And so, it begins… Gallifrey One Conventions is delighted to present Gallifrey One in 35 Millimetre, the 35th annual North American Doctor Who celebration, taking place this weekend at the Marriott Los Angeles Airport Hotel.
We are looking forward to seeing all of you. The festivities officially kick off this Thursday evening, February 13, at 8:00pm with our pre-convention Launch Party, and then the event runs through Sunday’s Closing Ceremonies at 5:00pm. We have four full tracks of programming, fantastic guests, incredible costumes, exciting social events, and a ton of fun planned throughout!
In addition to the information posted below, we strongly encourage you to check out our Attendee Guide, which has tons of helpful hints about the convention, from parking to picking up your badge and navigating the entire event.
For your reference, our Convention Policies page is very important (and we enforce our policies on site!) as is our Directions and Parking page with tips on how & where to park or get to the event.
As we are now away running our show, please do NOT expect a reply to any email sent to us until at least February 22, 2025. Thank you.
Last Minute Updates
We are sad to have to announce that returning guest Lisa Greenwood (Flip Jackson from the Big Finish Doctor Who audios) will no longer be able to join us for this year’s convention. We all send our very best wishes to Lisa and hope to see her again very soon. (If you have photo ops scheduled with her, they will be refunded automatically.)
Meanwhile, we can announce that we have added a few new photo ops to our schedule today; these are now on sale at the Convention Photo Shoots website:
- By popular demand, we are happy to announce The Five Companions of Classic Doctor Who photo op with Louise Jameson, Katy Manning, Nicola Bryant, Wendy Padbury and Frazer Hines, Sunday morning at 11:00am.
- Also, photo ops have been added for the Big Finish Productions VamPD series cast members, Juliet Landau, Mara Wilson and Alimi Ballard. These will take place on Saturday starting at 1:00pm.
Finally, please note that Gigi Edgley will only be able to join us on Saturday this year, instead of the full weekend. If you have a ticket for Gigi’s Friday photo op, you can redeem it at her Saturday photo op at 4:30pm instead. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Registration & When You Arrive…
Gallifrey One 2025 online ticket sales have now closed.
But… tickets ARE available at the door! Prices at the door are $147 for adults, $95 for teens (12-16), $37 for children (3-11); these prices include credit card processing fees. Ticket sales at the door are credit card only (we do not take cash or check on site, no exceptions). We do not sell single-day tickets, only weekend passes.
Tickets cannot be sold to others under ANY circumstances! At the convention, a name on a ticket can only be changed if the current ticket holder is present (pre-con name changes are now closed.)
All attendees must bring photo identification to the Convention Registration desk to receive their con badge and program. (Minors lacking photo ID may check in with a parent or guardian present.)
Reminder: Convention Registration is
on the HOTEL LOBBY LEVEL this year!
This year, please be sure to visit our Convention Registration area on the lobby level, located between the Marriott’s Hangar 18 lobby bar and the JW Steakhouse, during our badge pickup hours: Thursday 4pm to 9pm, Friday & Saturday 9am to 7pm, and Sunday 9am to 1pm. You will need to pick up your convention badge before heading downstairs to the convention center, as your entry will be restricted at all points of entry. This includes for the opening party on Thursday night.
Every attendee will receive a badge (which is your credentials to enter the convention); a lanyard for wearing your badge; and our souvenir program book containing a print version of the entire event schedules, easy-to-read grids of each day’s events and more.
We only have BLUE badge lanyards available this year. You are more than welcome to take one, or to bring your own lanyard… any lanyard is fine, so long as you always have your badge visible around your neck.
As the escalator down from the hotel lobby is non-functional this year, you have three options to get to the convention center once you’ve picked up your badge:
- External stairs, located out the front door of the hotel; turn right at the valet area and follow the signs down to the lower level stairway entrance.
- The spiral parking ramp, leading down from both sides of the valet area and ending at the convention center’s outside patio.
- The hotel elevators (be warned that these may be delayed!)
