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BronyCon (originally stylized as BroNYCon) was an annual (formerly bi-annual) convention for fans of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, which ran on the United States east coast between 2011 and 2019. For several years of its existence it was the largest brony convention in the world, with the final outing in 2019 drawing an attendance of 10,215 people.

History[]

BronyCon initially grew out of the New York regional brony meet, which held its first event organized by Purple Tinker in Little Italy, New York City, in May 2011, drawing 30 attendees. Based on this success, the first official BroNYCon was held a month later in Midtown Manhattan, drawing 100 attendees. Two further events soon followed in September 2011 and January 2012, each one drawing successively larger crowds of 300[1] and 700 people respectively.

The fourth BronyCon was scheduled for June 2012, which saw a significant increase in the event's popularity due to a number of high-profile guests being confirmed as guests of honor, including show creator Lauren Faust and the majority of the main voice cast. With more than 4,000 people registered to attend the convention was forced to move to a convention center in Secaucus, New Jersey. It was at this time that the name BroNYCon was dropped. Purple Tinker resigned as convention chair prior to the beginning of the convention, citing with media liaison Zebranky taking her place.[2] A new non-profit organization, Lunar Solis Corporation, was created to operate this and future BronyCon events.

BronyCon moved again for the fifth edition to Baltimore, Maryland in August 2013, drawing 8,407 attendees. BronyCon 2014, held in August, was attended by 9,607 people.[3]. BronyCon's increase in attendance peaked in August 2015, with that year's convention attended by 10,011 people. It was estimated at the time that BronyCon was importing $5.5 million to Baltimore's economy each year, with over 5,000 hotel rooms booked over the convention weekend.[4]

Attendance fell significantly to 7,609 people in 2016, with the fall being anticipated by BronyCon staff and attributed to the convention being moved to a month earlier than usual,[5], however attendance continued to fall, drawing 6,319 attendees in August 2017 and 5,465 in July 2018. Shir Goldbird became convention chair following the 2017 convention.

Despite announcing via Twitter in October 2014 that BronyCon had dates set through 2025,[6] the 2018 convention ended with the announcement that 2019 would be BronyCon's last event.

To celebrate the final event, the convention was extended to a fourth day, running from August 1–4, 2019 and was able to secure numerous guests including Faust and the original My Little Pony creator Bonnie Zacherle.[7] Though the staff had only expected to get about seven to eight thousand attendees with the expanded schedule,[8] the final BronyCon event in 2019 ultimately drew 10,215 attendees, the highest attendance in its history.

The convention was the first of its kind. Despite My Little Pony conventions and meet ups already existing before the advent of Friendship is Magic, BronyCon was the first that was not predominantly targeted at toy collectors or young children. It's success spawned a significant number of other conventions as well as influencing existing fan conventions, such as UK PonyCon, to begin accommodating the brony demographic.

Events[]

Summer BronyCon 2011 (June 25, 2011)[]

  • Location: Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York
  • Attendance: 100 (approx.)
  • Guests of honor:

Winter BronyCon 2011 (September 24, 2011)[]

BronyCon Summer 2011 Logo

Summer BroNYCon 2011 logo.

Winter BronyCon 2012 (January 7, 2012)[]

BronyCon Winter 2011 Logo

Winter BroNYCon 2011 logo.

Summer BronyCon 2012 (June 30–July 1, 2012)[]

BronyCon Summer 2012 Logo

Summer BronyCon 2012 logo.

BronyCon 2013 (August 2–4, 2013)[]

BronyCon 2013 Logo

BronyCon 2013 logo.

BronyCon 2014 (August 1–3, 2014)[]

BronyCon 2015 (August 7–9, 2015)[]

  • Location: Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, Maryland
  • Attendance: 10,011
  • Charity: $30,000 (approx.) for CureSearch for Children's Cancer
  • Guests of honor:

BronyCon 2016 (July 8–10, 2016)[]

  • Location: Baltimore Convention Center and Hilton Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland
  • Attendance: 7,609
  • Charity: $28,000 (approx.) for CureSearch for Children's Cancer
  • Guests of honor:

BronyCon 2017 (August 11–13, 2017)[]

  • Location: Baltimore Convention Center and Hilton Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland
  • Attendance: 6,319
  • Charity: $34,000 (approx.) for CureSearch for Children's Cancer
  • Guests of honor:

BronyCon 2018 (July 27–29, 2018)[]

  • Location: Baltimore Convention Center and Hilton Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland
  • Attendance: 5,465
  • Charity: $32,000 (approx.) for CureSearch for Children's Cancer
  • Guests of honor:

