About

About the Icon Festival

The Icon Festival for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Role-Playing is an annual festival which takes place on 8-10 October for the 21st time.  Icon is a red-letter day for fans of the science fiction and fantasy (both literature and cinema), and its 3-day diverse program attracts people of all ages.

This year's festival will consist of more than 250 events, including lectures, panel discussions, contests, professional workshops, comical and musical shows, as well as comics and anime events, providing a huge celebration for the science fiction and fantasy lovers and even much broader audiences.

Icon is produced by non-for-profit organizations that work all year long to promote fandom and creators of science fiction, fantasy and role-playing, and strive to make these genres more accessible to their audience. We also take pride in providing the stage to independent filmmakers and young authors.

The Icon Festival is a seminal cultural event, made possible due to the passion and hard work of hundreds of volunteers, from the festival director to the last but not least staff member. Their only reward is the festival itself as all income is used to pay for the facilities and cover expenses.

Guests of honor at the Icon Festival

One of our most popular features at Icon is to meet world-class known authors, directors and actors. In previous years, we've had several guests during the festival or in surrounding events throughout the year, including Orson Scott Card, Neil Gaiman, John de Lancie, Tim Powers, Guy Gavriel Kay , Ted Chiang and others.

.Pictures from the festival can be found here

The Israeli Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy 

Founded in 1996, its main goal is to promote Science Fiction and Fantasy in Israel, and it has been continuously active ever since. So far its activities have included conventions, lectures on fantasy, science fiction and general science topics, premiere screenings of SF&F films, SF&F story-writing contests and much more. The society publishes an annual printed literary yearbook and an online magazine. The society is a non-for-profit organization, and all its activities are undertaken by volunteers.

Website: http://english.sf-f.org.il

The Israeli Role-Playing Society

Founded in 1999, its main goal is to promote role-playing games as mainstream hobby in Israel. It has organized hundreds of activities with the help of devoted volunteers, has published magazines and has taken part in the production of the "Icon", the Israeli Science Fiction, Fantasy and Role-Playing Festival, as well as the production of the annual Role Playing convention, "Bigor". With hundreds of active members, the Role-Playing Society runs a website, a newsletter and many groups around the country.

Website: www.roleplay.org.il