If you are a visitor with accessibility issues (mobility issues, visual or hearing impairment, etc.) make sure you talk to our Accessibility Services team, located on the convention center level across from Program A. Accessibility Services can help you with main program seating and other assistance throughout the weekend; they’re open Friday, Saturday and Sunday during daytime convention hours.
Parking
Validated day parking at the Marriott LAX hotel is $20 per day. Bring your parking ticket to Member Services and they’ll provide you with validation to decrease your parking from the maximum limit to only $20 each day; also, hotel guests staying overnight will also pay $20/day for the regular lot. For more details, visit the Directions and Parking page. Please note that we cannot validate parking from anywhere else.
Social Media Warning
As a reminder, our Facebook pages are always hit by scammers around this time hoping to sell non-existent tickets, or post links to live streams of the convention, while they think we’re not paying attention. Please remember that no one is allowed to resell tickets to the convention, no one is livestreaming the event, and the convention will not attempt to ‘friend’ you from any account; and that we will remove scam links as often as we can throughout the weekend.
We have only one Facebook page, facebook.com/gallifreyone (as well as our 2025 event page). Any other account claiming to be a Gallifrey One account is a scam. (There are a couple of wonderful but unofficial groups such as the Gallifrey One Fans, Friends and Attendees and Gallifrey One Photos groups; these are run by attendees, not us.)
Weather Update
Los Angeles will be experiencing a fairly strong rainstorm on Wednesday February 12 and Thursday February 13, so if you are arriving on one of those days, be sure to plan ahead. However, current forecasts suggest that the rain will taper off by early Friday morning February 14, with scattered showers in the early parts of the day, just as the convention gets going. Partly cloudy weather is expected by mid-morning on Friday and lasting through Saturday and Sunday. We do encourage bringing an umbrella, as with the issues surrounding the loss of the escalator down from the lobby to the convention center, the non-elevator alternatives are both outside (the new staircase, and the circular ramp from the valet parking down to the convention center patio.)
If it does rain during convention events, please note that any meetup events that take place in the pool area (“poolside”) should be met in the hotel lobby instead.
Charity Auction Donations Wanted!
As a reminder, we need YOUR donations of goods to be auctioned at our 2025 Bob May Memorial Charity Auction benefitting Cancer Support Community Los Angeles. We rely upon much-needed donations from our attendees to fill the auction with worthwhile material to be bid upon, so bring yours to our Auction Donation Room any time Friday or Saturday. Your donations are very much appreciated, as is your attendance at our Sunday noon charity auction!
Convention Schedule
While you will receive a full printed copy of the schedule in your convention Program Book — picked up alongside your badge when you check in at Convention Registration any time starting this Thursday — we also keep the online schedule fully updated:
Gallifrey One 2025 Schedule of Events
In addition to program listings and guest biographies, our Program Book features all of our program grids, with pages for each of the three days, plus separate grid listings for everything else: receptions, kaffeeklatsches, autograph sessions, photo ops, special add-on events, gaming, our video program and much more.
We also post our programming grids and info charts on the walls in the convention center (changing daily) for your convenience.
New Smoking Area
As we have had to make us of the external stairs from the Marriott parking lot down into the convention center this year, we realized that this would disrupt the current smoking area which is right outside that stairwell, used by many of our attendees (we didn’t forget about you!) Thankfully, an easy solution has been presented to us by the hotel: there is a secluded area behind that regular smoking location that is secluded and completely unused, and will be available for smokers all weekend long. We will post signs to the new location as well.
Food Truck Update
Food trucks are once again returning to the convention center patio all three days of the convention! We are currently expecting the following vendors during posted hours (Friday & Saturday 12:00pm to 8:00pm, and Sunday 12:00pm until mid-afternoon.) Note that this is an update to our previously-announced trucks:
- Friday: Baby’s Badass Burgers, famous beef and veggie hamburgers and fries; Kabobaholic, Mediterranean wraps and loaded fries; and Rice Balls of Fire, rice bowls, sushi burritos and sides.
