Tracon caters to two different but partially overlapping fandoms:

• Role-playing games (including table-top, live action and online RPGs); board, card and strategy games; medieval times and history re-enactment
• Anime and manga, cosplay, J-Rock, J-Pop and the language and culture of Japan

 

We are proud to be hosting several guests:

 

Darrel Hardy is best known for his work as a writer and game designer. He has worked for Fantasy Flight Games as a manager and a designer, and has been involved in crafting such gaming classics as Runebound, Dawnforge RPG, Diskwars, Karthador and Mantle of the Gods.

To the non-role-playing audience his name is familiar from titles like the Everquest TCG, Star Wars Galaxies TCG, Magic: the Gathering - Tactics. Hardy has also designed Mystic Warlords of Ka'a - a game often played in the popular tv show The Big Bang Theory.

At Tracon 9 Hardy will hold a lecture with the title Crafting Storyworlds: A New Approach to World-Building. At Q&AHardy Hardy will answer questions from our interviewer and the audience, so you have the perfect opportunity to hear detailed stories from the game publishing industry. Hardy will also take part in Kaffeeklatch where a small number of visitors has the awesome chance of sitting down with the guest of honor for a friendly chat. 

darrellhardy.com

Rino Mizuho is a Japanese manga artist and the author behind the popular comic Chocolat no Mahou, 2009. She has also written & drawn the manga Happy Kappy, which was turn into an anime for TV Tokyo in 2011.

Miss Mizuho reportedly likes chocolate and chatting, and she's born in Osaka on the 1st of December. Her debut manga was also chocolate-themed, Choco to Akai Jitensha (Chocolate and the red bicycle) and it was published in 2006 in Ciao Deluxe, a comic magazine for youngsters. Light-hearted food themes continue in her manga Takoyaki Princess.

 

At Tracon 9 Miss Mizuho will be interviewed about her work, and how the release of her first album changed her life. Questions about her work in the past, currently and in the future. In depth details of her manga series Chocolat no Mahou. Miss Mizuho will also demonstrate her drawing tricks, and takes us through her work process for drawing manga!

 

Jonne Valtonen & Roger Wanamo are a pair of Finnish composers who have gained world-wide recognition with their masterful arrangements for video game music concerts. Their arrangements have been played by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and the Stockholm Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

On the eve of Tracon 9, on Friday the 12th of September their arrangements can be heard at Final Symphony - a concert focusing in music from the Final Fantasy series, held at Tampere Hall Congress Centre. 

The two composers will also take part in a panel discussion about the music in Final Fantasy, its meaning, future and concerts. They can be met at Kaffeeklatch, where a small number of visitors can sit down with these musical masterminds, and have a chat e.g. about their favorite game music artists!

 

The World Cosplay Summit 2015 Preliminaries for Finland will be held at Tracon 8. This competition will see the best cosplayers of Finland competing for the opportunity to represent our country in World Cosplay Summit. World Cosplay Summit is the most prestigious cosplay competition in the world. Held annually in Nagoya, Japan, the competition gathers skilled cosplayers from all over the world to compete in performance and costume-making.

 

Tracon offers an interesting program that includes, among other things,

• competitions and tournaments
• concerts and shows
• workshops and community meetings
• presentations, lectures and panel discussions

The program schedule will be published well before the event.

 

There are also various interactive activities for the participant to take part in, such as rhythm and video games and table-top and live action role-playing games. Tracon gives you the perfect opportunity to spend your weekend enjoying the company of friends and like-minded new acquaintances, listening to interesting lectures on roleplaying and anime or taking part in a multitude of competitions.

 

The event runs overnight. Most of the program is in Finnish. English-speaking program is marked as such in the schedule.

 

 

Please note that we do not tolerate sales of counterfeit goods in the bazaar.

 

All tickets have been sold out for Tracon 9: this means about 3000 visitors! Tickets can not be purchased at the event, so please make sure you have one before traveling to Tampere.

 

Should you have questions, suggestions or something else you’d like to discuss with the event organizers, don’t hesitate to contact us! If you are a member of media (author of a popular blog, news writer, etc.) you can contact us for media passes for the event.We can be reached by email at viestinta at tracon.fi and by phone at +358 45 8919 141 (Tiina Uusi-Rasi, Head of International Relations).