Festival Bang!

Festival Bang! is a fan-run, multi-fandom convention originally held in Lisbon and currently in Gaia, Portugal. The convention's slogan is "O teu Festival de Cultura Pop" (Your Pop culture festival, in English). It is currently free to attend, but originally fans had to purchase tickets through TicketLine.
It's common for fannish discussion panels to be part of the con. These include topics such as meta discussions, character development and worldbuilding of fans' favourite fandoms. There's a lot of focus on showcasing writers and incentivising creative thinking.
The con's Artists Alley is multifaceted, helping showcase artists from many different areas, such as crocheting, illustration and traditional Portuguese arts. The con is usually hosted in a traditional Portuguese building of some cultural significance, adding to the ambiance of the occasion.
==History==
==Programming==
===2017===
The guest of honour was Anne Bishop. The con established most of its current events, such as literary discussions (tertúlias) and book signings, as well as the cosplay competitionVideo of the 2017 Festival Bang! programming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkZgrgSDPxI&ab_channel=Sa%C3%ADdadeEmerg%C3%AAncia. The Portuguese Steampunk League (Liga de Steampunk de Lisboa) was also part of the eventNews article about the presence of the League at the con https://web.archive.org/web/20200815022301/https://festival-bang.com/2018/09/20/steampunk-no-festivalbang/.
===2018===
The guest of honour this year was Robin HobbVideo of the 2018 Festival Bang! programming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MsFqjs7Sto&ab_channel=Sa%C3%ADdadeEmerg%C3%AAnciaVideo of the 2018 Festival Bang! recap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDWpgyxkYhM&ab_channel=Sa%C3%ADdadeEmerg%C3%AAncia. 
===2019===
The con was cancelled due to "many reasons"Portuguese National News Article regarding the two missed years of Festival Bang!, 2019 and 2020 https://observador.pt/2023/02/13/festival-bang-regressa-este-ano-com-mais-dias-e-maior-diversidade/.
===2020===
The con was cancelled due to the Corona Virus PandemicCancellation notice for Festival Bang! 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200815020814/https://festival-bang.com/, but originally Joe Abercrombie was the guest of honourVideo of the 2020 Festival Bang! programming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCMhrUYhqOA&ab_channel=Sa%C3%ADdadeEmerg%C3%AAncia. The con was also not planned for the following years for similar reasons. Even so, the con resumed some of its online activities, for example, showcasing new books, both national releases and translations in Portuguese, like Xiran Jay Zhao's Iron Widow, called "Viúva de Ferro" in PortugalXiran Jay Zhao's greeting video for Portuguese fans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU8YUt8jw7o&ab_channel=Sa%C3%ADdadeEmerg%C3%AAncia. Fans can purchase the autographed book from the organization behind Bang! magazine, Saída de Emergência, for this reason.
===2023===
The main guests of the year were Kate Dramis, Fernando Ribeiro, Luís Corte Real, Filipe Faria, George R.R. Martin (online guest) and Bernard Cornwell (online guest) amongst others. The band Moonspell was also part of the conVideo of the 2023 Festival Bang! recap https://www.instagram.com/p/Cy04Sj2MjXh/. The con was hosted in the Corpus Cristi Convent in Gaia, Portugal. Besides entry being completely free this year, the first 100 cosplayers to arrive on site also received con goodies. 
==References==
Category:Conventions
Category:Comics Conventions
Category:Conventions in Portugal
Category:2017 Conventions
Category:2018 Conventions
Category:2019 Conventions
Category:2022 Conventions
Category:2023 Conventions
Category:2010s Conventions
Category:2020s Conventions