Some of you may remember this post from last year. Well, it has happened: the last BronyCon. 10,215 people attended (with rumors that there were enough uncollected badges to hit the 11,000 hard-cap), beating their previous record of 10,011 in 2015. They chose to make this the last year because attendance has been trending downward, and the show it is built around (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) is in its final season.

I was there, and it truly was the experience of a lifetime. They intended to go out with a bang, and they absolutely delivered. Did anyone else here attend (or want to attend)? What were your thoughts on the event this year? Any other current (or former) Bronies on the site?

Some news articles about the event:

• https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2019/08/02/end-of-bronycon-in-baltimore/

• https://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bs-fe-bronycon-20190731-g5zqppemhfa7nb7xnia6vheqcq-story.html

Also, people made a memorial on the 200 level of the Baltimore Convention Center. This was from August 2 at 2:37 PM, and this was from August 4 at 2:05 PM.

I'm posting this as a text post so I can give some additional background.

For those not in the loop, BronyCon is an annual convention hosted in the Baltimore Convention Center organized by fans of TV show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It started in 2011 and it peaked in attendance in 2015 with 10,011 present. This year was the 10th BronyCon, and they had 5,465 attendees. That's nothing to sneeze at, but it's a far cry from 2015, and it would be expected to go down further as Bronies continue to go on in life and become less involved with the community. In addition, the show is expected to end with either season 9 or 10, which would shrink the community even further.

Rather than attempt to convert into a general entertainment convention (and try to compete with the likes of Comic-Con) or become a small convention like they started out, the organizers have decided to make 2019 the last BronyCon, and to make it a 4-day event (August 1-4) to go out with a bang.

There are other MLP conventions (you can find a list of those that have/will happen here), but BronyCon was the original convention for fans of Friendship is Magic, and none are as big as it.

With all this being said, you can see the announcement on the website, and in the video from the closing ceremony. I was there, and it was a huge shock. The lower-level staff were not told either, so as to prevent the news from leaking early.

So, what are your thoughts? To any current or former Bronies, do you plan on attending? For those who never cared for or watched the show, have any similar things happened to TV shows/movies/etc you are a fan of?