If you have already booked a residential place at BiCon you can let us know who you would like to share your accommodation with.

There are between 5 and 8 people per flat. If you know who you’d like to share with, please email 2018@bicon.org.uk with their full names. Make sure everyone in your flat has booked, and that they each email us with the request too.

We will do our best to match you with your requested people. Any rooms left over in your flat will be given to others, so you may find yourself sharing with people you don’t know as well.

If we're having difficulty fitting everyone's requests into the flats available we will prioritise requests by individuals to be next to family, carers and close friends, so if there's one particular person in your group you want to be next to do let us know.

Please also let us know if you have any requests for a particular type of flat.

Examples include:-

• party flat or quiet flat
• late night or early morning people
• other kink-friendly or poly people
• child-friendly
• vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, dairy free etc.
• people who live near you
• other BME (black and minority ethnic) people

Obviously we won't be able to make up a whole flat of a particular type unless we get enough people asking for it, but we will do our best.

You can also tell us about

Flat share requests should be sent by Friday 15th of June due to the venue's accommodation deadline.

And if you or your friends haven't yet booked your residential place for BiCon BOOK NOW. Remember the deadline for bookings with accommodation is Wednesday 13th June

The BiCon 2018 team have decided to run a Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) LGBT People's Bursary for BiCon 2018 following the success of a similar fund in 2015.

For the purpose of this fund we are defining Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) as people who are:-

• Of colour (e.g. Asian, Black)
• Of mixed heritage
• International migrants from outwith the UK
• Jewish
• Roma

This does not include people who may belong to British ethnicities that may be considered minorities in some contexts.

Applicants should also be LGBT and be resident in the UK.

With the bursary BiCon will cost:-

• £30 for a full event ticket with accommodation for three nights
• £5 for a full event ticket without accommodation
• £2 for a one-day ticket

Click here to apply for the fund

Funds will be allocated on a simple first come, first served basis and close when funds are all used or on the BiCon booking deadline.

We recognise that BiCon has similar issues with racism in our community to other LGBT+ spaces and believe supporting more BME people to attend BiCon is only one of many steps we can take to mitigate racism and its impact on BME people.

Other steps BiCon 2018 are taking include:-

• Using guidelines from Black Pride’s anti-racism code of practice which recognises that our community is multi¬ethnic and multi¬cultural and that racism is a problem in the LGBTQ community so we need to accept the challenge of addressing that
• Partnering with the Equality Network to work on diversity including BME inclusion. They are facilitating an Introduction to Diversity session as well as a workshop to improve attendee’s skills at recognising and tackling racism
• Providing a BME/Bis of Colour only attender safe space session slot
• Providing the option of a BME-only flat for BME people who request this
• Displaying posters called community info zones educating attenders about racism alongside other topics.

As with previous BiCons race and diversity are explicitly mentioned in our Code of Conduct and we are committed to challenging racist language and behaviour.

BME bi+ people may also be interested in Bis of Colour, a separate group for bi+ people of colour. Their blog and details are at bisofcolour.tumblr.com/

If you want to donate to the fund you can do so by Paypal to bicon2018@gmail.com or by using the button on our access fund page.  Any surplus will be ring-fenced for future BiCon Access funds.

It's the middle of May and the sun is shining, at least where I am, so that must mean you have only another four weeks to book your onsite rooms for BiCon 2018. We extended the closing date as far as we could, but you still need to book (and pay) by Wednesday 13th June if you want to stay on site, so head over to our bookings page and Do It. And if you've already booked make sure your friends know about it so they can come too!

If you're worried you won't be able to pay in full by 13th June do get in touch with us, as we may be able to extend payment time to the end of June or even further as long as we have agreed it with you in advance, but we can't afford to do that for everyone so if you can pay on time please do so the team can save their efforts for those who need it the most.

Also there is still some money left in the Access Fund so if you would not be able to attend BiCon otherwise there may be some financial assistance available. To apply for the fund just book for BiCon, tick the access fund box and select the invoice option at checkout. And don't worry, Access Fund applicants will not be charged for BiCon if  they cancel by 13th June.

So go on, get those bookings in and  make your BiCon team happy – you know you want to!

Saturday night of BiCon is always a special occasion, and this year on Saturday 4th August we invite you to join us for… fanfare please…

The Mythical Bisexual Ball

Bisexual erasure can make us feel like other bisexuals are just a myth so for one night only we’re taking our place and partying with the gods, heroes, fantastic beasts and all that is fabulously fantastic.

For people who love to dress up there are lots of costume ideas, from legends of ancient times to modern myths and our own fabulous and not-so-mythical selves.

Myths and Folklore – dragon, centaur, cyclops, elf, fairy, phoenix, satyr, troll, hero
Modern myths including aliens, cryptic beasts like Bigfoot, wizards and fantastic beasts, marvellous heroes
Mythical Bisexual – either a fantasy creation or your own fabulous self

There's still time to get involved…

We are still looking for volunteer DJs, people to help decorate, bake cakes or make mythical snacks or any other suggestions you have to add to the fun. We'd love to hear from you, so please email Ball organiser Carol at desk2018@bicon.org