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Concerts and Filk

Balticon is home to one of the East Coast’s strongest tracks of filk and fannish music, featuring a variety of concerts, panels, and workshops, plus open circles all three nights.

Filk is the musical folk tradition of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Fan community, consisting primarily of songs that tell or retell stories. The stories vary widely from retelling fairy tales, pirate and seafaring adventures, invention and technology, dragons, mermaids, selkies, NASA, spaceships, alternate universes, historical disasters, wherever or whenever your imagination can take you. Join in at the Classic Filk Singalong (lyrics provided), or come to the theme circles and open filks to listen or perform!

Concerts and Filk

Balticon 59’s music track is topped by our Special Guests, the Baltimore Gamer Symphony Orchestra (BGSO). We’re still building the schedule, but we anticipate the BGSO will have a concert in our Main Tent along with a few smaller ensemble and choral performances throughout the con.


Concerts

In our always-eclectic program of nerdy musicians you might hear anything from harp and acoustic guitar to rock and nerdcore rap. This year’s lineup will be announced early in 2025, but past performers have included:

  • Bob and Sue Esty

  • Maugorn the Stray

  • Sarah Pinsker

  • Madison “Metricula” Roberts

  • Roberta Rogow

  • Devo Spice


Theme Circles

Theme circles are similar to open filk circles but with a specific topic. In addition to our perennial Classic Filk Sing-Along (with projected lyrics) and Memorial Circle we usually have 2 or 3 other Theme Circles across the weekend. Past topics have included:

  • Drinks Real and Imagined

  • Historical Songs

  • Lullabies

  • Songs of Strong Women

  • Songs of Stan Rogers and Gordon Lightfoot


Dance

For those who like to get up and move, there will be a Renaissance Dance (with live music) and

Hula Hooping, both led by Patches. All ages are welcome! Don’t worry if you don’t know the dances - we’ll help you learn!

Filk Lounge

Just down the hall from our main music space, you’ll find our Filk Lounge, where you can hang out between programs, chat with performers, grab a quick snack, or rehearse a song. We also use the lounge for some intimate, targeted programming that doesn't require our larger main space.


For more information contact filk@balticon.org

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