About Our Facilities

We have settled on Wellington, New Zealand as our host city, from Wednesday, 29 July through Sunday, 2 August 2020.

Our base assumption is that a Worldcon in New Zealand would attract about 2000 people onsite. This is based on previous Worldcons in Australia. So with that as an assumption, but also allowing for higher and lower numbers we have carried out our investigations.

Below is a Google map of the Wellington area, showing a selection of accommodation, dining, amenities and the convention facilities.

 

Wellington
The facilities we would be using are the TSB Arena and Shed 6, Michael Fowler Center and the Intercontinental Hotel. Positively Wellington Venues is the company that manages most of the venues we would be using.

TSB Arena and Shed 6

Capacity

Type
Main Floor of TSB Arena about 70 exhibits Exhibits and Fan space
Lower Level Foyer Reg / Information / Services
Upper Level Foyer Fan Space
Boardroom 50 Admin
VGM Room 80 Panel
APW Room 72 Panel
Green Rooms A and B
Shed 6 – TSB Bank Arcade 280 standing Social space
Shed 6 – Room 1 200 Panel
Shed 6 – Room 2 145 Panel
Shed 6 – Room 3 130 Panel
Shed 6 – Room 4 215 Panel

Michael Fowler Center

Capacity

Type
Main Auditorium 2200 Main Events
Renouf Foyer 1 216 Panel
Renouf Foyer 2 216 Admin / Volunteers
Frank Taplin Room 80 Green Room/Crew
Lion Harbourview Lounge 180 Hugo Reception plus other social options
VIP Lounge 20 Admin / Tech

Intercontinental Hotel

Conference Space layout

Capacity

Type
Wellington Room 50 Panel
Business Center Admin
Thorndon Room 25 Admin / Volunteers
Featherston Room 100 Panel
Rosana Room 60 Panel
Lambton 1 100 Panel
Lambton 2 100 Panel
Lambton 3 40 Admin or Panel
Foyer Level 1 Snacks and Drinks
Club Lounge Green Room

Hotels
Wellington has about 1500 rooms within a 10 minute walk, about 500 rooms being within 1-5 minutes. This ranges from 3 to 5 star.

There’s even backpackers very close by.

Please see the map above for accommodation options.

Weather

The end of July is still winter in New Zealand. Wellington is at the bottom of the North Island and so is cooler than Auckland.

Average temperatures are: 6°C – 11°C ( 43°F to 52°F).

With about 40% chance of rain.

But if there’s a southerly, it can feel a lot colder. If there’s a northerly, warmer. New Zealand is known for having “Four Seasons in One Day”. Crowded House even wrote a song about it. Here’s a live version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeYEyCDRHmE

For this reason we strongly advise dressing in layers that you can add or remove as needed.

Wellington can be very windy. If you want to try an umbrella, either bring a very cheap one that you don’t care about, or a very expensive one that CAN’T be turned inside out.

Tourism

New Zealand Tourism website
Auckland Tourism Website 
Wellington Tourism Website 
Auckland offers many tourism opportunities. Sky Tower, the Harbour Bridge walk, harbour trips and too many more to mention here, but see the Auckland website above for details.

One opportunity of particular interest is that it’s possible to do a day trip to the Hobbiton movie set in Matamata.

 Wellington has beautiful harbour walks, Te Papa (the Museum of New Zealand) coastal exploring, and of course Lord of the Rings tourism, and the Weta Cave.

See above for more information on the Wellington Tourism website.
Being late winter in New Zealand, you may also be interested in winter sports such as skiing. But regardless, we hope that you will take the opportunity to see the beautiful scenery in all parts of New Zealand, as well as meet the friendly people.