The world’s fastest hedgehog happens to have one of the most dedicated fan communities in the world, and there’s no better example of that than Summer Of Sonic. What began as an online celebration of the series’ 15th anniversary in 2006 became a UK-based fan convention in 2008, organised by Svend Joscelyne and Kevin Eva. The event soon became an annual gathering with Sega’s official backing, and the free tickets were often snapped up within seconds.
The events were everything a Sonic fan could want, celebrating all aspects of Sonic fandom. Attendees could expect to see both official game trailers and fan-made animations on stage, and live interviews would be followed up with cosplay contests. Both forthcoming games and classics were made available to play, and rare merchandise was on display and sometimes even up for sale. You could even meet developers such as Yuji Naka and Takashi Iizuka, and enjoy live musical performances from the likes of Crush 40.