Sydney, NSW
Australian fandom is generally considered to have begun in Sydney. The first four Australian Natcons were held in Sydney. However, a split in Sydney fandom led to those conventions being discontinued there for many years. Sydney was the intended site for an unsuccessful Australia in '83 Worldcon bid, which was assisted by the second of the Anti-Fan films. But some Australians withdrew support from the bid due to a rival bid being favoured by Jack Chalker who had taken the first of the Anti-Fan films, promoting an earlier Australian Worldcon bid, to a number of North American conventions. That a bid for the 1985 Worldcon to be held in Melbourne was launched upon failure of the Australia in '83 bid appears to have led to some distrust of Melbourne fandom by Sydney fandom, which might in turn explain subsequent bids for the Worldcon to be held in Sydney being promoted more overseas than interstate. There has been at least two Nullus Anxietas conventions in Sydney, as well as a series of Sydney freecons, but it has been over twenty years since there has been an Australian natcon in Sydney.
A Brief Chronology[edit]
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1935, Aug 15 | First official meeting of the Sydney Science Fiction League |
| ca. 1937 | Spacehounds (fan publication) first published |
| 1938 | Junior Australian Science Fiction Correspondence Club formed |
| 1939, May | Australian Fan News (fanzine) published |
| 1939, Nov 5 | First official meeting of the Futurian Society of Sydney |
| 1940, Jan | Futurian Observer first published |
| 1940 | Futurian Association of Australia formed |
| 1940, Dec 6 | First Sydney Conference held |
| 1941, Apr 13 | Second Sydney Conference held |
| 1942, January 4 | Third Sydney Conference held |
| 1942 | Futurian Society of Sydney officially disbanded |
| 1947 | Futurian Society of Sydney revived |
| 1950 | Futurian Press began publication |
| 1951, Feb | Australian Science Fiction Society announced in first issue of Woomera |
| 1952, Mar 22 | First Australian Science Fiction Convention (i.e., first Australian Natcon) |
| 1952, Apr 1 | North Shore Futurian Society officially formed |
| 1953, Jan | Science Fiction News first published |
| 1953, May 1-3 | Second Australian Science Fiction Convention |
| 1953 | An Outline History of Australian Fandom I published |
| 1954, Apr 1 | First meeting of Sydney SF Group that was a splinter group from the Futurian Society of Sydney |
| 1954, Apr 17-18 | Third Australian Science Fiction Convention |
| 1955, Mar 18-20 | Fourth Australian Science Fiction Convention |
| 1967 | Leigh Brackett and Edmond Hamilton visited Australia |
| 1967, Dec 6 | Sydney Science Fiction Foundation formed |
| 1970, Jan 1-3 | First Syncon |
| 1972, Aug 11-13 | Syncon 2 (Natcon) |
| 1975, Jan | Syncon '75 (Natcon) |
| 1975 | Galaxy Bookshop opened at 106a Bathurst Street. |
| 1976 | Doctor Who Club of Australia formed (as the Australasian Dr. Who Fan Club) |
| 1979, Jan 27-29 | Unicon V |
| 1979, Aug | Syncon '79 (Natcon) |
| 1980 | A History of Australian Fandom, 1935-1963 published |
| 1981, Jan | The Chronicles first published |
| 1982, Feb 13-14 | First Medtrek convention held |
| 1983, June 10-13 | Syncon '83 (Natcon) |
| 1984, Mar 10-11 | Medtrek '84 (Media Natcon) |
| 1984, Nov 25 | Who-Do 84 (first National Doctor Who Convention) |
| 1985 | Galaxy Bookshop moved to 203b Castlereagh Street |
| 1987, July 3-6 | Eccentricon (Media Natcon) held in Richmond, NSW |
| 1988, June 10-13 | Syncon '88, Conviction (Natcon) |
| 1991, Oct 4-7 | Medtrek IV held in Richmond, NSW |
| 1991 | Infinitas Bookshop opened |
| 1992, Apr 17-20 | Syncon '92 (Natcon) |
| 1993 | Galaxy Bookshop moved to 222 Clarence Street |
| 1994, Apr 22 | Futurian Society of Sydney revived (again) |
| 1995. June 6 | Dymocks SF Store opened |
| 1998, July 11-12 | Phancon '98 |
| ca. 2000 | Dymocks SF Store closed |
| 2002 | Galaxy Bookshop moved to 143 York Street |
| 2011, Apr 8-10 | Nullus Anxietas 3 |
| 2011 | Galaxy Bookshop moved to Level 1, 131 York Street |
| 2012 | Infinitas Bookshop closed doors (continuing online) |
| 2014, Nov 16 | SciFi Film Festival first held |
| 2015, Apr 10-12 | Nullus Anxietas V |
| 2015, Nov 21-22 | Doctor Who Festival |
| 2020, Nov 19-21 | Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival started |
| 2021, Dec | Nullus Anxietas 7a cancelled (It had been postponed from Jul 2-4.) |
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