News

Seattle, WA, September 25, 2024

Fat Con Announces Spectacular 2025 Keynote and Guest Speaker Lineup

A 3-day celebration of Fat Joy, Fat Con is the biggest fat convention on the West Coast. Fat Con 2025, January 31 through February 2 at the King Street Ballroom at Embassy Suites Downtown Seattle Pioneer Square, is a weekend where all Fat Humans are welcomed to celebrate their bodies and lives.

After the notable success of Fat Con’s first year, Fat Con 2025 has announced three keynote speakers who stand on the front lines of fat liberation causes:

• Mermaid Chè Monique of Netflix’s MerPeople fame, the visionary founder of the Society of Fat Mermaids, a size-inclusive clothing line, and a community that shell-ebrates bodies of all sizes.

• Andrea Kelly, founder of Make Plus Equal, is a leading size-inclusion expert in the apparel industry with 25 years of experience building products for some of the largest outdoor apparel brands in the world.

• Andy Neal—outdoorsy body positive hiker, plus size model, mental health advocate, creator of content, and filmmaker—is a vocal advocate for mental health serving with the Mental Health Coalition.

“Fat Humans are not a homogeneous community—we have different needs, races, capabilities, gender identities, sexual expressions, and health factors,” says Con Director, Mx. Pucks A’Plenty, founder of Puckduction, an arts and culture organization based in Seattle. “Our lineup this year is a diverse group of voices that embody the Fat Con vision. We’re excited for what is shaping up to be an incredible lineup of presenters for our 2025 attendees to enjoy.”

Fat Con 2025 will also host two inspirational special guest speakers. Jessie Sage is writer of the weekly sex column “Pillow Talk with Jessie Sage” for the Pittsburgh City Paper and hosts the weekly podcast “When We’re Not Hustling: Sex Workers Talking About Everything But.” Gabi Dixson is a multi-world record breaking athlete who is also a model, public speaker, musician, and social worker bringing positivity, personality, and a unique perspective.

“Fat Con is all about experiencing joy in our bodies, in our identities, and in our abilities—without putting limitations on that joy,” says Mx. Pucks A’Plenty. “Our society really likes to dictate what types of bodies are valid and worthy. Fat bodies are only allowed to be valid if we’re healthy, not disabled, and working towards becoming thin, that loving ourselves as we are isn’t acceptable. Fat Con is a place where all Fat Humans can experience joy right now, no matter what.”

Additionally, Fat Con 2025 will feature 30+ hours of exciting workshops and panels, a marketplace of 12 vendors from photography to clothing to jewelry offering products and services specifically for fat bodies and lives, and a fashion exhibition showcasing plus size and extended size clothing. More convention details will be revealed over the next couple of months.

Register tickets at www.fatcon.org before they sell out!

Seattle, WA, November 12, 2024

Fat Con 2025 Programming Reveal

Get a first look at the Fat Con 2025 3-day programming schedule today! January 31 through February 2 at the King Street Ballroom at Embassy Suites Downtown Seattle Pioneer Square, Fat Con is the biggest convention on the West Coast where all Fat Humans are welcomed to celebrate their bodies and lives.

With over 30 hours of programming, Fat Con 2025 isn’t just stuffed with fluff but packed with substantive and entertaining content designed to educate and build community. From hosted panel discussions like “Fat Liberation Parenting” and “Love, Lust, and Liberation for Fat Bodies” to activities like Speed Friending and community meet-and-greets. Attendees won’t want to miss group movement activities like “Love My Fat Asana” or “Chair Yoga: Showing Your Body Love.”

“Our community is filled with incredible educators and advocates,” says Lori Collins, Programming Director and founding member of Fat Con. “We’ve packed our schedule full of these leaders-from-within presenting content relevant and important to fat folks–from fashion to lifestyle to health and more.”

“We want Fat Con to be the place where people meet their new fat friends, find more ways to embrace their sexuality in fat bodies, and become better advocates for themselves,” says Con Director, Mx. Pucks A’Plenty, and founder of Fatlesque Fest Northwest, Fat Con’s sibling event happening the evenings of January 30 to February 1 (www.fatlesquefestnw.com).

The full daytime schedule can be found at www.fatcon.org, with some evening activities and shows still to be announced. Additionally, Fat Con 2025 will feature the Fat Babe Marketplace of 12 vendors from photography to clothing to jewelry offering products and services specifically for fat bodies and lives, and a fashion exhibition showcasing plus size and extended size clothing. Register tickets at www.fatcon.org before they sell out!

Friday, January 31 - Activities, Panels, and Keynote Speakers*

10:00 AM | Opening Ceremonies

11:15 AM | Speed Friending, Fat-Friendly Mental Healthcare, Fatness in a Fitness Environment, Why Fat Vocabulary Is Important

11:30 AM | Sultry Songbirds

12:30 PM | Keynote: Andy Neal, Fat Liberation Parenting, Body Neutrality Workshop

12:45 PM | Confidence and Musicality in Burlesque

1:30 PM | Changing Stereotypes through Fat Fashion

1:45 PM | Fat Nerds Meet & Greet

2:00 PM | Chair Yoga

2:45 PM | Intersectional Perspectives on Fatness, Creating Fat Community

3:00 PM | Fat Embodied Erotic, Queer Fatties Meet & Greet, Why Representation Matters, The Slut Strut

4:15 PM | Fat Creatives Meet & Greet, Guest Speaker: Jesse Sage

5:00 PM | FatGirl Parkour

Saturday, February 1 - Activities, Panels, and Keynote Speakers*

9:15 AM | Embracing Body Trust, It’s Not You-It’s the Clothes, Empowering Body Liberation through Intersectionality, Sit Down to Rise Up

10:00 AM | Make More Friends Meet & Greet

10:30 AM | Weight Bias through Social Justice, The Shape I’m In

11:15 AM | Trans and Non-Binary Meet & Greet

11:30 AM | Guest Speaker: Gabi Dixon, Creating a Fat-Friendly Clothing Store

12:00 PM | Love My Fat Asana

12:30 PM | Social Media Babes Meet & Greet

12:45 PM | Sexualizing Fatness For Storytelling In Liberation, The Plus Strut, Bold Boundaries

1:00 PM | Keynote: Mermaid Chè Monique

1:30 PM | Hot Sex for Fat Folx

1:45 PM | BIPOC Meet & Greet

2:00 PM | Healing through Community and Fat Joy, Make Fat Activism Your Work

2:15 PM | Water Sports in a Fat Body

2:45 PM | Seated Pilates

3:00 PM | Fat Allies Meet & Greet

3:30 PM | Keynote: Andrea Kelly, Fat Liberation and Advocacy in the Workplace

4:15 PM | Fats over 40 Meet & Greet, Love, Lust, and Liberation for Fat Bodies, All Bodies Strong Powerlifting Demo

4:45 PM | The Mind/Body Connection

*Schedules not final. Check www.fatcon.org for changes or additions to announced schedule.