- Saturday: Baby’s Badass Burgers returns for a second day; Tropic Truck, Caribbean cuisine with tacos, quesadillas and rice bowls; and Stopbye Cafe, with fried chicken and pulled beef sandwiches, curry bowls and Indonesian chow mein.
- Sunday: Okamoto Kitchen, Japanese fusion with fried chicken, rice bowls, sushi burritos and vegan options; and Tropic Truck returns for a second day.
Member Services is Here For YOU!
Have questions on site? Not sure how to find a program item? Looking for the best place to eat? Our amazing Member Services team is here to help you make the most of your visit to Gallifrey One! Member Services is located in one of the two kiosks (the other is the Kaffeeklatsch Desk) right next to the elevator lobby on the convention floor. Stop by if you have questions or need assistance.
T-Shirt/Tote Bag Pickups
If you pre-ordered one of our 2025 convention T-shirts or tote bags, you can pick them up at the Convention Sales desk, which is located in our Dealers Room. Entering the Dealers Room from the front, it’ll be at the very back on your left. Gallifrey One Convention Sales will feature additional T-shirts and totes from this year, as well as a significant amount of them from prior Gallifrey One conventions, while supplies last.
Photo Ops and Reception Tickets
Convention Photo Shoots is still pre-selling tickets to the evening guest receptions and photo ops scheduled throughout the weekend, as well as script readings, and the TARDIS Tag and Diamond Pass packages, and will be doing so up until the day of the event. You may also purchase all of these items on Thursday at a table next to Registration, or Friday through Sunday at the Photo Studio.
Purchase Gallifrey One Add-Ons
Evening Guest Receptions are once again in the Runway Room on the hotel’s 16th floor, right off the elevator lobby. The script readings for Catherine Tate and Jenna Coleman take place in the Program B room on the convention center level, but all of the other script readings, the meet & greets included in the Diamond Passes and TARDIS Tag meetups all take place on the 16th floor.
To attend any of these items, just arrive no earlier than 5-10 minutes prior to the start of the event, including your Photo Ops. The staff that runs these various items will check you in very quickly!
We strongly encourage anyone going up to the 16th floor events to plan ahead… the Marriott elevators can be slow, so we encourage you to give yourself 10-15 minutes during the day, and 20 minutes or more for the 5pm and 6:30pm evening receptions.
Kaffeeklatsches
Online signups for our kaffeeklatsches was on February 1, but while some sessions did fill up, we have space in others. The Kaffeeklatsches Desk will open at 10:00am on Friday morning; visit them Desk at that time to sign up for open sessions or put your name on the waitlist for filled sessions.
As a reminder, those of you who received a kaffeeklatsch session assignment from the online selection are welcome to sign up for a second session at the door; it’s first-come first-served as of when the Kaffeeklatsches desk opens Friday morning.
Children’s Program & Science Workshop
Parents, check out our Children’s Programming room on the hotel’s first floor (below the lobby, but above the convention center, accessible by the stairs from the lobby level or by elevator.) We have fun activities for children ages 6-12 including plenty of arts & crafts, much of it with a Doctor Who theme. Stop on by, say hi and check out the fun!
Photos Throughout the Convention
Our friends at AZTARDIS are bringing back their TARDIS prop, TARDIS console and a Dalek this year. Their display area is in the back of the Dealers Room; drop by to take pictures with their props during Dealers Room hours. (We encourage donating to AZTARDIS so they can continue to join us; their donation box can be found at the display area.)
We will have several photo backdrops again in the convention foyer for photos. Bring your family and take your pictures from inside the TARDIS itself!
Additionally, there will be tons of costumes on display, and maybe even some props made by our attendees… stop and take photos with them, but always ask for permission! Consent is what the Doctor ordered!
