Fetish Con XXIV lands at the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront August 6 through 9, and the numbers alone tell you this isn’t a small operation. Now in its 24th year, it holds the title of the original fetish trade show, and it’s still one of the largest events of its kind on the East Coast. 
This is an 18+ event, and that distinction matters for how the show operates. Unlike a general-audience con, Fetish Con leans into trade show fundamentals: business-to-business networking, vendor education, and an actual marketplace with real commerce happening on the floor. The Thursday programming block, branded FACTalks, is built specifically around industry connections rather than public browsing, giving creators and business owners a day to network before the doors open wider to attendees.
What’s Actually on the Floor
Walk the vendor hall and the craftsmanship is the story. This isn’t mass-produced merch tables. You’ll find leatherworkers hand-tooling belts, collars, and armor pieces one at a time, rope makers running entire spool operations with custom dye jobs, bootmakers stocking wall after wall of platform and lace-up styles, and woodworkers turning out precision-finished implements that look more like fine furniture than anything else. Booths like Ribbons and Rivets bring full costume builds, horned masks, and leather armor that would look at home at any fantasy con. The Dungeon Store and similar vendors round out the floor with an enormous range of accessories, and specialty outfits like DyeAddictRope showcase custom-dyed cordage that’s become its own niche art form within the community.
Beyond the Vendor Floor
Fetish Con has built out a full slate of signature programming over the years, and 2026 keeps the tradition going. The 6th Annual Bondage Battle returns as one of the weekend’s marquee competitive events, alongside the 18th Annual George Pérez Superheroine Showdown, a costume competition with deep roots in the con’s history and a nod to the late comic artist’s influence on the fetish costuming scene. The Twisted Dungeon offers demo space throughout the weekend, and the convention’s Pervy Pool Parties have become as much a draw as the trade show itself, running nightly for pre-registered all-access badge holders.
Consent and kink safety sessions are baked into the official schedule too. Fetish Con isn’t just spectacle. It runs structured education tracks alongside the party programming, treating safety literacy as a core part of what the convention offers its attendees.
The weekend builds toward the 24th Annual Fetish Ball and Bash, the closing celebration that’s been a fixture of the con since its earliest years in the early 2000s. Costuming at this event runs the gamut from full latex character builds to superhero send-ups to elaborate horror and fantasy looks, and the red carpet photo ops before the Ball consistently produce some of the most striking imagery to come out of the weekend.
Fetish Con XXIV runs August 6-9, 2026, at the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront. More information and registration details are available at fetishcon.com.
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