Programming at Halcy-Con

As a convention created by the fans, for the fans, and of the fans, Halcy-Con thrives on the creativity and passion of its community. In 2024 & 2025, we were thrilled to offer everything from lightsaber training to interactive games to Q&As with professionals in the immersive entertainment industry. In 2026, we are making a programming shift to align with the new immersive event format: all 2026 programming is in-universe!

Our 2026 venue will allow us to run extensive hours and types of programming throughout the event, and we’re relying on you to show off your creativity, expertise, and enthusiasm! You’ve had two years to think, dream, and imagine. Soon, it will be time to once again show the community what you’ve got!

We invite you to contribute to this vibrant event by submitting your ideas for discussions, presentations, and activities. Whether you’re a seasoned speaker or a first-time contributor, we want to hear from you! We were delighted that Halcy-Con 2024 & 2025 gave some of our attendees their first chance to lead a workshop, moderate a panel, or share their fannish expertise, and we hope that 2026 will do even more of the same, as well as welcoming back experienced presenters.

Check out our Sessions page for an overview of the types of programming that we’ll be featuring at Halcy-Con 2026.

 The Calendar

• Proposal Submissions Open: 03/20 – 05/04
• Proposal Acceptances Sent Out: No later than 05/22
• Programming Schedule Released: Early October
• Pre-Registration for Limited Capacity Events (if needed): Early October

Make sure you’re signed up for our newsletter so that you don’t miss any of these announcements!

Programming / Activity Proposals: 03/20 – 05/04

General Guidelines

• Our programming types are: Panels, Presentations, Roundtables, Workshops, Games (all which take place in meeting rooms aboard the Aurora), and Special Activities / Interactive (which take place in the adjacent Port of Call / Departure Terminal area). For more information about each type and to see examples from last year’s programming, please visit our Sessions page.
• Our standard programming blocks are 50 minutes long, with 10 minutes in-between for clearing and resetting the space. Special Activities / Interactive programming may run longer if needed.
• Our conference center has a variety of room sizes: some will be more suitable for intimate conversations and experiences, while others will be set up for presentations or to allow for high-energy activities.
• All Panel & Presentation rooms will have TVs for displaying video content.
• Please do not use Generative AI art, writing, or music (ie, material created by programs such as but not limited to ChatGPT and Midjourney) for any part of your proposal or your proposed session. The Halcy-Con programming team stands by the artists, writers, and musicians whose works have been stolen to train these programs and whose continuing livelihoods are jeopardized by them. As such, we ask you to have faith in the strength of your own ideas and creativity! And if there’s an aspect of your concept that you need help with, we encourage you to reach out to the community. Until we have ethically-created droids with independent will and agency, your fellow humans will always be better creative partners than machines.
• If we love your idea but have some questions about its capacity or its use of space, time, or resources, we may follow up with you to discuss options for altering it to work within our constraints.

In-Universe Guidelines

• All Halcy-Con 3 programming will be ‘in-universe’, meaning you are presenting AS an individual living in the Star Wars universe, TO an audience made up of individuals living in the Star Wars universe. There is no “Star Wars” in this universe, the fictional stories we know from the movies, TV series, etc are simply historical events to all the in-universe inhabitants.
• The Halcy-Con 3 story takes place in the in-universe year of 34 ABY (After the Battle of Yavin), very shortly after the events of the Halcyon’s 275th Anniversary Cruise as experienced on Galactic Starcruiser.  From a timeline perspective, this is between the events depicted in Episode VIII: The Last Jedi and Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker.
• All the characters encountered on Galactic Starcruiser are known to event attendees, but they are not on the Starship Aurora. Any changes to or conflicts with established canonical events or characters are not allowed.

If you have any questions or require clarification, please use the Contact Us form and select the “Sessions & Presenters Coordination” option.