Top 5 Upcoming Gaming Conventions In Europe And The US

If you’re an avid gamer then you’re probably keeping tabs on some of the world’s most famous gaming conventions, including the likes of BlizzCon and DragonCon. However, there are numerous other gatherings happening across Europe and the United States that promise to quench your thirds for geekiness and gaming, and I’m about to tell you a few things about some of them. Below you will find a list containing five of the most important upcoming gaming conventions in Europe and in the US, so get to reading and start packing your bags because some of them are about to kick off quite soon.

Insomnia Gaming Festival

The UK-based Insomnia Gaming Festival is a popular large-scale gaming event that started out as a PC gaming only event. Lately, however, the organizers have agreed to incorporate console games into the festivities as well, probably due to the increasing popularity of consoles. The very first Insomnia event, namely Insomnia99, hosted 300 players in total and represented the largest LAN party ever held in the United Kingdom at the time. This year, the Insomnia Gaming Festival is set to take place between December 11 and December 14 in NEC, Birmingham.

U-Con

The U-Con gaming convention was inaugurated back in 1988, and it is currently being held every fall in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. The convention has been known for its affiliations with different University of Michigan student organizations, but it currently represents a non-profit and non-affiliated event. The mid-sized convention features its own exhibit hall, auction and various seminars that focus on game design and other gaming-related topics. This year, U-Con will open its doors on November 20, and it will close them on November 22.

Winter Fantasy/D&D Experience

The Winter Fantasy gaming convention traces its roots back to 1977, and it managed to hold on to this name until 2007 when it was renamed to D&D Experience. The event is set to take place in Fort Wayne, Indiana between February 3 and February 7 in 2016, and it will probably include special events such as living campaign programs or Pathfinder Society games. Some of these events are simply not available elsewhere in the world, and this definitely contributes to Winter Fantasy’s overall popularity.

Con of the North

The Con of the North gaming convention was inaugurated back in 1993 and is currently taking place annually in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, USA, usually on President’s Day weekend. Some of its most noteworthy activities include Fantasy Flight Games, MIDI Maze, Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader tournaments and Clay Olympics. The next Con of the North will take place between February 13 and February 15, 2016 at Crowne Plaza Minneapolis West.

Paris Games Week

Paris Games Week is a relatively new event that took place for the first time in 2010. Organized by SELL, this is a trade fair for video games, which opens its doors each year at the Paris expo Porte de Versailles and usually enjoys an attendance of hundreds of thousands of people. This makes Paris Games Week the second most attended video game expo in the world after Germany’s Gamescom. In 2015, this event is scheduled to take place between October 28 and November 1.