International Cryptozoology Conference 2024

  • April 26 - 27, 2024
  • Clarion Hotel Airport & Conference Center

    1230 Congress Street
    Portland, Maine 04102
Ticket Price $5.72-$53.65 This event is now over
Description

Welcome to the 4th International Cryptozoology Conference, April 26-27, 2024. The conference will feature engaging talks and presentations by leading Cryptozoology experts on a variety of topics as well as access to the our vendor rooms, hosting over two dozen cryptozoology, science, curiosity, and Fortean themed vendors. This event is an important program and fundraiser supporting the non-profit scientific and educational mission of the International Cryptozoology Museum (ICM).

Special rates for kids under 13, as always babes in arms and strollers are free.

  • Friday Night VIP Event Schedule:
    3:00-6:00pm - Vendor Room Early Access (not all vendors may yet be present)
    4:30-6:30pm - Meet & Greet Tea Time Fundraiser for Herp Haven - touch reptiles, chat with cryptozoology experts and other enthusiasts 
    6:00-7:00pm - Casual Pizza Dinner with VIP seating - eat and mingle with over a dozen cryptozoology celebrities! Celebrities include most of our speakers and: Nathaniel Brislin author of "Crawlers: A Conclusive Casebook,” Aleksandar Petakov of Small Town Monsters, Michael Familant of In the Shadow of Big Red Eye, Jeff Foran of Strangeology Podcast, Sam Baltrusis author of Ghosts of Salem, Travis J Hill - artist, and more!
    7:00-8:00pm - Keynote Address: J.W. Ocker, author of The United States of Cryptids: A Tour of American Myths and Monsters
    8:00-10:00pm - Screening of BIG FUR, a feature documentary movie about taxidermist Ken Walker, Bigfoot and the value of wilderness. Meet taxidermist Ken Walker, filmmaker Dan Wayne, and "Patty" the bigfoot.
     
  • Saturday Main Conference Schedule:
    9:00-6:00pm - Vendor Room Fully Open
    9:45-10:00am - Official Conference Welcome
    10:00-10:45am - "Bigfoot in Maine: Back into the Woods" - Michelle Souliere, author of Bigfoot in Maine & Strange Maine
    11:00-11:45am - "Cryptozoology Adventures" - Pat Spain, host of Travel Channel's Legend Hunter, Nat Geo's Beast Hunter
    12:15-12:45pm - "Mystery Cats" - Jean Tewksbury, Eastern Cougar Researcher
    12:00-1:00pm - Lunch at the Food Trucks & Vendor room open
    1:00-:1:45pm - "Big Cats are Scary: A case study of cryptozoology & folklore" - Christopher Packard, author, biologist, and folklorist
    2:00-2:45pm - "My Favorite 25 Cryptozoology Facts" - Wen Eldridge, cryptozoologist and creator at Facebook's "Cryptozoology Facts"
    3:00-3:45pm - "Cryptozoology, Cthulhu, and Lovecraft" - David Goudsward, author and cryptozoologist
    4:00-4:45pm - "Digging into Skinwalker Ranch's Cryptozoology: Bigfoot, Dogmen, & Dinobeavers" - Loren Coleman, author, cryptozoology legend, and founder of the ICM
    5:00-5:30pm - Official Closing Remarks
     
  • Dinner on your own - offsite - see what Portland has to offer.
  • Optional Add-on - The International Cryptozoology Museum is open during the conference and Sunday 10-6 and is only a short distance away from the conference and come tour the museum!  Separate ticket purchase required.
     
  • Special rates available in our block of rooms at the Clarion - room availability is limited so book your reservation now, only rooms in the block include free breakfast.  Reservation link: https://www.choicehotels.com/reservations/groups/YH91V6
Date & Time

Apr 26 - 27, 2024

Venue Details

Clarion Hotel Airport & Conference Center

1230 Congress Street
Portland, Maine 04102 Clarion Hotel Airport & Conference Center
International Cryptozoology Museum

THE WORLD'S FIRST & ONLY CRYPTOZOOLOGY MUSEUM

Cryptozoology is the study of hidden or unknown animals. These are usually larger zoological species that, to date, remain unverified by science, such as Yetis, Bigfoot, Lake Monsters, and Sea Serpents, as well as hundreds of other yet-to-be-found animals, referred to as “cryptids”, worldwide (for which compelling ethnoknown evidence has been collected for their possible existence.) It also encompasses the study of animals of recent discovery, such as the coelacanth, okapi, megamouth shark, giant panda, and mountain gorilla.

The International Cryptozoology Museum has, as its primary mission: to educate, inform, and share cryptozoological evidence, artifacts, replicas, and popular cultural items with the general public, media, students, scholars, and cryptozoologists from around the world.

This museum is the result of more than five decades of field research, travel, and dedication to gathering representative materials, native art, footcasts, hair samples, models, and other cryptozoological samples. Its director, Loren Coleman has moved his cabinet-of-curiosities home museum collection to a more formal foundation establishment in a planned, secure fashion. He and a dedicated battery of volunteers opened the museum, first in 2003, and then moved to the downtown public location on November 1, 2009, as the world’s first cryptozoology museum. On September 15, 2011, the next step was the nonprofit incorporation of the museum in the State of Maine, and then moving into a larger venue for its broad mission purposes.

Realizing that cryptozoology is a “gateway science” for many young people’s future interest in biology, zoology, wildlife studies, paleoanthropology, paleontology, anthropology, ecology, marine sciences, and conservation, the International Cryptozoology Museum is filling a needed educational, scientific, and natural history niche in learning.

The International Cryptozoology Museum is a registered 501c3 non-profit educational charity in the United States. Our physical museum location is at Thompson's Point in Portland, Maine.