We can't believe that BABSCon 2015 is already behind us and 2,648 of you came together in the spirit of friendship and FUN! FUN! FUN! That's about 300 more than last year. Once again, we're the second-largest MLP con in the world, and we're humbled by your support.

We did our best to give you the most awesome programming—the best panels, events, concert, parties, and kids' activities—and you told us that we actually managed to top our incredible first year. This is the highest praise you could possibly give us.

Because of this, we're proud to announce that we'll be back on April 22-24, 2016, once again at the beautiful Hyatt Regency SFO, with Guest of Honor Nicole Oliver.

Register now for insanely low early-bird prices!

OK, folks, welcome to BABSCon. Here's what you need to know!

• Please read the Code of Conduct. These rules apply to everyone, so you'd best know them. As they say, ignorance of the law is no excuse!
• You can find the Schedule of Events here! It will be kept completely up to date and reflect any last-minute changs. Be sure to check out the Tabletop Gaming and Autograph tabs on the bottom to see those schedules as well!
• Here's your map of all con spaces. It's your friend.
• Don't necessarily want to carry your con book around everywhere? It's available in handy-dandy PDF format which you can add to your portable device of choice!
• 6-2-1! What does that mean? For every day you're at BABSCon, it's highly recommended that you get at least 6 hours of sleep, 2 nutritious meals (not Cheetos & Red Bull, people!), and 1 shower. At least. Everyone will like you much better, inculding and especially you.
• Please treat our Guests of Honor with the respect they deserve. You'll have plenty of opportunity to see them at panels, in the autograph room, and if you're a sponsor-level member (High Society or above), at the VIP meet-n-greet. If they talk to you, that's great! But if they're obviously in a hurry, let them go where they need to go.

With this info in hand, you are now ready for The BABSCon Experience™. Prepare for the awesome!

BABSCon 2015 is upon us in only two days!

But, even though we're not done with 2015 quite yet, we thought we would introduce you to the shape of BABSCons to come.

Courtesy of the astonishing response we've gotten from events like Dustykatt's HoofWrestleMania, the surprising prevalence of bronies in the world of professional wrestling, and acknowledgements of recent trends within the larger brony fandom, we came to the conclusion that a broadening of our focus away from being purely My Little Pony would be for the best.

Other conventions, such as DrawnCon and Animation Celebration, have already pivoted toward a theme of Western animation as a whole, so we naturally didn't want to find ourselves once again competing for a niche. Consequently, in addition to ponies, BABSCon will begin to feature the very best from the world of professional wrestling.

And do we have an announcement for you! Our first Guests of Honor as we enter this new "Attitude Era" of BABSCon are the eternally aggressive John Cena and the Eighth Wonder of the World, The Big Show, Paul Wight.

In addition, in honor of this move and our first guest, we will be re-branding ourselves as the Bay Area BIG SHOW. What can we say? We like the acronym.

So, get ready for the marriage of pegasi and piledrivers in April 2016!

Learn a little something about Golden Gates and her adorable little sibs, Silver Span & Copper Chip…IN 3-D!

Going to BABSCon? Worried that you might miss the premiere of Season 5 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic? Well you won’t miss it! That's right, everypony! Thanks to our friends at Ponyville Live!, BABSCon, with the blessing of Discovery Family, is pleased to bring you, commercial-free, the incredibly long-awaited 2-part season premiere, and it’s going to be big!

Be in our Mane Events hall early to get a good seat; screening starts at 9AM on Saturday, 4/4. An hour after it's done, our big ol' Voice Actor’s panel begins, too! There will even be overflow rooms too so don’t feel like you won’t get a seat. Tell all your Bay Area friends because the viewing is free—no con membership is required to see the 2-part premiere!

As far as we know, this will be the largest-ever single screening of a My Little Pony season premiere. And with that many friends around you, it's gonna be a whole lotta magic. Come join us April 3rd – 5th at BABSCon. Register today at https://registration.babscon.com to join the fun!

Golden Gates is here to bring you a bit of luck this St. Patrick’s Day with 2 more of our top-tier Mane Character memberships and 10 more High Society memberships! But these two Mane Characters are special: each will be able to specify the MLP:FiM character of their choice for its theme—except for the Mane 6, Spike, or Derpy. (They’re taken!) You want Luna? You got her! DJ Pon-3? Done! The dashing Doctor Hooves? He’s yours!

Our Mane Character memberships are the absolute ultimate BABSCon experience. They come with a Con-Exclusive Swag Bag (incl. bag, t-shirt, premium lanyard, VIP pin), $80 in autograph vouchers, front-of-line privileges, preferred seating, VIP meet-n-greet with all of our Guests of Honor, exclusive Book of Friendship box by PixelKitties, con-exclusive pendant by Silver Slinger, con-exclusive plushes of all 3 BABSCon mascot ponies, 15” Golden Gates plush by EquestriaPlush (here's last year's, but this year's will be a new design…only 10 will ever exist!), unique character-themed Shadow Box by The Paper Pony, and an intimate meal with a BABSCon Guest of Honor.

Our High Society memberships include the swag bag, front-of-line privileges, preferred seating, and that tasty VIP meet-n-greet. It’s our most popular premium package!

As for our Noble Pony memberships, you’ll just have to check it out for yourself because it's too crazy to mention. They are marked to move!

We also have a contest for you, so care to test your luck? Just tweet #LuckOfTheBABSCon to @babsconsf and tell us how excited you are for BABSCon. You’ll be entered to win a free Ponyville Pony 3-day pass! The winner will be picked at random and announced after we’ve all recovered on 3/18.

