Started in 1968 and running approximately annually since then, it is one of the oldest science fiction conventions in the midwest United States.
Minicon has had many guests of honor over the years, including Gordon R. Dickson, Poul Anderson, Clifford D. Simak, Lester del Rey, Frederik Pohl, Octavia E. Butler, Harlan Ellison, Larry Niven, and Terry Pratchett.
MinnCon changed its name to Arcana in 1988 to avoid confusion but many area fans still refer to the convention by its older name.
Attendance grew fairly steadily for many years, culminating in a series of conventions that drew over 3000 people and used as many as 4 hotels.
[3] Around the time that Minicon reduced its size, some other conventions sprang up in the area, including CONvergence and MarsCon.