Literature and popular culture convention, Kummacon (“Queer Con”) is being held 18.-19-5.2024 at Oulu International School (Kasarmintie 4). The event is open to visitors 10-18 o’clock on Saturday and 11-18 o’clock on Sunday.

Kummacon is a convention celebrating popular culture and literature and it has been hosted since the year 2015. The event is free of charge. The theme for this year’s event is Nostalgia.

The event has a variety of programs that gloss over from literature, cosplay, western and eastern comics, science fiction as well as games of all kinds.

Event Schedule

The event: Saturday 10-22, Sunday 11-18

The sales tables: Saturday 10-18, Sunday 11-17

Artist alley: Saturday 10-18, Sunday 11-17

Kummacon second hand: Saturday 12-18, Sunday 11-16

Kumma cafe: Saturday 10-18, Sunday 11-17

The event does not have a guarded cloakroom or parking spots for visitors. The nearest ATM is located at the Valkea shopping centre 700 metres away from the convention location. The Oulu International School is located near public transportation, and you may check the schedule from here.

The event is hosted by Studio Korppikela ry and made possible by all of our sponsors.

Stay updated with the latest news on our Facebook and Instagram!

Leading Crew Application – August 2023 – December 2023 Voluntary worker Application – August 2023 – May 2024 Program host Application – December 2023 – April 2024 Vendor Application – January 2024 – April 2024 Artist alley Application – February 2024

Program host Applications now open!

Would you be interested in hosting a program at our convention? Apply here!

Rules of Order

The convention rules encourage good manners and a conduct of a safe space.

• The convention is not age restricted. Being under the influence of any intoxicants or possessing them will lead to removal from the convention space.
• Kummacon is a space free of discrimination. Speech, symbols encouraging hate are strictly forbidden.
• Carrying props that resemble realistic firearms is forbidden at Oulu International School. The owner of the prop is responsible for appropriate transportation. Gun replicates are only allowed in the ballroom during cosplay programs. Guns must be marked with tape that marks them as safe. The tape can be retrieved from the Info.
• Do not film individual visitors without permission.
• Do not litter.
• The rules of order might be updated with the event closing in.

Cosplay

One of the event’s main subject areas is cosplay aka “costume play”. It’s prevalent in many of our convention programs. Familiarise yourself with the rules of order regarding props here!

Kummacon will host a cosplay competition on Saturday 18.5.2024. Contestant applications will be opened closer to the event date.

Studio Korppikela ry

Studio Korppikela ry is a free-form film crew based in Oulu, mainly composed of students, specialized in producing self-directed films. In accordance with the non-profit principle, all the group’s productions are freely available on the Internet on Studio Korppikela’s YouTube channel. The association annually organizes the literature and pop culture event Kummacon and produces a promotional video for the event.

In recent years, Studio Korppikela has also organised several live role-playing games in the Oulu region.

In the honour of our fifth year of operation, we produced our first feature film, Fandom Movie, and in 2018 its sequel Fandom Squad. Now in production is the group’s third full length fan project, Game Movie (2023).

Kumma Second Hand

Applications will be opened Spring 2024!

The mega popular Kumma second hand will return to the convention!

The second-hand pop up is open 12-18 on Saturdays and 10-16 on Sundays. You can apply to bring your items to be sold at kummaconkirppis@gmail.com.

A 10% sales commission is collected from the sold products, which is used to organize the next Kummacon. This year, the second-hand pop up uses a card reader, so the sales are billed to the sellers via the account number given the week after the con, not in cash when picking up the goods.

The Kummacon second-hand is also on Instagram!

Any inquiries can be sent to the second-hand pop-up manager at kummaconkirppis@gmail.com.

Kumma Karaoke

The karaoke is open 12-18 on Saturday and 12-17 on Sunday.

Check out last year’s list here! The list can be updated before the event.

Artist Alley

The applications for artist alley will be opened on 18.1.2024 and it will remain open until 16.2. 23:59.

Apply to artist alley with this form!

The size of the table is 120 x 80 cm, and its price is €20. In addition to this, there are smaller beginner seats that are half the size of the table, i.e. 60 x 80 cm. The price of a beginner’s place is €12. You can apply for these places if you have previously been to less than four art alleys: more information further down the page.

The artist alley is open on both days of the event and the tables are tables for the entire weekend. The artists’ selection is done using portfolios, i.e. applicants are asked for example photos of art or products when applying. More detailed portfolio instructions can be found further down on this page. You can apply to the alley either alone or with a friend. However, all artists coming to the table must be announced in the application process, and it is not possible to include new artists on the table later.

