LeakyCon: History and Background

LeakyCon was a series of fan conventions that occurred from 2009 through 2024 and were organised by Mischief Management, LLC. The frequency varied, but it was generally an annual convention.

The first event was held in Boston, Massachusetts, with an attendance of over 750. Attendance peaked in 2018 in Dallas, Texas, with 18,000. In 2024, a reported 2,800 people attended the final Portland, Oregon convention. It was held in a total of six cities within the United States, as well as London, England and outside Dublin, Ireland, with a total of sixteen conventions between 2009 and 2024.

Activities included live performances of wizard rock as well as fan-made productions, panels ranging from scholarly discussions to question and answer sessions with stars as well as both film and literary industry experts, live recordings of podcasts, Quidditch, and autograph sessions. Scholastic, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, and Simon & Schuster chose to premiere new material to fans through LeakyCon over various convention years. In 2011 and 2014, LeakyCon attendees were able to purchase special "Open at the Close" tickets to enter The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Florida. Attendees in 2016 were able to purchase special tickets for the Hollywood theme park.

An attempt in 2015 to move LeakyCon away from the multi-fandom event it had become through renaming the main convention and holding a separate LeakyCon in 2016 as a smaller, intimate event to return to being solely a Harry Potter event was abandoned by 2017. Following the COVID-19 pandemic and postponement of both the 2020 and 2021 conventions, however, sales declined as some of the audience typically attending LeakyCon no longer felt comfortable doing so after J. K. Rowling's comments in support of transphobic feminism. Mischief Management CEO Melissa Anelli announced that the convention would broaden its base audience and distance itself from Harry Potter in 2023.

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