Åcon 2026

So, Finland once more.

Those of you who have been following my witterings for some time will know that Åcon is a relaxacon. It has a membership cap of around 100, and takes place in a relatively inaccessible part of the world, in that you have to take a ferry to get there. So I guess it is a bit elitist, but it is also quite wonderful.

Åcon is a joint project of Finnish and Swedish fandom. The Åland Islands are technically in Finland, but the population is Swedish-speaking and the islands are located mid-way between the two countries. They are also officially a demilitarized zone, except during major ice hockey tournaments.

Actually there is often a major ice hockey tournament on during the convention. There was this year, but there was no Finland-Sweden game on during our weekend, so all remained peaceful.

How long things will remain peaceful is another matter. Åland, like Finland, was once part of the Russian Empire. There is a Russian consulate on the main island, in the town of Mariehamn. The Russians have made no secret of their desire to reclaim Åland. When the Ukraine War started, the people of Åland took it upon themselves to protest. At 5:00pm every day they gather for half an hour outside the Russian Consulate to tell those inside exactly what they think of military adventurism. Every day, since the war started, they have kept this up.

When I am in Åland I try to go along and lend my voice for a day. The location is only a short walk from the Åcon hotel. This year I was surprised to see a police car on duty. However, one of the locals explained to me that this was nothing to do with the protest. The police were on hand because a football team from Helsinki was in town to play Mariehamn. Last time this happened, one of the football fans had thrown a beer bottle at the Russian consulate. The Russians had turned this into a major diplomatic incident, claiming that the missile had been a bomb. They did the whole “We are the real victims here” thing. So the Mariehamn police were on hand to observe.

Oh, but wait, I haven’t said anything about the convention. Åcon only ever has one Guest of Honour. (It is too small to afford more.) Some of these visits have been quite legendary. There was Hal Duncan drinking the Finns under the table. And there was Emma Newman and the life-size cardboard Tom Hiddleston. But one thing that every Åcon has in common is that the GoH has an absolutely amazing time.

This year the GoH was Emily Tesh. If you follow her on Blue Sky you will know that she too had an amazing time. She also did some panels. I was lucky enough to be invited to be on the one about boarding school stories, because a bunch of the Finns are fans of the Crater School books and wanted me to talk about them. I ended up giving Emily a set of the ebooks. She seemed to like them.

There were also panels about Romantasy and romance in science fiction. I attended the latter and was somewhat boggled to discover that Catherine Asaro has been almost forgotten. Kudos to Tommy Persson who at least remembered her books, and the fact that she was a hot-shot physicist, even if he had forgotten her name.

In her GoH speech, Emily started talking about the novel that she is currently working on. She is a former Classics teacher with degrees from Cambridge and Chicago. She was taught by Paul Cartledge, so she knows a thing or two about the Spartans. The new book will be, in part, her homage to the Iliad, and will feature a couple of likely lads called Achilles and Patroclus (both of whom are dead). Except, you know, Skyros, gender stuff. I was unsurprised to discover that Emily loves Wrath Goddess Sing as much as I do. The book is still a long way from being finished, but I wants it, my precious, I wants it so much.

Åcon is also something of a foodie event. This year we were treated to a tasting of hot sauces produced by a local company using chilies grown on the islands. You can find out more about them (complete with heavy Viking-themed marketing) at their website. I may have bought rather a lot.

I also took time to re-visit the clipper ship, Pommern, and the Maritime Museum, both of which have had major refits since my last visit. They are certainly well worth a visit if you are at all into ships. And the museum has one of only two genuine pirate flags (captured from actual pirate vessels) in the world.

So that was Åcon for another year. How long I will be able to keep going I don’t know. It is expensive, and travel gets harder every year. But it depends on who the GoH is, and I guess also whether the world can manage not to get any more insane than it is already.