UK PonyCon 2022: Nottingham, 8th and 9th October 2022
We’re super excited to announce and invite you to UK PonyCon 2022, taking place on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th October 2022 at Nottingham Trent University, in the centre of the city of Nottingham.
Nottingham is well-connected by road, rail, coach and air to major national and international population centres, while the venue is in the heart of the city, in walkable distance of a huge choice of accommodation, dining and shopping options. The team and spaces at Nottingham Trent University have proved an excellent host for UK PonyCon over the past few years, and we’re pleased to be working with them again to bring another amazing event to you all.
Expect to hear plenty from us over the next few weeks and months. Over the next few days we’ll update this website with information for this year’s event. Later in January we’ll announce our 2022 theme and open for applications to join the team as committee members and volunteers. As we build our 2022 team, we’ll move onto opening for stall, music, and panel applications. Meanwhile we’re working on our ticket tiers and hope to share more on tickets, perks and prices in due course. We’re also thinking about cool merchandise ideas, special guests and fun activities.
Why we’re in Nottingham again
Many people tell us they love our choice of venue and host city. They love the quality and number of the event spaces and friendliness of the venue staff, the ease of access to public transport and local restaurants, hotels and shops, and even the comfy seating and the on-site café. Others tell us they’d prefer it to be in a combined hotel and events venue, or that they’ve had a bad experience in the city, or that they wish stallholder load-in was easier, or that they just want to see somewhere different on their annual trip to UK PonyCon. All of these opinions are valid.
At times it’s tough for us to accept that there is no venue that will satisfy everyone and every venue is a compromise. We have a 256-point list of things to consider for a venue, from the basics of “can we fit in enough single, double or even triple stalls?” and “where can we hold the charity auction?” to “what’s the average journey time by car and train from major UK cities?” and “where’s the nearest Costa or Starbucks?”. Some of this can be researched from home, but most of it requires significant discussions with venue staff and site visits. We need to understand how the staff and space work together, and likewise we need to explain to them what to expect of us and our attendees, so that on the big weekend, they’re welcoming and ready. If we decide to spend significant time and money researching venues, it invariably means taking time and money away from what happens at the event itself. We now have a great relationship with this venue, and we have several committee members living in and near to the city. Over the past five years we’ve researched various options and when we’ve weighed up the compromises, we’ve not yet been persuaded it’s in the event’s interest to move to another venue. We’re a team of volunteers who only have so much spare time that we can put towards this project, and so we want to use that time to make the biggest impact.
So what about the valid negative comments about returning to Nottingham? We hear you, we understand you’ll be disappointed by this news, and we will be doing things to improve it based on your feedback. For those who’d like it in a hotel, we aim to work more closely with the Premier Inn Nottingham City Centre Goldsmith Street, to expand the pony bubble into the hotel that is closest to the venue. For those who wish stallholder load-in was easier, we’ll continue to offer loading bay slots (with a better reminder of which you signed up for!) and provide help to unload your vehicles and transport stock into the venue with volunteers and trolleys. And for those who’ve had a bad experience in the city, or feel like they’ve seen all there is to see in Nottingham, we’ll be working on a programme of events taking place around UK PonyCon, with activities that perhaps you’ve not thought about before.
So will we be in Nottingham forever? We don’t know, but as you can read above, there are benefits to staying in the same place. If you’re reading this and know about a venue that you think could work for UK PonyCon 2023 and improve on the compromises, then please don’t be shy to tell us. We maintain a list of potential future venues and can add to that list at any time of the year. Even better, volunteer with us, join the committee, and help us make UK PonyCon better for everyone.
