LEGO conventions happen all over the world, and there’s a LEGO convention happening somewhere just about year-round. Though we can’t cover all of them, we’ll do our best to bring you highlights from BrickCon, Brickworld, Bricks by the Bay, AFOLCON, LEGO Fanwelt, Brick Fiesta, and all the rest.
Registration is now open for BrickCon 2012, October 4th through 7th, 2012 in Seattle (“our fair city”), Washington.
As always, the private convention runs a full four days, from Thursday through Sunday. The public exhibition happens on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets for both are available through BrickCon.org.
And as we’ve done every year since 2008, The Brothers Brick will be organizing a collaborative display. Enough people said things like, “Oh, now I get it! You gonna do it again next year so I can contribute?” after seeing our Numereji 2421 layout that we’ve decided to say “Yes!” and try it again this year. More details to follow over the course of the next few weeks.
Last chance! Don’t delay. This means YOU!
You have just one week to register for the biggest and best (and only) CANADIAN AFOL Convention!
Aside from seeing all the cool LEGO creations and meeting all the
awesome builders… attending Brickfete gets you so SO MUCH MORE!!
Including access to all our games and activities!!!
You can look forward to our Auction, Build Challenges, Brick Trivia,
Various Contests (such as Sugar Pie, Pimp My Moose, Custom Fig,
Miniland Figure, Cube Dude, Life of George, Speed Build, Speed Sort
and Heroes), plus Dirty Brickster and his dirtier little brother,
Dirty MOCster.
You are invited to play in the “Look What I Made!” free build area or
enter (or watch) our Mindstorms & IR/RC Games (such as Fire Fighting,
Pit of Despair and Techball).
But THATS NOT ALL… we have raffles at both Opening & Closing
Ceremonies, presentations, our very own keynote speaker (Waves at
Kevin.)
Plus if you act now! Your very own Brickfete engraved brick and other
event bag goodies.
This fall, the 2012 Memphis Comic and Fantasy Convention will be featuring a section dedicated to Lego where you can see and and display creations. In addition there will be Lego vendors, brickfilm showings, and discussion panels. Click on the poster below for more info.
If you’re considering attending Brick Fiesta from July 4-8 in Houston, you have until the end of this month to guarantee registration with an engraved brick badge. For more info on the convention, check out their website.
For all the LEGO fans in and around Toronto (or Canada and North Eastern USA in general), the dates for Brickfête have been announced. It will be held July 12-15 this year at the Hilton Hotel in Toronto. Press release below.
This is a call out to all AFOL, LEGO collectors, builders, hobbyists, enthusiasts and vendors within walking, driving or flying distance of Toronto, Canada. The Brickfête Team would love to see you this summer for our annual LEGO Fan Convention. Join us for some good times completely focused on our beloved obsession with the brick.
This July 12, 13, 14 & 15, 2012
Hilton Hotel in Toronto, Canada
Our new hotel venue is awesome! Incredible hotel rates have been secured and there is free parking for all Brickfete guests. If you are from out of town (or country) we are located right across from the Toronto Airport, which means you can just fly here, board the shuttle to the hotel and not worry about renting cars, maps or public transit.
Join our website’s free forum if you have any questions or want to discuss things such as sharing a room, collaborative builds, or just a chance to connect with others before the event.
Our list of events are being posted and there is something for everyone to get involved with.
Build Challenges
Live Auction
Prize Raffles
Games
Contests and Activities
And more to come…
Display with us and enjoy the company of other AFOLS. We can’t wait to see you on the attendees list and to see what you have built.
If you are new to conventions and are hesitating… check this forum post out and feel free to ask questions www.brickfete.com/AFOL/thread/120
All the rest of the details and more can be read on www.brickfete.com
Does your child love LEGO?
Check out Brickfête’s Public Expo Days
The general public is invited to view the awesome LEGO Creations on display July 14th and 15th, 2012 – 10am until 3pm
Tickets sold at the door and online
We cant wait to see you there,
The Brickfête Team
“A festival run by fans, made by the fans, for the fans.”
For fans of LEGO in Sydney and around Australia, the inaugaral Sydney Brick Show will happen in the Sydney Powerhouse Museum on June 2-3.
Sydney Brick Show, 2-3 June 2012
Registrations are now open to display and attend the Sydney Brick Show as an AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO®)
SydBricks (A group of Sydney LEGO fans from SydLUG) and the Powerhouse Museum are proud to announce that the first Sydney Brick Show will be held at the museum on the weekend of 2-3 June 2012.
Adult fans are invited to register to display their creations and attend the show. For younger fans wishing to take part the Sydney Brick Show are running a competition where they can submit their creations to win one of 10 family passes and the opportunity to display the winning creation at the show. There will also be a number of interactive activities at the show for younger fans, so keep watch on sydneybrickshow.com.au.
As the show is situated in the Powerhouse Museum, AFOL’s are invited to recreate Museum exhibits in brick alongside the usual MOC creations. Information on exhibits from the museum can be found here. Be in quick to register as some exhibits have already been selected!
