ICon festival

ICon Festival (Hebrew: פסטיבל אייקון) is an Israeli science fiction and fantasy fan convention held annually in the Tel Aviv Eshkol Pais during the Sukkot holiday in September–October.

ICon features a plethora of talks on subjects including literature, science, television, films, specific fandoms and general genre theory as well as writing and art workshops and a host of role-playing games.

The annual Geffen Award ceremony for Hebrew and translated science fiction and fantasy literature has been held at ICon since 1999.

The venue consists of the Eshkol Pais building, which features talks, a makeshift "café" rest area, a tabletop games room and some of the dealers' court including a second-hand booth where visitors deposit used goods for sale.

The Eeroni Aleph adjacent school is used for roleplaying games and allows out-of-town visitors to sleep inside for the duration of the night.

Author Tim Powers fights at the battle ring. ICon 2005
A battle at the "Colosseum" battle ring at Icon 2005