Arnaud Meyer reviews his personal experience of this years Blackpool 2011 weekend:

I’m always very excited as the Blackpool Convention get closer. Last year was my first time and it was already a blast! We planned the trip from Thursday to Monday, instead of Friday to Monday last year.

The whole travel to get there is already an adventure (sort of), as I choose to drive instead of flying. Why : more convenient for my fiancée and myself, and also the pleasure to discover UK landscape as we cross this country for south east to north west.

Once arrived there, on Thursday afternoon, first things first, drop the luggage in the hotel room, and directly go to the convention center for registration. It’s less crowded and gives us more time to beg for the holy 24 hours Wifi voucher that will help us get online and tweet the next day (roaming charges for French phones is just insanely expensive). The people at the registration desk are lovely, and as we are there we are given the neck thingy to put our passes on, a small bag that will not only allow us to carry the convention program (worth £6) and the free book you get for having sent your registration form early to the mighty registration officer, Arthur Casson (worth £25, the book, not Arthur), and of course a registration form for Blackpool 2012 (£5 rebates for registrations before March, 31st, YAY).
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As well at the FISM European awards announced previously, further awards from this years Blackpool Magic Convention are:

Murray Award: Arthur Casson and Roy Jonson
Neville King Award for Speciality: Mark Raffle
Ken Dodd Comedy Award: Yann Frisch

Many thanks to Rodney J Piper from House of Illusion for keeping us updated.

The winners of the European FISM taking place at Blackpool Magic Convention this weekend are:

STAGE MAGIC
Manipulation:
1st Dion, Netherlands
2nd Kenris, France
3rd Franz Koffer, Hungary

General Magic:
1st Charlie Mag, Spain
2nd Max Guito, France
3rd Simon Pierro, Germany

Stage Illusions:
1st Cubic Act, France
2nd High Jinx, England
3rd Raul Black, Spain

Mental Magic:
1st Not Awarded
2nd Christian Bischof, Switzerland
3rd Frederic Da Silva, France

Comedy Magic:
No places awarded

Most Original Stage Act: Silvana, Spain

CLOSE UP MAGIC
Card Magic:
1st Mika Pelkonen, Finland
2nd Paul Sommersguter, Austria
3rd Kristian Nivala, Finland

Micro Magic:
1st Vittorio Belloni, Italy

Parlour Magic:
1st Yann Frisch, France
2nd Matthew Wright, England
3rd Hayashi, Germany
3rd Hector Mancha, Spain

Most Original Close Up Act: Yann Frisch, France

Thanks to the tweets of Neointhemix who we recommend following on twitter!! Also thanks to Gay Ljungberg for correcting some errors in the awards. Please note that these are the official placings from FISM

The 2011 Blackpool Magicians Convention, is nearly here, and hot news from the organisers is that they are offering at the Registration Desk -Winter Gardens the following:

1 - 3 day pass without Sat & Sun evening show tickets - £60.00
2 - Friday pass for all events Friday - £50.00
3 - Saturday pass for all events Saturday except Gala show - £50.00
4 - Sunday pass for all events Sunday except Gala show - £50.00

If you need further information ring 01253 393688 or email [email protected].

The Blackpool Magic Convention takes place Friday, Saturday and Sunday 18th, 19th & 20th February 2011 at the Opera House and Winter Gardens and Grand Theatre, Church Street, Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Full details can be found at www.blackpoolmagic.com, and follow all our updates, interviews and extra information here

You can also check out our Blackpool Guide and our Hotel Guide for Blackpool, which we’ll update during the run up to the convention

The 2011 Blackpool Magicians Convention, takes place this weekend, and as always we’d like to help you save a little extra money to spend in the dealers hall…

So, as in previous years, we’ve started to have a hunt around to see if there are any vouchers available for eating out and about during the Blackpool weekend.

Currently we’ve added a few, Pizza Hut, Burger King, and Bella Italia, we will keep updating this week if we can find any new vouchers, not all vouchers are useable on all days, so check carefully before ordering!!

Check out the Guide to Blackpool Magic Convention here for a full list of vouchers, parking, places to eat and general survival guide for the weekend..

The Blackpool Magic Convention takes place Friday, Saturday and Sunday 18th, 19th & 20th February 2011 at the Opera House and Winter Gardens and Grand Theatre, Church Street, Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Full details can be found at www.blackpoolmagic.com, and follow all our updates, interviews and extra information here

You can also check out our Blackpool Guide and our Hotel Guide for Blackpool, which we’ll update during the run up to the convention

The 2011 Blackpool Magicians Convention, which also includes the FISM European Magical Championships has, as in previous years, now completely sold out.

The Registration Officer, Arthur Casson has said that he will try to find tickets for anyone turning up on the day via unclaimed tickets, although with over 3,200 magicians attending, this year will be very busy, and you should check before travelling longer distances.

If you need further information ring 01253 393688 or email [email protected].

The Blackpool Magic Convention takes place Friday, Saturday and Sunday 18th, 19th & 20th February 2011 at the Opera House and Winter Gardens and Grand Theatre, Church Street, Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Full details can be found at www.blackpoolmagic.com, and follow all our updates, interviews and extra information here

You can also check out our Blackpool Guide and our Hotel Guide for Blackpool, which we’ll update during the run up to the convention