StellarCon was a general,

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is an umbrella term, umbrella genre of fiction that encompasses all the subgenres that depart from Realism (arts), realism, or strictly imitating everyday reality, instead presenting fantastical, supernatural, futuristic, or ...

convention held in the Greater Metro area of

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

, and High Point, usually around mid-March. Average attendance at the convention was around 500 people. It hosted a variety of related programming, including guest panel discussions, book readings, demonstrations, workshops, roleplaying games, board games, card games, robot battles, and a costume contest. Guest speakers generally include authors, artists, game designers, costumers, and media celebrities. Additional attendees are vendors, selling a variety of merchandise, and fan groups such as the

501st Legion The 501st Legion is an international fan-based organization dedicated to the construction and wearing of screen-accurate replicas of Imperial stormtrooper armor, Sith Lords, clone troopers, bounty hunters, and other villains from the ''Star ...

(

Stormtroopers Stormtrooper or storm trooper may refer to: Military *Stormtroopers (Imperial Germany), specialist soldier of the German Army in World War I *''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) or Storm Detachment, a paramilitary organization of the German Nazi Party * 8th I ...

), Klingon Assault Group, Star Fleet, The Browncoats, Stargate:SO-Com, Shadowmoor, and The Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast. Other conventions host tables such as

Dragon*Con Dragon Con (previously Dragon*Con and sometimes DragonCon) is a North American multigenre convention, founded in 1987, which takes place annually over the Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. , the convention draws attendance of over 80,000. ...

ConCarolinas ConCarolinas is a three-day-long science fiction convention held once each year in Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina, hosted by ConCarolinas, Inc., a non-profit corporation. It hosts a variety of fandom related events and fun ...

RavenCon RavenCon is an annual American science fiction convention founded in 2006 and held in Richmond, Virginia. The name RavenCon was chosen as a tribute to author Edgar Allan Poe, who lived in Richmond for a time. The convention runs over 300 hours ...

, and NekoCon. StellarCon was produced by The Science Fiction Fantasy Federation of the

University of North Carolina at Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina, University of North Carolina system. It is accredited by the S ...

(UNCG). The convention staff consisted of volunteers from the UNCG student body, UNCG alumni, and professionals from throughout the southeastern United States.

History

On March 20, 1976, The Science Fiction Fantasy Federation held the first StellarCon as a one-day mini-convention whose main guest was Jack Townsend, then the president of the

Walter Koenig Walter Marvin Koenig (; born September 14, 1936) is an American actor and screenwriter. He began acting professionally in the mid-1960s and quickly rose to prominence for his supporting role as Ensign Pavel Chekov in '' Star Trek: The Original ...

Fan Club. Since that date, StellarCon has grown into a full 3-day event. The conventions were initially held in Elliott University Center, on the campus of UNCG, until StellarCon 16 in 1992, when Jeff Smith, the convention manager that year, took it off campus for the first time to a local hotel. It has remained off-campus since that date. In July 2006, StellarCon was selected to host the 46th annual

DeepSouthCon The DeepSouthCon (DSC) is an annual science fiction convention, which is hosted in different cities in the Southern United States. Site selection is by vote of the membership of a given DSC, for the convention to be held 2 years in the future. DS ...

, which took place in March 2008. Science fiction conventions in the United States Culture of Greensboro, North Carolina Conventions in North Carolina Recurring events established in 1976