One weekend a year, Faculty of Electronics and Computing (FER) stops being all about science and adds a bit of fiction and fantasy to the mix, as it becomes a home for one of the longest running SF conventions in Europe, SFerakon. Gathering fans of science fiction, fantasy, LARPers (Live action role playing), cosplayers, and tabletop gamers, its the biggest geek event of the year, with international and local guests, discussions about science and writing, all day gaming, contests, plays and exhibitions.
This year’s SFerakon is dedicated to 50 years of Star Trek with local trekkies (USS Croatia) preparing lots of different content related to the cult series. Special guests this year are Tatjana Jambrisak, one of our most awarded SF writers, Shane Turgeon, world known tattoo artist specialized in Star Wars tattoos and Marta Nowak aka. Calypsen Cosplay, one of the most famous European cosplayers with multiple awards for her designs behind her.
This year’s novelty is LEGO’s robotics workshops, while the partner convention is Polish Pyrcon, the biggest SF convention in Europe, with its organizers Martyne Miśkiewicz and Michała Karzyński holding lectures about SF fandom and LARPing in eastern Europe. There’s also going to be a special musical program dedicated to filk, a niche genre of science fiction. folk music.
The convention is also taking a a special look back (Ghosts of Honor program) at the works of Douglas Adams, Mary Shelley and Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic, one of Croatia’s first and most famous fantasy writers from the turn of the 20th century.
One of the highlights of the festival is the Saturday evening cosplay fashion show and awards ceremony starting from 9 pm. SFerakon also gives out awards for the best local and regional fantasy and SF stories published in the last year.
There’s a special corner dedicated to tabletop games where anyone can test out newly published games or find people to play some of the most known card and board games out there.
