Magfest is a four day gaming convention in National Harbor, right outside of Washington DC. It always takes place in January right before Katsucon, in the same venue, at the Gaylord Resort. At least for the past two years; Magfest has sold out at around 25,000 people, days before the event; resulting in some people looking for tickets on Facebook; Instagram, and other social media platforms.
Magfest is a 24 hour convention with around the clock concerts and arcades. Each musical artist is based upon gaming, whether the genre be pop, jazz, experimental, or rave. Cybertronic Spree returned for a second time (last year two appeared as guests) and held a prom. The theme revolved around the 1980s Transformers movie where Optimus Prime dies and the audience passed around the giant robot’s corpse.
There were tons of gaming tournaments including Tekken, Smash Brothers, and WWE where people dressed like wrestlers. I saw an Al snow, Macho Man, Hulk and more. There were Sonic, Zelda and other speed runs and I even saw one person run through Dark Souls 3.
Danny Devito’s shrine returned and all appropriate items are donated to charity. A new vigil was setup for director David Lynch who recently passed. A small tube tv was placed on the floor playing Twin Peaks Fire Walk with Me when I walked by at midnight.
In late 2020, early 2021 there were allegations from six full time employees of gaslighting, manipulation, emotional abuse, and more and that then Executive Director Paul Birtel was accused of neglect, financial mismanagement, and abuse. This resulted in him and the entire Board of Directors resigning and 2021’s Magfest being cancelled. The rebound of the convention has been outwardly flawless, as it has continued to sellout. Magfest’s volunteers and staff are also notoriously more relaxed than those at Katsucon. This convention allows camera tripods while the other doesn’t and says it’s a hotel policy.
Many attendees are hardcore collectors of event memorabilia, waiting long periods of time in line to get annual gear such as tees, hats, and discounts on previous years. This year the Fest merch stand was in the registration room, not the Dealers Hall.
In the Reddit Feedback thread, some people were upset they had to sign up for panels or classes in the makerspace in advance with no indication of when sign ups would begin. Tattoo sign up times were also unclear to some.
Others were upset over people not sharing arcade games, which were free to play. One said a couple were at a Sailor Moon game for over an hour.