You can apply to the alley either alone or with a friend. However, all artists coming to the table must be announced in the application process, and it is not possible to include new artists on the table later.

Beginner artist alley applicant?

Kummacon also wants to encourage newer artists and beginners to try out the alley! There are a few places reserved for the alley (”beginner’s place”), which are shared among people who have done little alleys. In the application, those applicants who have previously participated in the arts less than four times are considered beginners. We don’t forbid beginners from directly applying for a bigger table, but with the beginner tables we want to support the opportunities of people with little skills to enter the art alley. It is percentage-wise easier to get to these tables due to the limitation of applicants. If you want, you can send all kinds of questions to the art alley representative, who will be happy to advise you on preparing for the alley!

About the selection process

The alley has a beginner quota.

In addition to this, the council pays attention to the turnover of the alley members compared to last year, so only a limited number of alley members from the previous year will be admitted to the alley.

In the selection, the aim is to bring as diverse an entity to the alley as possible, both in terms of themes and products. In addition to this, the special themes of the event are taken into account in the applications: Kummacon is an event focusing on popular culture (including literature and western popular culture), so we also try to take into account different themes and fan cultures.

Portfolio instructions

• ”Portfolio” is a nice word, but you don’t need to be afraid of it. In practice, it just means that you put pictures of your art or products in your application. Choose from your works the ones you intend to sell at the event in some form.
• The portfolio must contain a maximum of 8 images per person.
• The portfolio can be, for example, a PDF file, but you can also link, for example, an Imgur or Drive folder. If you wish, you can also send the photos as an e-mail attachment to the artist alley representative. In this case, the maximum number of images is 5 images.
• Do not link your entire gallery on Instagram or DeviantART! Only pages or files with the required number of images collected in the search are considered in the application.
• If several artists are coming to the table, we recommend (but do not require) to send a joint portfolio. In this case, the portfolio can contain a maximum of 8 images per person (example: the joint portfolio of two people can contain a total of 16 images). It is advantageous if the portfolio clearly distinguishes which work belongs to whom.
• The eternal question in the search is whether collage pictures or pictures showing several products are accepted as pictures. Several products can be shown in the pictures, as long as they have a clear unifying factor (for example, ”such wooden one-inch button earrings”) or they are sold together as a set. However, prefer images of one product in your application.

AI-generated art

AI-generated art, i.e. art created automatically with artificial intelligence programs, may NOT be sold in Kummacon’s artist alley. You can only sell art that you have created yourself.

Artisan tables

Kummacon also offers artisan tables, which can be booked directly without searching. Registration for artisan tables takes place with a form that will be added to this page on 30.1. at 18:00. The number of tables is limited, so be quick!

Two types of artisan tables are available:

Size 170 x 80 cm, price €65

Size 140 x 60 cm, price €55

The form asks for the applicant’s (and possible table mates’) name, contact information and a link to the portfolio or art page, which will only be visible to conitea. Information for social media and website advertisements will be collected later. In the registration form, you can also indicate if you are ready to accept a table size other than the one you primarily applied for. An email will be sent to everyone who submitted the form within a day.

If your product selection is very large and it is important for you to be able to sell at Kummacon (and/or you were at Kummacon’s art alley last year), we recommend securing your access to the event by booking an artisan table. There is a very small number of art alley tables compared to the interest, and some of them are reserved for beginners. We don’t forbid anyone from applying to the artist alley, but due to the large number of applicants, the artisan table is a good option for those who want to be sure of getting a place to sell at Kummacon.

AI-generated products may not be sold on the artisan table. Kummacon reserves the right not to grant a table to the applicant, if the registrant’s products contain AI products or they go against the principles of a safe space or are otherwise contrary to the rules of order of the event (see Rules of Order).

Wondering about the difference between an art alley table and an artisan table? Artisan tables are aimed at artists, whose activity is already semi-professional, and the selection is large. An artisan table is like an intermediate form between an art alley table and a sales table. At Kummacon, the purpose of the artisan tables is also to offer people with more art alley experience the opportunity to enter the event to sell, while the art alley itself pays special attention to people who have less frequented the alleys. However, artists who are less experienced can also book an artisan table, if they feel it is worthwhile for them.

Any questions or inquiries? Contact the artist and artisan manager at taidekuja@kummacon.com !