Registration to attend the Sydney Brick Show as an AFOL includes entry to the Powerhouse Museum for the duration of the show, Sydney Brick Show badge, show bag and discounted entry to the evening reception event hosted by SydBricks in support of Westmead Children’s Hospital, Sydney.
General tickets for the evening event are on sale now. The evening event will include exclusive entry to see the show without the crowds, a catered cocktail reception, guided talks of the displays, trade tables, charity auction in aid of Westmead Children’s Hospital, a talk from Australian LCP Ryan McNaught and a special presentation from LEGO’s Jim Foulds all the way from the USA.
Since The Brothers Brick contributors can’t be everywhere all the time, we’re going to try being more consistent about bringing you coverage of important LEGO events from guest contributors. To start things off, here’s Carl Merriam to cover the recent Bricks by the Bay!
It’s been a little over a week since the doors closed at Bricks By the Bay 2012. It feels so much longer. Getting back into the flow of real life is always difficult after such a fun and rewarding convention. This year BBtB had more floor space, full use of the convention center theater and breakout rooms and quite a few more attendees and visiting public.
At the opening ceremonies we enjoyed some playful banter from LEGO Company representatives Kevin Hinkle, Jim Foulds, Steven Canvin, and Jenn Wagner. Hinkle also unveiled the new R2-D2 UCS set. I played with it myself and it does have some very nifty features, including folding computer interface and buzzsaw arms, as well as a “retractable third leg”.
On Saturday night the fire alarm in the hotel went off and everyone had to leave the exhibit hall. Most groups of people would have been frustrated. We took it as kind of an impromptu meet and greet. Talking about all things LEGO and getting to know the new people who were nearby, the time passed quickly. It turns out that the fire alarms were malfunctioning.
Attendees may have noticed BLARE Media running around all over the convention, filming scenes for the upcoming feature film Brick Madness. Justin McAleece, the film’s director, was kind enough to put together this brand new mashup of some scenes shot at BBtB 2012 for us to enjoy:
My only complaints about this year’s BBtB were the absence of both the Bricks of Character category (Iain, you know LEGO is more important than that work nonsense you’re always going on about) and the Nova Albion steampunk convention that we all so enjoyed cross-pollinating with last year. However, their absence was totally circumstantial and not controlled by BBtB. I wore my commemorative bricks for both all weekend in memorandum.
Brick Fiesta is taking place in Houston from July 4 – 8 and registration is now open. This is the second year of this growing Southern Lego convention, and you can see pictures from the first event on Flickr.
The North American LEGO convention season is coming up surprisingly soon, beginning with Bricks by the Bay in mid-March and wrapping up with BrickCon in October.
The newest LEGO convention will be held June 1-3, 2012 in Portland, Oregon. Here’s the official description for Bricks Cascade.
Bricks Cascade is a convention held in Portland, Oregon, open to Adult Fans of Lego who excel in building various items of detail whose existence beg a public display to the community. Attendees of the Convention must be at least 18 years of age, or if under 18, can only obtain registration if accompanied by a registered adult. The convention officially begins on June 1st 2012 and ends on the evening of June 3rd, 2012.
Friendships, knowledge sharing, and building techniques are just a few benefits gained by attending the convention. More details can be given about this convention on this web site in the coming months. All Convention Attendees pay $52.00 during our initial registration period. Please fill out all information requested to insure your entrance ID is created without errors and prevent any delays during on-site registration fulfillment.
Registration opens today for Brickworld Chicago 2012, the highly-attended Lego convention from June 13-17. I want to remind anyone planning on going to register and pay a few months in advance because registration always reaches its cap and MOC display space will run out. Check out photos of Brickworld on Flickr to see displays from the previous events.
Registration for Brickvention 2012 and tickets for the public days are now open. The 2012 event will be held in the same place as the 2011 event (Melbourne Town Hall) with public days on the 21st-22nd January 2012 and a registered attendees only day on the 20th (with setup on the 19th).
As ever I expect this event to be heaps of fun. Last year’s event was huge and if past growth continues we can expect this year’s to be even bigger. I’m sure details of collaborative events will be announced closer to the time so keep an eye on the website for future announcements.
The timing makes BV 2012 a bit closer to Australia Day this year so if you’re coming from interstate or overseas try booking your accomodation sooner rather than later.
Please note that this year a new system is in place for registration. And especially note that a pre-purchased ticket will be required to attend the public days. This is to ease waiting times for those attending.
To become a registered attendee able to attend all days and display your models:
Registered memberships cost $60 (plus booking fee).
Make sure you bring along your printed tickets to the event.
Due to venue size, there are only 150 registrations available. The first 50 people who register will be entered into a special competition organised by LEGO Australia.
If you want to just check out the displayed models on the weekend:
Saturday 21st and Sunday the 22nd from 9.30am – 5.30pm are the Public Expo days, allowing the general public of all ages to watch LEGO® builders at work and view LEGO® creations and displays.
You will need to pre-purchase tickets for this display.
Make sure you bring along your printed tickets to the event!
And if you don’t know where and when it is:
The next Brickvention will be held over the weekend of 21st and 22nd January 2012 at The Melbourne Town Hall, corner of Swanston and Collins Streets Melbourne Victoria, where anyone can come along and view the amazing creations made out of LEGO.
