It’s March! The month when the weather can’t quite decide what to do with itself. The month where we get days with snow and -17 temperatures, and then days that are well above zero and starting to feel, ever so slightly, that we can finally escape the flurries and white outs and wind chills.

But there’s many reasons to celebrate in March. There’s St. Patrick’s Day, a super fun and easy-going holiday where you can wear green and embrace all things Irish. Easter and Passover sometimes fall in March (though not this year, they both show up in early April in 2026).

But one of my favorite things about March is the start of one of my favorite stretches of the year… CON SEASON!!!!!

What is a con, you ask? Or not, but I’m telling you anyway. A con can be shorthand for any kind of convention, but when a lot of people use it they tend to mean a fan/sci fi/fantasy/anime/horror kind of convention. A place where the most hardcore of fans of many different genres congregate to learn, to participate in activities, to shop, to hang out, to show off costumes, to see celebrities and creators, and just embrace all the nerdy goodness there is to be had in life.

To me, these are magical spaces. This is where I can don a geeky t-shirt, comfy shoes, and be one of the most authentic versions of myself. I have friends who go as well, whether to experience the fun or to table in Artist’s Alley. Cons are where you can see a family of cosplayers all dressed like Chun Li from Street Fighter, and then go to a panel on ghost hunting, and then to an activity when you stitch your own Luna from Sailor Moon, and then to a room made up to look like a basement from the 90s to watch a sneak peak of X-Men 97, then to a Q&A with a celebrity (these are all things I’ve done at cons over the years, and are just a few examples). It’s a place of love, excitement, enthusiasm, community and passion for what makes us happy.

So now that I have thoroughly talked it up, here’s a friendly word of warning. Cons can get very crowded. They are loud. There are lines. Schedules are sometimes difficult to navigate, and they tend to be long days of constant movement. I’m used to it by now, so it doesn’t bother me much anymore, and I think any discomfort is worth it, but if you don’t like any of those things then there are other ways to get nerdy. Smaller cons or meet ups or your local library, etc.

But to get a sense of the con life, here are few things to check out.

Comic-Con. Episode 4, A Fan’s Hope. This documentary from 2011 is an in-depth look at one of, if not the biggest, fan conventions in the world, San Diego Comic Con. Here you’ll follow a group of people going for different reasons (to cosplay, to break out into comics, to collect, to propose, to preserve his comic bookstore, etc.). It’s a great look at the many things cons offer and the reasons people attend them.

Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert. This enemies to lovers 2SLGBTQIA+ rom com follows Conrad and Alden, two guys who can’t stand each other but have to pair up on a road trip to a convention. As these things go, they start to develop some feelings other than animosity for each other. But there is a massive tournament at the con, and each of them have very important reasons to win it. Will they remain rivals and enemies? Or can they bridge the tabletop and be something more?

Romantic Friction by Lori Gold. You can be a fan of a lot of different things, and you’d be hard pressed to not find a con for them. (The very first year I went to Toronto Comic Con it was in the same building as a gardening convention. I can only speculate what the attendees thought of each other.) This tale is set before and during a convention for romance books and it centers on the rivalry between established romance writer Sofie Wilde and up-and-coming writer Hartley West. Except it comes out that Harley has been using AI. But since the world and people are fickle, Hartley doesn’t get the downfall Sofie expects, and rather Sofie ends up being on the outs in the industry. All of this culminates at the convention, when Sofie teams up with other writers scared of being replaced by AI to take Hartley down.

Geekerella by Ashley Poston. This one is Teen Fic, but it’s one of my favorites. Poston’s Once Upon a Con series takes fairytale setups and gives them geeky spins. The first volume follows Elle, who lives with her stepmom and stepsisters after her father passes away. One of the things that bonded Elle with her dad was their shared love of the sci fi tv series Starfield, so Elle is excited about a cosplay contest, where she could win tickets to a major convention and meet the new star of the film. Meanwhile, Darien is settling into his dream role for the Starfield movie but feels that cons are not as fun for him now as they used to be and die-hard fans are not very accepting of him in the role. But he comes across a girl who could change things for the better. As the publisher states: “Geekerella is a fairy tale for anyone who believes in the magic of fandom.” That’s me! I believe! (You can also find more YA books on the fandom life here.)

So take a look, see what cons might be up your alley. But be on the lookout as the year goes on, as we are bringing back our fandom event for all ages, Fan Fest. Stay tuned and stay geeky.