BABSCon
| BABSCon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Status | Defunct |
| Genre | My Little Pony fan convention |
| Venue | Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport |
| Location(s) | Burlingame, California |
| Country | United States |
| Inaugurated | 18–20 April 2014 |
| Most recent | 18–20 April 2025 |
| Attendance | 2,084 in 2025[1] |
| Website | https://babscon.com/ |
BABSCon (short for Bay Area Brony Spectacular, a reference to the character Babs Seed from "One Bad Apple"[2]) was an annual brony convention held in the San Francisco Bay Area, California organized for the fandom of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, whose adult fans are commonly referred to as bronies. In 2019, BABSCon was the third-largest brony convention in the United States.[3]
BABSCon operated from April 2014 until its cessation in April 2025.[4][5]
Overview
[edit]
| My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic |
|---|
 |
BABSCon is an annual convention primarily dedicated to fans of the animated television show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, particularly the adult fans known as bronies. The convention was founded in 2013[4] by Sonya Hipper and co-founded by Sophianna Ardinger.[6] The event features a rainbow-maned, yellow pony mascot named Golden Gates.[3]
BABSCon was the first brony convention in the San Francisco Bay Area[7] and was described by its founders as the "fandom version of Burning Man."[6] In 2019, the convention was the third-largest brony convention in the United States (after BronyCon and Everfree Northwest) and attracted approximately 2,000 attendees.[3]
In 2015, Samuel Miller presented his doctoral research on the brony fandom at a BABSCon panel and subsequently published it in The Journal of Men's Studies.[8]
The final BABSCon was held April 18–20, 2025 at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport[5] and had 2,084 attendees.[1]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b @BABSCon (April 21, 2025). "2,084 attendees. $35,708 for our charity, Frameline. Thank you for coming to our Slumber Party, and our final BABSCon event. Let's keep those memories alive 🥳🎉" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Connelly, Sherilyn (2017). Ponyville Confidential: The History and Culture of My Little Pony, 1981–2016. McFarland. p. 59. ISBN 9781476662091.
- ^ a b c Bartlett, Amanda (2019-08-18). "Local bronies mourn the loss of BronyCon, the nation's largest 'My Little Pony' convention". SFGate. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
- ^ a b "BABSCon". BABSCon.
- ^ a b BABSCon 2025 (PDF). 2025.
- ^ a b Idelson, Karen (2017-10-05). "The Mane Event: My Little Pony: The Movie Gallops to Theaters". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
- ^ Stewart, Kris (2014-11-20). "My Little Brony: Friendship is magic". The Pioneer. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
- ^ Miller, Samuel (2018). "Rebooting Ponies and Men: Discordant Masculinity and the Brony Fandom". The Journal of Men's Studies. 26 (3): 328–345. doi:10.1177/1060826518773468.