Steve Urkel is finally coming to 90s Con. Jaleel White, who made the suspendered, nasally voiced Family Matters character a household name, will return to the nostalgia convention when it returns to the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford from October 16 through 18, 2026. He joins a lineup organizers say includes the largest Full House cast reunion ever assembled at a fan convention, with John Stamos and Lori Loughlin both set to appear.
The event is produced by That's 4 Entertainment, the New Jersey-based company that first built a business around themed nostalgia gatherings with Christmas Con in 2019 before launching 90s Con in 2022, according to the Johnson County Post. Co-founders Liliana Kligman and Christina Figliolia have since grown the brand into a touring franchise. As the Hartford Courant reports, the October gathering has become a major annual event in Connecticut, offering celebrity autographs, selfies, panel discussions, a cosplay competition, vendors and sometimes concerts at the Hartford venue located at 900 Columbus Blvd.
From a Hartford Debut to a National Franchise
90s Con's roots trace back to the Connecticut Convention Center, where the inaugural event ran March 11 to 13, 2022, hosted by former Disney Channel star Christy Carlson Romano, per Fanlore. After that debut, the convention company expanded the brand into a bi-annual franchise, adding fall editions in Tampa in 2023 and Daytona Beach in 2024 before bringing the fall event back to Hartford this year, the fan wiki notes. The Courant adds that 90s Con is usually held in spring, and that the 2026 edition was pushed back a few months after key guests withdrew from the originally scheduled dates due to other commitments.
The convention's return gives another boost to a venue built for exactly this kind of draw. Opening in June 2005, the 540,000-square-foot Connecticut Convention Center is the largest convention venue between New York and Boston, according to the Connecticut Convention Center. The building anchors Hartford's $775 million Adriaen's Landing riverfront development, a project that also includes the Hartford Marriott Downtown and the Front Street entertainment district, according to the Capital Region Development Authority.
Decades of Shows Under One Roof
Beyond the Full House reunion and Jaleel White's debut, the Courant's rundown of the 2026 lineup spans a wide swath of 90s television and film. Tara Reid and Rachael Leigh Cook, stars of the 2001 live-action Josie and the Pussycats film, are scheduled to appear alongside Melissa Joan Hart, Nate Richert and Jenna Leigh Green from the seven-season run of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. The guest roster also features Joey Fatone, Zac Hanson, Nick Carter and JC Chasez, as well as Patrick Duffy, Jack Wagner and Lorenzo Lamas, who are attending alongside Full House star John Stamos.
Other confirmed guests include Heather Locklear, Selma Blair, Daphne Zuniga and Busy Philipps, along with Perfect Strangers co-stars Mark Linn-Baker and Bronson Pinchot, Renee Taylor and Jane Seymour, and Omri Katz, who starred in Eerie, Indiana in 1991 and 1992 before appearing in Hocus Pocus in 1993 and later stepping away from acting in the 2000s, per the Courant. A broader event listing from Cosplay 50 notes that beyond Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Josie and the Pussycats, the 2026 roster also includes cast reunions tied to The Nanny, Step by Step, Melrose Place, Hocus Pocus and The Secret World of Alex Mack.
Local Ties and Rising Ticket Costs
Some of the convention's headliners already have Hartford connections this year. 90s Con guest Joey Fatone of *NSYNC was also booked for a local stage run in May 2026, performing in seven shows of the touring musical & Juliet at The Bushnell, according to a report on nsync-fans.com.
Attending 90s Con has also gotten pricier. Ticket prices have climbed since 2024, when adult weekend passes cost $150 and Friday-only passes ran $45, the Connecticut Convention Center's event listing shows. For 2026, those prices rose to $176.10 for a weekend pass and $58.50 for Friday admission, with children's Friday tickets priced at $16.35. Saturday or Sunday single-day admission runs $85.13 for adults and $26.70 for children, per the Courant, and the convention also offers VIP and other add-on packages for fans who want guaranteed photo ops or extended access. Organizers continue to bill the event as the raddest convention this side of the millennium, a tagline that has followed 90s Con since its Hartford origins.