Need more reason to #GETHYPE? We are going to have the biggest Premiere party for Season 5 on the planet! Check out our schedule of events. That’s a whole lot of awesome for just three short days. Register now!

With our NEIGHhem concert already bursting with bass dropping talent, we are excited to announce Special Guest, Black Gryph0n! Our mane event for the concerts, Black Gryph0n, (aka Gabriel Brown) is a 25 year old American singer, actor, songwriter and animator who is one of the MLP fandom’s most popular and versatile artists. Musically, Gabe first became known for such songs as Proud To Be A Brony and Paper Sky. As an animator, his “licious” series (Twilightlicious, Rainbowlicious, Pinkalicious,etc) was a huge hit. He is also a popular “reactor” on ACRacebest’s Bronies React series.

At the age of 18, Gabe joined the US Navy and was training in special operations when he broke his femur in a sky diving accident. He switched to the Navy’s music department and then spent three years touring the Eastern Hemisphere as lead singer for the 7th Fleet Band’s Orient Express. He was awarded three Achievement Medals as "a superb vocalist/entertainer"; singing in 12 languages and multiple genres during hundreds of engagements. Now separated from active duty with an honourable discharge, Gabe has a full time career as a performing artist with an extensive following around the world. He has released IMmortal, a CD of original songs with his brother Baasik, including hits like Set in Stone, Crusader (Are We There Yet), and Faster Than You Know. After a successful collaborative cover of Michael Jackson’s Beat It with Michelle Creber (voice of Apple Bloom), Gabe and Michelle now work as a duo; recording, performing, touring, creating comedy sketches and releasing co-written original songs. Visit him at www.blackgryph0n.com

If you’re ready to get down with the some of the best talent of the fandom, register now at http://registration.babscon.com.

We melted your face with our first set of NEIGHhem musicians, but now we’re melting your brain with a second wave.

We have 2 nights, 12 solid hours, and 22 acts ready to send you to bed at dawn after dancing your flank off. Rock, rap, EDM…there’s something for everyone at NEIGHhem.

Next on the hit parade are: OMNI, djtetsuo (who will also try to take Dustykatt’s hoof-’rasslin’ belt from him this year), EHT, Tarby, Cyril the Wolf, IbeConcept, RhymeFlow, K.O.C.E, Seventh Element, Chang3ling, Casual Toast, and darselex!

If you’re ready to shake your tail, register now at http://registration.babscon.com

Our party just gets bigger and bigger. Even with all the prominent pony people we’ve brought you so far, we’re STILL…NOT…DONE!

YouTube analysts Silver Quill and Toon Kritic will wow you with their keen insights, Silver Slinger is bringing his giant bag of shiny treasures that everypony wants, and you’ll swoon for FoalPapers as he charms with tantalizing tales and that smooth, velvety accent.

Starlight Studios will astound with their ponified version of the classic video game, MegamareX, and Creativity Kitchen will blow you away with the premiere of new footage from the incredibly ambitious Dinky’s Destiny. Horrible People Games brings their fandom phenomenon card-game, Twilight Sparkle’s Secret Shipfic Folder, so you’ll be able to ship those ponies like FedEx!

So, register now and join the party. Clock. Is. TICKING!

Holy Guacamole! We have saved one of the best for last as we announce our final Guest of Honor for BABSCon 2015: We present to you the super-powered Charlotte Fullerton in her first pony convention appearance since 2012!

Charlotte is known for writing some of the best-loved MLP:FiM episodes, including “Power Ponies,” “Putting Your Hoof Down,” “Baby Cakes,” “May The Best Pet Win,” “Look Before You Sleep,” “Suited for Success,” and “A Bird in the Hoof.” You’ve also probably been watching her stunning stories for most of your life in shows like Ben 10, The Fairly OddParents, Kim Possible, Duel Masters, Zach Bell!, and many others.

Charlotte joins the strongest slate of Guests of Honor since…actually, since BABSCon 2014! Along with Tara Strong, Andrea Libman, Cathy Weseluck, Peter New, Claire Corlett, Ian James Corlett, Rebecca Shoichet, Brian Drummond, Brynna Drummond, Marÿke Hendrikse, Danny Ingram, Steffan Andrews, Natasha Levinger, Josh Haber, G.M. Berrow, Heather Breckel, Tony Fleecs, Heather Nuhfer, Bobby Curnow, and Jenn Blake. Twenty one of the wickedly talented people who bring an amazing comic and the pastel pony show we all fell in love with.

But this isn't the last piece of news we have for you until con time. We still have a very Special Guest, more community guests and massive amount of more musicians that we are bringing to you, in the biggest pony convention on the West Coast!

Our hotel block is almost full so book your room and buy your memberships now at http://registration.babscon.com. You don’t want to miss the biggest pony party with the #HorseFamous people you know and love!

In addition, we have a pair of deserving charities for whom we'll be raising all the money we can! Check out the details below:

San Francisco Suicide Prevention: The mission of San Francisco Suicide Prevention is to provide emotional support, education, assistance and intervention as necessary to all persons in crisis and those impacted by them, with the goal of reducing suicides and self-destructive behaviors.

New Horizon School & Learning Center: New Horizon School provides individualized learning programs for learning-different and dyslexic students. Their programs integrate educational therapy, remedial assistance, creative expression and self-esteem building utilizing a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to facilitate the development of each student’s unique learning potential. New Horizon School & Learning Center is a state certified, non-profit educational organization based in Santa Rosa, CA.

If you want to donate items to our charity auction, please email charity@babscon.com for details.