Polaris (convention)

Polaris (formerly Toronto Trek) was an annual science fiction and fantasy convention held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada.

It began in 1986 as a relaxacon as Toronto Trek Celebration. Two years later, in 1988, Toronto Trek Celebration 2 took place. In 1989 it dropped the word "Celebration" and became simply "Toronto Trek". For its twenty-first convention in 2007, the name was changed to "Polaris".[1][2] At Polaris 26, held July 5–7, 2012, it was announced Polaris had come to an end and that a new convention would replace Polaris in 2013. The convention went from +5,000 weekend memberships (at one event—it never had that amount ever before or again) and mostly hovered between 1200 and 1700 members. The board felt extreme pressure due to rapid expansion of for profit events, and looked at various options, including running a Doctor Who event for the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, called Reversed Polarity. Increased hotel space costs and actor guests wanting larger audiences to make more money from autographs led the Board to realize the convention model as it stood was no longer viable. The not-for profit corporation still exists and could run events at any time. However, COVID-19 has also made the board reconsider running events.

The convention had a focus on media guests from science fiction, fantasy movies and television series and novel authors such as Star Trek, Babylon 5, Stargate, Doctor Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Jericho, Lost and Battlestar Galactica. Photo opportunities, autographs and Question & Answer sessions feature the media guest, who sometimes come to other programming and after hours events.

Polaris was one of several activities run by the TCON Promotional Society by means of a convention committee of more than 100 people grouped into 38 individual teams, each taking care of a different part of the convention. The TCON Promotional Society has coordinated other events, such as the Canadian Conrunners Conference in 2004, Their other current project is the Constellation Awards, a fan-nominated, fan-voted set of Science Fiction Awards with focus on film and television science fiction. TCON hosted events are proposed to the TCON Board of Directors and voted upon by said Board. The TCON Promotional Society is a not-for-profit corporation based out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.