The International Conference on Live Coding (ICLC) has been live coding's primary academic and community venue since 2015

The International Conference on Live Coding (ICLC, iclc.toplap.org) is the main annual venue for research, practice, and community exchange in live coding, and its open-access proceedings are the primary archive of peer-reviewed live coding scholarship (system descriptions, empirical studies, critical reflections, and live performances). It was established by the Live Coding Research Network (AHRC-funded, led by Thor Magnusson and Alex McLean) and first held at the University of Leeds in 2015; subsequent editions moved between host cities: Ontario (2016), Morelia, Mexico (2017), Madrid (2019), Limerick (2020), Valdivia, Chile (2021, the first in South America), Utrecht (2023), Shanghai (2024), Barcelona (2025). Two structural features distinguish it from a typical academic computer-music conference: it increasingly takes on a festival atmosphere, and it deliberately lowers barriers for practitioners without institutional backing through free/low-cost entry and travel grants. The 2017 Morelia edition and the 2019 Madrid Livecoders latinoamericanos day were pivotal in establishing the field’s global (not merely European) character, and the conference is now held in both English and Spanish. Related venues include NIME, FARM, ICLI, WAC, and HLCI.

Examples

ICLC 2017 in Morelia featured a landmark LiveCodeNet Ensamble performance; ICLC 2021 in Valdivia was the first held in South America. Proceedings are freely available and cite foundational authors (Magnusson, McLean, Collins), so a live coder researching pattern theory or a new environment can cite peer-reviewed work rather than scattered blog posts.

Assessment

State the year ICLC has run annually since and name two conferences relevant to live coding beyond it. Name two structural features that distinguish ICLC from a typical academic computer-music conference, and explain the significance of hosting the 2017 edition in Morelia, Mexico.