Not so long ago I attended Archipelacon 2 in Mariehamn and it was a slightly new experience to me. Well it may be an overstatement but I feel like that a bit.
One Does Not Simply Go To Mariehamn
When I decided to go to Archipelacon 2 I didn’t check the transport options. I just thought it must be easy enough to travel to the Ålands. The life proved me wrong. Fortunately it was not terrible either. Even though in the end it took some time to get to Mariehamn it was worth it. The trip itself was an interesting experience. I flew to Stockholm and then took a ferry. I have seen the Stockholm Archipelago back in 1999 when I sailed there. Despite the time that has passed since then I still remember it vividly. Now I had the chance to repeat the experience, although the ferry was many times bigger than the yacht I sailed on 26 years ago. I won’t be describing the whole trip – it is enough to say that it was enjoyable (the wind was awesome!), and picturesque.
My “not a Moomin House” gazebo.
Once I got to my destination I have fallen in love with the place. The tranquil beauty of the region was mesmerizing. The city itself was rather small and quite nice. Instead of a hotel next to the con we chose a “camping site” with a dozen or more cottages. The place (Strandbergs Stugor) was more than I could have expected. It evoked some childhood memories and was amazing. One of the gazebos looking towards the sea reminded me of The Moomins (even though it didn’t look like a Moomin House). I must admit that at times I was tempted to stay in my “little paradise” instead of going to Archipelacon 2 (but as you will see below I attended the con!).
Ceremonies Without The Stiffness
My introduction about the Ålands was a tad too long but I hope you won’t mind. Now let me go to the convention itself. One of the things that caught my attention were big events. Already during the Opening Ceremony I saw something that I appreciated a lot. The event was well thought through and was not too formal. It is easy to make ceremonies very stiff in order to make them look “professional” (I did it myself). What is more difficult is to show professionalism without the stiffness. This is what I saw at the Opening Ceremony at Archipelacon 2. Pirates taking over the cruise, GOHs being “held captive” and “forced” to do things like panels, and talks… It was refreshing and set the tone for the rest of the con.
GOH’s accepting the “harsh” conditions of their captivity.
I am not a big fan of cosplay and thus I usually avoid masquerades. Yet as here it was joined with ESFS Awards Ceremony I decided to go. I loved how the whole event was directed. Two fans pretending to argue were funny. Moreover they were going back to the same jokes (shown in different way) for the rest of the evening. Yet instead of making it boring it was hilarious. (Each repetition was different and they were not planned too often).
As I am not a regular masquerade visitor it is hard for me to decide how well it went. What I can say, however, is that I enjoyed a few of the costumes and was impressed by the detailed craftsmanship. The format of the presentation was something that suited my taste. Each participant had a bit of time and space to show their work, but it didn’t last too long. I should also mention that Ada Palmer made a short performance during the event and I loved the songs she sang.
I was sitting too far to the left to get the best view on the Masquerade.
ESFS Business
I spent part of Archipelacon 2 attending ESFS related events. There were two Business Meetings – first one scheduled for four hours. Thankfully we managed to go through all the points on the agenda in less than two hours. Second one was shorter and also went efficiently. We had elections of the board when I (and probably also others) realized issue with ESFS statute. We had more candidates than the positions in the board, and we found out that the constitution lacks election process. After some discussion we managed to make everything work. Now I need to remember to propose amendment to the constitution.
As mentioned above we handed the ESFS Awards during the Masquerade. I was very happy to see Poland winning in some of the categories. Archipelacon 2 prepared very nice and easy to transport awards. They were flat, light, and came with a box. On top of those qualities they were also quite eye catching! In the end I took back to Poland four Awards and six diplomas (well the latter were transported by Seji). Those included Polish (Best Fanzine, Best Promoter, Best Work of Art, Chrysalis) and Ukrainian (Best Internet Publication, Chrysalis) trophies. Because no Ukrainian fans attended Archipelacon 2 Sergii asked me if I could bring their awards to Polcon.
The ESFS Awards for Poland. The pirate loot I managed to take home.
Fan Funding
Archipelacon 2 had some presence of the Fan Funds. We decided not to have the live Fan Funds auction but there was a Fan Funds table. Together with Alison, Fia, Johan, Joro, and a few other fans we spent most of the con there. We talked about the Fan Funds and did some fundraising. On top of that we conversed about all sorts of other things.
Before the convention Joro proposed to make a presentation about the European Fan Fund. Our goal was to increase the EFF participation in the future. We were scheduled against a panel with all the GOHs and thus we didn’t have large audience. On the good side, people who came were engaged.
Our Fan Fund table was quite popular. I am sure our guests came form a certain webcomic.
No Time for Boredom
When I wasn’t busy with ESFS, Fan Funds, or big ceremonies I was doing two important things (well even three). Firt of those was chatting with friends (especially during evenings). The second was attending programme. I must admit that Archipelacon 2 had an interesting set of panels and talks. Should I have more time I would definitely attend more of them. The remaining thing I did was eating food and trying local sweets.
