disruption of almost all aspects of life during the past two decades: think of the massive impact of digitalization, social media, gamification, or streaming services, to list only a few catchwords that are part of this transformation. Speculative fiction as a whole (i.e. in literature, film and TV, games, art and music, but also as the subject of academic research, both in the sciences and the humanities) has turned into a cultural and economic factor that pushes boundaries and refuses to stay in its geeky corner. MetropolCon 2023 will bring them all together in Berlin: the newly curious con-goer and the shrewd old-timer, self-pubber, indie and trade publisher, reader and gamer, cosplayer and RPG aficionado, independent studio and major industry player, streamer and influencer, artist and scholar, expert audience, fandoms – in short: everyone interested in fantastic, fanciful, and future worlds.