The designs of the 2016 Hugo Award trophy and 1941 Retrospective Hugo Award trophy were unveiled during the Opening Ceremonies of MidAmeriCon II, the 74th World Science Fiction Convention, on the afternoon of August 17. In keeping with recent practice, MidAmeriCon II elected to showcase the trophy early in the convention so that members could see it before the final night of Worldcon. The trophy has been on display in the convention’s Hugo Award history exhibit since shortly after the convention’s Opening Ceremonies.
While the Hugo Award trophy always includes the rocket originally designed by Jack McKnight and Ben Jason as refined by Peter Weston, each year’s Worldcon can design its own base. In recent years, most Worldcons have had an open design competition to design the Hugo Award base. The 1941 trophy base was designed by Brent Simmons and the 2016 trophy base was designed by Sara Felix.
The 1941 Retrospective Hugo Awards will be announced and presented at the Retro Hugo Swing Dance Ceremony on Thursday, August 18, 2016.
The 2016 Hugo Awards will be presented at a ceremony in Kansas City, Missouri on the evening of Saturday, August 20, 2016, starting at 8 PM CDT. The ceremony will be broadcast live on Ustream and described on the Hugo Awards web site as a CoverItLive Broadcast.