Megacon Live 2026
Report written by Brian Leach for our Spring 2026 Newsletter
Saturday 24 January 2026 – Sunday 25 January 2026
Excel London
Custom House
Megacon Live is an annual sci-fi, fantasy and cosplay convention that takes place at the Excel exhibition centre in London’s docklands.
Our stand, at one end of the hall with plenty of space around us
I took my car nearly full of models, Make It With Meccano sets and tablecloths plus Tim Surtell as passenger. There was no space for Chris Warrell who went by public transport.
After wondering where to park we found we were outside the correct entrance and everything went smoothly with about 70 minutes to set up. We had four tables arranged in a square for models and four for the Make It With Meccano workshop.
A collection of Star Wars robots, including the steampunk R2-D2 in the foreground
The convention was mainly science fiction, fantasy, anime and cosplay. Old Meccano was perhaps out of place! However, some of the public showed interest and many were dressed up as characters from sci-fi etc. (cosplay). On the whole I had no idea who they were meant to be!
Some of Tim Surtell’s models
Tim’s buzz-wire game The Lightning Leap was as popular as ever. Convention-related models such as Daleks, Mechagodzilla, Meccanosaurus and Meccasaur were popular. All the models were appreciated.
Edward Scissorhands plays The Lightning Leap
Being cosplay, I went around on Saturday in my inflatable Mechagodzilla costume, and on Sunday as Godzilla with someone who had the same costume!
Brian Leach dressed as Godzilla (left)
Opening hours to the public were 9:00am – 6:00pm on Saturday, and 10:00am – 5:00pm on Sunday, which was very tiring. It didn’t take us long to clear everything away (we left the tables and chairs where they were) and we managed to carry everything to the car in one go. Chris went back by train and bus, and I dropped Tim off at Eltham station at 6:20pm for a bus back to Beckenham.
We’ve been invited back for 2027, and all were happy with that. Clubs in Telford & Ironbridge and the North West have been contacted to attend other Megacons in their areas later in the year.