BronyCon 2019 (August 1–4, 2019)[]

  • Location: Baltimore Convention Center and Hilton Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland
  • Attendance: 10,215
  • Charity: $100,000 (approx.) for CureSearch for Children's Cancer
  • Guests of honor:
    • Special guest: Bonnie Zacherle
    • Show guests: Lauren Faust, Rebecca Shoichet, Andrea Libman, Nicole Oliver, Cathy Weseluck, Michelle Creber, Britt McKillip, M.A. Larson, Gabriel Brown
    • Literary guests: Sara Richard, Tony Fleecs, Andy Price
    • Community guests: ACRacebest, Foal Papers, Saberspark, DustyKatt, NCMares, Trish Forstner, Brandon Dunn, Alumx, JakeWhyman, JHaller, TheLostNarrator, ObabScribbler, Monochromatic, Jeffrey Wells, Horizon, Jesse Nowack, SilverQuill, Scope, MagpiePony, Minty Root

References[]

  1. Vauhini Vara and Ann Zimmerman (2011-09-07). Hey, Bro, That's My Little Pony!. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on 2011 September 23.
  2. Bronycon Press Release: A Change In Leadership. Derpy News (2012-02-17). Retrieved on 2020 October 1.
  3. Gregory, Jennifer Goforth (2014-08-08). The Bros Who Love My Little Pony. The Atlantic. Retrieved on 2020 October 1.
  4. Meehan, Sarah (2015-08-07). 8 things you need to know about BronyCon, the 'My Little Pony' convention. Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved on 2020 October 1.
  5. BronyCon Twitter account (2017-02-07). A tweet. Retrieved on 2020 October 1. “2016 attendance decline was expected when we made the move to July, we fixed it by moving back to August this year.”
  6. BronyCon Twitter account (2014-10-21). A tweet. Retrieved on 2020 October 1. “For those of you who think we’re joking, we’re not. We have plans to host a con through 2025… we’re not going anywhere!”
  7. Kaltenbach, Chris (2019-07-31). The last BronyCon: tears, but the promise of one big final party. The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved on 2019 August 1.
  8. Mastromarino, James Perkins (2019-08-14). The Friends We Made Along The Way: After 9 Years, BronyCon Calls It Quits. NPR. Retrieved on 2019 August 14.
  9. Adrian Chen and Max Read (2012-01-08). Here Are Some Adult My Little Pony Fanatics We Met at BronyCon. Gawker. Retrieved on 2020 October 1.
  10. Tucker, Reed (2012-01-10). Horsing around!. New York Post. Retrieved on 2020 October 1.
  11. Sethisto (2011-11-04). Pinkie Pie and Celestia Heading to BroNYCon!. Equestria Daily. Retrieved on 2011 September 23.
  12. Sethisto (2011-11-04). Pinkie Pie and Celestia Heading to BroNYCon!. Equestria Daily. Retrieved on 2011 September 23.
  13. Mane6 DevTeam (2011-11-08). Mane6 at BroNYcon. Mane6. Retrieved on 2011 September 23.
  14. Sethisto (2012-01-07). Lauren Faust Confirmed for the next Bronycon. Equestria Daily. Retrieved on 2020 October 1.
  15. Sethisto (2012-01-26). BronyCon Turned Upside Down, Starts Raining Chocolate. Equestria Daily. Retrieved on 2020 October 1.
  16. Andrea Libman Returning to Bronycon + Livestream. Equestria Daily (2012-05-09). Retrieved on 2012 May 9.
  17. Princess Celestia (Nicole Oliver) Invades Bronycon. Equestria Daily (2012-05-03). Retrieved on 2012 May 3.
  18. Peter New's announcement on Facebook (2012-04-17). Retrieved on 2012 April 17. “I will be attending BroNYCon in New York/New Jersey this coming June! @Bronies rejoice!”
  19. Sethisto (2012-04-13). BronyCon Announces Amy Keating Rogers. Equestria Daily. Retrieved on 2020 October 1.
  20. A tweet (2012-05-27). Retrieved on 2012 May 28. “Indeed it's true, the #Twilightlicious queen will happily be trotting to @BronyCon”
  21. Sethisto (2012-03-29). Weekly Convention Updates!. Equestria Daily. Retrieved on 2020 October 1.
  22. Andrea Libman on Facebook (2012-05-16). Retrieved on 2012 May 16. “Just had the honour of announcing that Cathy Weseluck will be joining me at BroNYCon this summer!”

External links[]

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