List of skeptical conferences

This is a list of notable conferences that promote or practice scientific skepticism.

Event Established City Country Notes
Apostacon 2009 Various  United States 450+ attendees (2014).[1]
Australian Skeptics National Convention 1985 Various  Australia Organised by the Australian Skeptics.[2][3] 320 attendees (2012).[4]
CSICon / CFI Summit 1983 Various  United States Sponsored by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the Center for Inquiry.[5][6][7]
European Skeptics Congress (ESC) 1989 Various  Europe Sponsored by the European Council of Skeptical Organisations (ECSO) since 1994.[8]
Freethought Festival 2012 Madison, Wisconsin  United States Organized by Atheists, Humanists, & Agnostics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.[9]
Het Denkgelag 2012 Ghent/Antwerp, Flanders  Belgium Independent.[10][11] 1,000 attendees (Ghent 2013),[12] 2,000 attendees (Antwerp 2015).[13]
New Zealand Skeptics Conference 1986 Various  New Zealand Organised by the New Zealand Skeptics.[14] 120 attendees (2007).[15]
Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism (NECSS) 2009 New York City  United States Organised by New York City Skeptics, New England Skeptical Society & Society for Science-Based Medicine.[16][17] 400 attendees.[16]
QED: Question, Explore, Discover 2011 Manchester, England  United Kingdom Organised by the Merseyside Skeptics Society and the Greater Manchester Skeptics Society. 650 attendees (2016).[18]
SkepchickCON 2009[19] Bloomington, Minnesota  United States The scientific skepticism track at CONvergence, a 4-day science fiction and fantasy conference held annually in Bloomington Minnesota on the first full weekend in July.
SkepKon (GWUP-Konferenz) 1987 Various[20]  Germany[20] Organised by the Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften.[21][22]
Skepsis Congres 1987 Utrecht[23]  Netherlands Sponsored by Stichting Skepsis.[24] 400 attendees (2011).[25]
Skeptic's Toolbox 1992 Eugene, Oregon  United States Founded by Ray Hyman, sponsored by the Center for Inquiry.
SkeptiCamp 2007 Various Various Organised by various local groups.
Skepticon 2008 Springfield, Missouri  United States Founded as a student-run event at the Missouri State University. Later became independent. 1,500 attendees (2012).[26]
Skeptics in the Pub (SitP) 1999 Various Various Organised by various local groups.
Skeptics on the Fringe (SotF) 2010 Edinburgh, Scotland  United Kingdom Sponsored by the Edinburgh Skeptics.[27]
SkepTrack 2008 Atlanta  United States Part of the science fiction / fantasy conference Dragon Con.[28]
SSAcon 2000 Columbus, Ohio  United States The annual student conference of the Secular Student Alliance.
The Amaz!ng Meeting (TAM) 2003 Las Vegas, Nevada  United States Sponsored by the James Randi Educational Foundation. 1,000+ attendees (2014).[29]
  1. ^ Michael O'Connor (September 18, 2014). "Omaha atheists strive to be more active in community, change perceptions". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  2. ^ Williams, Barry (1993). "From the President" (PDF). The Skeptic. 13 (2). Australian Skeptics: 3. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  3. ^ "Sydney to host 30th Skeptics convention in 2014". Australian Skeptics website. Australian Skeptics. 27 November 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  4. ^ Lachlan Hastings (21 November 2012). "Skeptics to woo you". mX. News Corp Australia.
  5. ^ "CSICon – The Conference Dedicated To Scientific Inquiry And Critical Thinking". Point of Inquiry website. CFI. 5 October 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  6. ^ "The Conference Dedicated to Science and Skeptical Inquiry". CSI Conference website. CSI / CFI. Archived from the original on 24 March 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  7. ^ Bob Smietana (26 October 2012). "Skeptics, atheists share their doubts at conference". The Tennessean. Gannett Company.
  8. ^ "Earlier European skeptic events". Hungarian Skeptic Society website. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  9. ^ "Atheists, Humanists, & Agnostics (AHA!)". www.ahauwmadison.org. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  10. ^ Originally, Het Denkgelag was organised and sponsored by SKEPP, but it has become an independent association without lucrative purpose. Dries Van Giel (25 October 2012). "Het Denkgelag". SKEPP website (in Dutch). SKEPP. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  11. ^ "Over Het Denkgelag". Het Denkgelag website (in Dutch). Het Denkgelag. 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  12. ^ The event, held in the Leon De Meyer auditorium (1000 seats) of the Universitair Forum (UFO), was completely sold out. Fabrice Luyckx (18 October 2013). "Het Denkgelag: The Limits of Science". Schamper (in Dutch). Ghent University. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  13. ^ The event "A Passion for Science and Reason" in the Stadsdschouwburg Antwerpen (2,000 seats) was completely sold out. Isaac Demey (29 January 2015). "'Ik wil niemand bekeren'. Populaire evolutiebioloog Richard Dawkins houdt halt in Antwerpen". De Standaard (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  14. ^ "New Zealand Skeptics Conference". Lanyrd. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  15. ^ John Hartevelt (24 September 2007). "Magician a truly great headline act * Skeptics Conference". The Press. Fairfax Media.
  16. ^ a b "About NECSS". NECSS website. NECSS. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  17. ^ "Save the date for NECSS 2015". NECSS website. NECSS. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  18. ^ Korteweg, Leon (2 December 2016). "QED 2016 – verslag van een lang weekend tussen skeptici". Skepter (in Dutch). 29 (4). Stichting Skepsis: 45–46. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  19. ^ "SkepchickCON 2009 Announcement". skepchick.org. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  20. ^ a b GWUP conferences have been held in various cities in Germany (Berlin/Cologne/Frankfurt/Hamburg), except the 2011 conference in Vienna, Austria.
  21. ^ (in German) SkepKon website
  22. ^ (in German) Konferenzen Übersicht
  23. ^ The Skepsis Congres was held in Amersfoort in the years 1987–2001, in Amsterdam in 2002, and has been held in Utrecht ever since 2003.
  24. ^ H.S. Verbrugh e.a. (1989). "Alternatieve Geneeskunde, geen kunst?". Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij website (in Dutch). Stichting Skepsis. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  25. ^ Sam de Voogt (10 December 2011). "Complotgoeroe trekt weer volle RAI". Het Parool (in Dutch). p. 25.
  26. ^ Katie Hartman (8 May 2012). "Press Release: Kitten Billboard". Skepticon website. Skepticon. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  27. ^ "About Skeptics on the Fringe". Edinburgh Skeptics website. Edinburgh Skeptics Society. 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  28. ^ Skeptrack on Lanyrd
  29. ^ "The Amaz!ng Meeting 2014". TAM website. JREF. 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.