The World's First Science Fiction Convention, Earlier Than You Think

[ffutures]

Some histories of science fiction claim that the first SF convention was held in Philadelphia in autumn 1936. That was actually an impromptu gathering of fans, not an organized convention, and the first real convention was held in the UK a few months later, in Leeds in January 1937.

But it turns out that there's another event that can make a reasonable claim to have priority over both - in 1891! The Vril-Ya Bazaar and Fete was basically a media con way ahead of its time, held in London's Royal Albert Hall in March 1891. The media in question was Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s novel Vril: The Power of The Coming Race, first published in 1871. The Bazaar was a charity event set up to raise money for a hospital, and lasted several days. The fete included cosplay, jugglers, magic acts, and much more. It wasn't a huge success, and didn't really pave the way for later fandom, but it could be an interesting event to throw into a game set in this period.

An overview of the earliest SF conventions

The Vril-Ya Bazaar and Fete

Video about the event

The programme for the event (PDF)
Courtesy of Royal Albert Hall Archive. Ref. RAHE/1/1891/5

Many thanks to Rob Hanson for bringing this to my attention.

Comments

[dormouse1953]

Vril turned up as an answer in the Azed crossword in The Observer recently. The blogger thought this was obscure, even for Azed, but it was one of the few answers I managed to get.

[ffutures]

One of the Forgotten Futures RPG settings was based on a George Griffith novel which drew some of its weirder science from Vril, and I had some stuff about electric belts in another supplement, so I've been aware of the book for a long while. But the convention thing was a revelation, SO annoyed I never used it in a scenario!

[dormouse1953]

There was a fascinating documentary on Radio 3 many years ago about the Vril phenomenon. Alas, not in their archive,

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00gd7hr