Cosplay & Masquerade
And speaking of cosplay… this is a reminder for all cosplayers to join us for the Masquerade of Mandragora costume extravaganza, a fashion show-style presentation at 8:00pm on Saturday night. Sign up at any time at the Masquerade Registration Desk located near Convention Registration, open Friday and Saturday from 10:00am to 5:00pm. They can answer all your questions about the event and will let you know where to go. Hall costumes are very welcome, too!
Also, come join us on Saturday evening after the Masquerade in the foyer to take pictures of your favorite costumes!
Helpful “Don’t Forget” Reminders…
For those new to Gallifrey One — and those who’d just like a handy reminder — there are a few things we want to remind you about:
- Don’t forget to review the Attendee Guide which can answer many of your important questions!
- As noted above, don’t forget to take a look at our Convention Policies page, specifically about harassment (we take this very seriously) and our courtesy policy (also strictly enforced to make sure everyone has a great time!)
- Remember that we do not allow video recording, streaming, or live broadcasting in ANY program room (Program A-E) or in our Art Show, unless specific permission is given by the Gallifrey One Board of Directors. Failure to comply will this policy will mean immediate and permanent removal from the convention.
- Anyone harassing, booing, making nasty remarks to or causing any grief to our guests, our convention staff, Marriott hotel staff, or your fellow attendees for any reason whatsoever will be immediately removed from the event and barred from ever returning. Depending on the situation, we may also report issues to the Marriott’s hotel staff, which could also result in contacting local law enforcement. We have a zero tolerance policy against harassment.
- Use of the freight elevators or access to the service corridors of the Marriott, without the specific permission of the Board of Directors of Gallifrey One, is prohibited.
- Bring cash if you want autographs or purchases. While many of our vendors take credit cards, others take cash only, and that also goes for most of our autographing guests. While there are two ATMs in the Marriott lobby, they usually run out of cash very early each day, so you may have a long walk to get more.
- Cash is also very much advised for the food trucks we have each day. If you’re interested in finding out what the food trucks are selling each day, or about your dining options in general, see our Attendee Guide.
- As a reminder, the convention center patio — the outdoor area outside the convention space — is fully non-smoking. This will be enforced.
- We will be announcing a dedicated smoking area, as the one used by attendees the past few years is no longer available (due to the external stairs).
- Don’t forget to join us Thursday night at 8:00pm for our special pre-convention launch party on the ground floor at 8:00pm, featuring an ice cream social with lots of friendly faces (including many of our guests)… and, later in the evening, karaoke! It’s a great way for new people to get to know everyone and join in the fun. (Note: both events will have badge checks!)_
- Don’t forget that badge ribbons are something optional and fun and entirely created by attendees… they’re not an official thing at our convention, but something very popular at many events. Also don’t forget that, as a result, people pay their own money to make their ribbons; some people like to trade instead of offer for free.
- Don’t forget that there are many Ribbon Exchange meet-ups scheduled for all four days, and even one in the lobby Wednesday night (see the Social Events & Meet-Ups list on the electronic schedule.)
- Speaking of which, don’t forget we have a ton of meet-ups scheduled; you can find them all in the Meet-Ups & Socials category of the electronic schedule.
- Don’t forget to bookmark the electronic schedule on your phone or tablet! We will keep the electronic schedule updated throughout the weekend.
- Don’t forget to HAVE FUN. Gallifrey One is about fun, family, friends both new and old, and celebrating being a fan of Doctor Who and sci-fi TV & film.
The Last Word…
This is the final website update we’ll publish prior to the start of this weekend’s festivities, barring any last minute important breaking news. (We do post the occasional Facebook or Twitter update, but you’ll next year from us after we’re back from the convention.)
Email sent to the convention through February 22, 2025 will not be replied to until after that date, as we are away for the event.
For those that can’t join us this year, we hope to see you in 2026. Tickets for our 2026 convention will go on sale at a date to be announced soon.
We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome you all to Gallifrey One in 35 Millimetre… the thirty-fifth iteration of the longest running, best attended and, we think, greatest Doctor Who event of them all. See you there!
Things to come… a taste of 2026…
