We have some news for you guys! Although there are a few final niggles to iron out – t-crossing, i-dotting things – we’re far enough in the booking process to inform you the exact location of the Summer of Sonic 2009. I hinted in my Twitter account that it will be somewhere to the East of Zone 1 (‘Zones’ are London Underground areas). SOS 09 will take place in the colourful marketplace of Brick Lane, at Truman Brewery’s Boiler House (that image is of the inside, with stuff in it). We have more details on the location, including a handy map, on our newly opened Where Is It page – do give it a nose.

I’m going to drop a few more hints as to what you can expect in the lead up to SOS this year – after much deliberation, this event will be free to attend, just like the initial convention in 2008. So all you have to worry about is travel and snoozing down in London, if the mood takes you.

One of the biggest things we were asked was the facility of ‘merchandise shops’ for attendees to spend, spend spend. In fact, it’s one of the things I’d really like to happen too, but unfortunately I can’t comment on whether we can do this yet in SOS 09 or not. The problem being that there are all sorts of legal and property rights issues surrounding the selling of Sonic the Hedgehog licensed products (I’m not joking – SEGA are somehow in a legal tussle to sell stuff from their own brand) so it could put a damper on things. Having said that, there’s nothing stopping license holders from attending the event, but I can’t say whether that will happen or not yet, so fingers crossed!

We’re still fumbling through our list of Special Guests, so aren’t ready to comment on anything just yet… however, I can tease that legendary game composer Richard Jacques and the lovely singer TJ Davis were said to enjoy attending Summer of Sonic 2008. If you missed out on Richard and TJ’s magnificent performance last year, there’s a chance you’ll still be able to meet them this year…

There will be a legal requirement for us to have names of those attending the Summer of Sonic in case of a fire or other emergency – a page will be created soon where you can sign your name (much like last year’s registration page, minus the threat of not getting in), so if you want to get in smoothly and quickly on the day you should let us know your name/s on the upcoming page. If you turn up on the day, all carefree like a bird, we’ll have to take your names down on the door so it might slow things down for you. Just giving you a heads up.

Specific things such as fan interaction and special things that the community will be preparing for the convention will be revealed very soon – in the meantime, give us your thoughts on these latest developments! We’re listening!

Tags: Brick Lane, Richard Jacques, Summer of Sonic 2009, The Boiler House, TJ Davis, Truman Brewery