I would like to mention about two programme items (ore maybe rather three?). First (and second) of them was a panel about filking followed by the filk singalong. During the panel I saw the first officially released filk long play. Later I had the chance to listen to some interesting songs. Sadly I had to skip the second half of the singalong part. Still I was very impressed by Ada Palmer performing one of her songs. It was nice to be able to add a bit of a background to it (although I tried to be quiet not to disturb others). The other item I was very impressed by was a presentation about Ursula K. Le Guin given by Julie Phillips. Presenter had the chance to meet and even befriend Le Guin. She is also writing her biography which I am very tempted to read. In fact the presentation was part of the said biography accompanied by a commentary. Thanks to this talk I learned a piece of trivia about tardigrades, and how they impacted Le Guin’s work. Presenter was even kind enough to offer (to those interested) a sneak peak at the tardigrade drawn by the author of The Left Hand of Darkness.
Presentation about Urusla K. Le Guin. In the background there is a cover of Polish edition of ‘Lavinia.’
Long Evenings
Summer evenings on Ålands are long. Seems that the sun doesn’t want to go completely below the horizon. This made me feel strangely. I have no issues with sleeping even in daylight, so the dusk instead of night was not a problem from that perspective. Yet coming back to our cottage after 11 PM and still feeling like it was a day was a bit surprising. Because of that I was also more tempted to stay on our pier and looking towards the sea… On some occasions I was accompanied by Seji (or maybe it was me accompanying him?) and thus the convention continued in a way.
Yet before coming back to our cottage I had some things to do at Archipelacon 2. At day -1 there was a pub meeting in a pub located next to the ferry harbour. This one was very short for me. After chatting for a bit I decided to go back as I had to catch some sleep before the convention. (Well waking up before 6 AM to catch the ferry was hard).
On Thursday evening whole con moved to a nearby restaurant. There we talked, ate, and attended the Geeky Pubquiz that was also streamed online. After the first two or three categories I thought our team had quite good results. Later, however, the Young Adult category came and we were not able to answer a single question. I mean, we answered all of them but those were all random answers. One issue I had with the quiz was it’s slow pace. There were very long breaks between the categories and I had to leave before the end.
For some reason I don’t have a single photo from any of the parties. What I can offer instead is a picture from one of the signings.
The next two days included parties at Hotel Arkipelag. On Friday it was planned in the Pool Bar but because of the weather we had to stay inside. Still it was a very cool evening full of nice conversations with some old and new friends. At one point Perti brought a tray full of quirky looking shots. As always I declined the offer to take one, but then Seji told that I would like this one and Perti assured it was rather mild. So I gave it a try and OMG it was absolutely fantastic. The shot is called “Mustikka Shotti” and to make it one needs blueberry liqueur, blueberry* soup and a bit of whipped cream on top. I rarely drink any alcohol but this is something I want to try again.
Saturday party was the last proper evening of Archipelacon 2. Sadly after very enjoyable conversation with other fans my mood somehow worsened. Because of that I decided to go back earlier than I would do otherwise. When I was leaving The Scalzi Ersatz Disco was ongoing for some time. The moment I entered the main room the Dragostea Din Tei was playing and it seemed that Colette wanted to dance. And of course I HAD to dance as well. Just a few minutes of dancing (and singing!) to a silly song together, and in the end I left the hotel in a good mood. Thank you Colette!
And a Long Night
On Sunday I decided to skip a bit of Archipelacon 2 in order to do do some sightseeing. I used the time to visit Maritime Museum and the Pommern Ship. Should I have more time it would take me longer but I wanted to be back for my shift at the Fan Funds Table. (Still Fia and Alison were kind enough to say I don’t need to rush and thanks to them I managed to see everything).
June 30th 2025 ~1AM: Bidding farewell to the Ålands.
The convention day was not too long – Closing Ceremony ended around 5:20 PM. This allowed me and Seji to enjoy the tranquil sea next to our cottage one more time before we headed to the Dead Dog Party. The party was long for me (and probably very short for others). It was an evening full of talking and joking. I found it all very enjoyable and I was sad when we had to leave. Yet our ferry would not wait for us, so we had to get to the harbour. This was not so easy as our ferry was leaving from a harbour located around 30 km from Mariehamn. We boarded the ferry at 00:45 but the night continued as we decided to take a look at the sea at night. In the end I slept for around five hours and it was not the best quality of sleep I ever had.
A Great Time
What can I say? I enjoyed both Archipelacon 2 and Ålands immensely. It was a relaxing (although physically tiring) time that I would love to repeat. On top of all the things described above, I also tried the local speciality – Åland pancake. It is another experience that requires repetition. On my way back the city of Stockholm was kind enough to offer me a cinnamon (and cardamom, and almond) roll. Later at the airport I bought julmust** (which I wanted to drink again for some time already).
Presentation about potential bid to bring Eurocon to UK.
As said – I am looking forward to the comeback to the Ålands. I am not sure whether this will be a visit to Åcon, or a non-fannish holidays. Yet for sure the memories of both the place and Archipelacon 2 will stay with me for long!
You can find more pictures in my FB gallery.
My next post should appear within 7 days and will treat about Polcon!
*As I learned at the Dead Dog Party, it is in fact a bilberry. After a short discussion we established it differs a bit from the blueberries in Poland. On the other hand according to Wikipedia, Finnish mustikka is the same as Polish borówka. Seems I will need to dig deeper into this topic.
**Again it was thanks to an important lesson taken during Dead Dog Party. I asked whether it may be possible to buy julmust so late in the year. Johan informed me that påskmust is exactly the same thing and is sold for Easter. It was late for Easter drinks, but luckily there were some remaining bottles at one of the airport shops. Now they await for a special occasion.