Just in time for the 150th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Rice Burroughs, the convention for the fans of the author and his work returns for its fourth go-round at PulpFest 2025.
ERBFest was founded in 2021 when it appeared as if a second summer was going to pass without both of the usual Burroughs conventions.
Thankfully, the 2021 Dum-Dum — hosted by The Burroughs Bibliophiles, the nonprofit literary society devoted to the life and works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, was held in New Mexico later that year. Unfortunately, there was no Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship gathering in 2021.
That first ERBFest proved popular and there were calls for more. The convention returned in 2023 to honor the centennials of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., and the author’s celebrated Moon Trilogy. Last year, ERBFest 2024 saluted the 100th anniversary of the first book publication of Burroughs’ The Land That Time Forgot and the 50th anniversary of the film version of Burroughs’ adventure classic.
ERBFest 2025 will pay tribute to the “Master of Romance and Adventure” with presentations on “Edgar Rice Burroughs and the Ideal Male,” “Tarzan: Lord of the Merchandising Jungle,” “The Masters of Tarzan Illustration,” and “Ray Bradbury, Burroughs’ Disciple.” Additionally, the very popular panel, “The Universe According to Edgar Rice Burroughs,” will take place on Friday afternoon, August 8. Closing things out will be the “Barsoomian Bull Session” on Saturday night in the hotel’s Ember & Vine social lounge. Door prizes will be awarded to those in attendance at the ERBFest social gathering.
ERBFest 2025 will also present an art show on Friday and Saturday afternoons, saluting Edgar Rice Burroughs’s 150th birthday. All this and more will be part of this year’s ERBFest. We’ll be offering more details on our ERBFest presentations next spring and summer.
PulpFest will be the site of ERBFest 2025. The Burroughs convention will be co-hosted by Henry G. Franke III — the editor of The Burroughs Bulletin and The Gridley Wave monthly newsletter — and the PulpFest 2025 organizing committee. Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Vice President of Publishing Christopher Paul Carey and Vice President of Operations Cathy Mann Wilbanks will also be lending their support.
Make your plans now to head for the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry in Mars, Pennsylvania from August 7 – 10 for ERBFest 2025 and PulpFest 2025 and PulpFest 2025. Your membership in PulpFest will also make you a member of ERBFest 2025, FarmerCon XX (more on that in January), and Doc Con XXI, the convention for the “Fans of Bronze.”
That’s 4 conventions for the price of one! You can’t beat that, especially if you’re a Burroughs, Doc, Farmer, and pulps enthusiast! We hope you’ll join us from August 7 – 10, 2025 for ERBFest 2025.
Our featured image is excerpted from J. Allen St. John’s dust jacket art for the first edition of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s The Eternal Lover, published in 1925 by A. C. McClurg. Our lead image was adapted by PulpFest advertising director William Lampkin from J. Allen St. John’s dust jacket art for the first edition of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar, published in 1918 by A. C. McClurg. The ERBFest logo was also designed by William Lampkin.
Norman Bean is an Edgar Rice Burroughs fan who joined the staff of volunteer writers for our website in August 2023. We look forward to more contributions from Norman in the years ahead.
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