Events
Oxonmoot 2017
21 – 24 September 2017
Back to events feed St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College, Oxford
The “Bake Off” at Oxonmoot 2016

Oxonmoot 2017 will be held at St Antony’s College, Oxford from Thursday 21st until Sunday 24th September.

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About

Oxonmoot is an annual event hosted by The Tolkien Society which brings together around 200 Tolkien fans, scholars, students and Society members from across the world. It has been held annually in Oxford since 1974 on a weekend close to Bilbo and Frodo’s birthday (22nd September) and is the key event in the Society’s annual calendar – if you want to come to any Tolkien event, come to Oxonmoot.

Oxonmoot is a three- or four-day event and since 1991 it has always been in a picturesque college of the University of Oxford. The college supply meals and accommodation for the weekend, so we effectively “take over” the college and enjoy an exclusively Tolkien weekend!

Oxonmoot 2017 is being held over 4 days from the afternoon of Thursday 21st September until lunch time on Sunday 24th September, at St Antony’s College. The setting allows delegates an opportunity to spend time in one of the loveliest settings for study in the world. The college is set in a pleasant leafy residential area of north Oxford, just a 10-minute walk from the heart of the city. The campus has a mixture of architectural styles ranging from the nineteenth century, through the 1960s, up to the present day. It sits within attractive gardens, and its quiet position and first-class facilities make it a very attractive location for conferences.

The Oxonmoot programme includes talks, quizzes, lectures, a silent auction, an art show, workshops, performances, papers, discussions, sales, singing, slideshows, costuming, gaming and celebrating. All of this is supplemented by continual eating, drinking and chatting! The weekend concludes with a visit to Tolkien’s grave on Sunday morning – a beautiful and moving end to the event.

If you would like to participate in the Masquerade or decide to come to the show in a costume, please indicate this on your booking form.

 

Progress Report

Download the Progress Report.

See what it’s like to attend Oxonmoot in this video from 2015.

Programme

Speakers confirmed for this year’s Oxonmoot are:

  • “Tolkien in Old Worcestershire” by Bob Blackham
  • “Book of Ishness: emergence of Tolkien creativity” by Denis Bridoux
  • “History and Sources of the Land of the Dead that Live” by Giovanni Carmine Costabile
  • “George Allen and Unwin – A history” by Andrew Ferguson
  • “Could Hobbits be Welsh?” by Michael Flowers
  • “Invented Languages: Elvish practitioners of the secret vice” by Andrew Higgins
  • “Tolkien not for the faint ‘arted” by Jay Johnstone
  • “King under the mountain- iterations of evil in The Hobbit” by Randal McDonald
  • “Evil 101: dimensions of wickedness in Middle Earth” by Julia Pineau
  • “Bilbo as Motivational director” by D.R. Ransdell
  • “Alan Lee the official Tolkien Illustrator” by Sultana Raza
  • “Show and Tell of Tolkien Memorabilia” by Alan Reynolds
  • “Tolkien Art Show” by Len Sanford
  • “The Silmarils and the Koh-i-noor” by Murray Smith
  • “Tolkien the Great Smith: Advanced materials in the legendarium” by Sabin Sulzer
  • “Tolkien’s Lost Poem” by René van Rossenberg
  • “Terry Pratchett’s debt to Tolkien” by Jessica Yates

The Show

The Masquerade takes place as part of the Show on Friday evening, and is an opportunity for people to show off their costumes. This year we are planning a special prize for the best Silmarillion themed entry. If you wish to take part please contact Mike Percival (masquerade [at] oxonmoot [dot] org). Masqueraders do not have to come to the sound check unless they wish to speak.

To help you decide whether your item fits better as an Entertainment or a Masquerade entry, the following guidelines might help – but Mike will be happy to advise if you are uncertain…

  • For a Masquerade Entry, the principal focus is the costume. You may want to do a short presentation to show off the character which goes with the costume, but this should be no more than a minute or two.
  • If the focus of your item is a presentation or song, then it is an Entertainment.
  • If you aren’t in costume, it is an Entertainment.
  • If it lasts longer than 2 minutes, it is an Entertainment.

Bookings

Bookings are open!

See below for further details on registration, accommodation, and meals.

For all booking queries, please contact the Bookings Officer, Francesca Barbini, directly.

If you would prefer to pay by cheque or bank transfer, download the PDF booking form.

All registrations are non-refundable.

The deadline for cancellations or amendments for meals and accommodation will be in late August 2017. After that, no refunds will be possible.

By booking for Oxonmoot you agree to the events terms and conditions.

Registration

You can register for the whole event (4 days), part of the event (2 or 3 days), or just one day. Book before May to take advantage of the following super early bird prices (prices rose £5 on 1 May and a further £10 on 1 August).

Full registration (4 days) Members £75
Non-members £85
Partial registration (2 or 3 days) Members £65
Non-members £75
Day registration £45

Registration rates for children are also available (children aged 0-6 can attend for free).

N.B. All registrations are non-refundable.

Accommodation

Oxonmoot not only takes place in an Oxford college, you can stay there too. The following are the prices per person per night.

UPDATE – August 2017: we have run out of single ensuite rooms and single standard rooms are only available for the Friday and Saturday nights.

Single standard £40
Single ensuite £60

A limited number of double ensuites and two bedroom flats are available, but generally reserved for families. To enquire about these, please contact the Bookings Officer, Francesca Barbini. Similarly, if you wish to stay additional nights, double check with the Bookings Officer first.

N.B. Breakfast is not included in the cost of accommodation. Toiletries are not included but a towel is provided.

Meals

A lunch of soup and sandwiches on the Saturday is the only meal included in the registration fee. The canteen will be open for lunch on the Friday but you will only be able to pay by credit or debit card.

For those staying in college, breakfast is not included in the cost of accommodation but is available on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings. Each breakfast costs £6 and must be paid for when you make your booking.

A welcome buffet will be provided on the Thursday evening for £25, with a 10% discount for first timers.

The three-course dinner on the Friday costs £30. A sample menu for Friday night dinner looks like this:

Starter: Smoked Salmon, Double Grapefruit and Horseradish Salad with Pink Peppercorns and Mustard Seeds
Main course: Twice Cooked Pork Belly on Braised Red Cabbage with Baby Carrots, Baby Turnips, Veal Jus-Lié and a Parsnip Crisp Garnish
Dessert: Chocolate and Beetroot Brownie with a Shot of Baileys Cream

Bookings Officer Updates

13 September: The Progress Report is now available to download.

27 August: Bookings for rooms and accommodation are now closed. You can still book registrations.

9 August: We have run out of single ensuite rooms and single standard rooms are only available for the Friday and Saturday nights.

1 August: Early bird prices have ended. All registrations have increased by another £10.

1 June: Super early bird prices have ended. All registrations have increased by £5.

3 April: We have run out of single standard rooms for the night of Thursday 21 September.

26 February: Bookings for Oxonmoot 2017 are now open.

Location

St Anthony’s College, 62 Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6JF, United Kingdom

St Antony’s is about 15 minutes walk from the centre of Oxford (nominally Carfax Tower) and roughly 20 minutes walk from the train station.