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MAGFest, which stands for Music And Gaming Festival, is a small but rapidly-growing convention that takes place every year in January in the D.C. area. It describes itself as “4 days of non-stop games and concerts,” and believe me, they weren’t kidding about the “non-stop” part. Nearly everything at MAGFest is open 24 hours each day – including the game room, LAN room, JamSpace, arcade cabinets, and marketplace. This means that no matter what time it is, you can find something to do or somewhere to hang out – and you probably won’t be alone.
The game room features both retro classics and modern favorites, and attendees can bring their own consoles, TVs, and arcade machines for everyone to enjoy. It’s easily the most frequented room at the convention, meaning that at the busiest times attendees often have to wait in line to play the more popular games. The game room also features tournaments on selected games, as well as a Challenge Corner where attendees can attempt speed runs and other challenges for prizes.
In the LAN room, MAGFest encourages a BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer) policy, and employs a tagging system so that attendees can check their equipment in and leave it in the room while at panels or concerts, rather than having to stay with it at all times. Players can also designate their computers as either “public” or “private,” depending on whether or not they’d like to allow others to use their equipment.
But main attractions of the convention are the panels and concerts – musicians, voice actors, webcomic artists, and many other noteworthy guests appeared at MAGFest to present Q & A sessions or put on performances. Musicians like The Protomen (shown above) and brentalfloss put on amazing live performances, and most of the guests also sold merchandise and signed autographs for fans after the shows. Some of the panels even allowed attendees to participate, like the Gamer Iron Chef competition. Participants formed teams ahead of time, and were given an interesting mix of ingredients like ramen, cereal, and vodka, and were required to prepare an entree, dessert, and beverage.
MAGFest is run by the fans, for the fans – no showfloors, no industry representation, no corporate sponsors, and much of the equipment available for use at the con is borrowed from attendees. Due to its focus only on video games and game-inspired music (as opposed to extending to anime and comic books as well), the convention draws a unique niche crowd, and the entire event feels like one big party – though that might have something to do with the hotel parties every single night.
Whether you’re into arcade cabinets, PC games, chiptunes, making music, listening to music, or just hanging out with friends, MAGFest is an unforgettable experience. The dates for MAGFest 10 have not yet been announced, but when they are, you’d better preregister immediately! The con had over 3500 attendees, and sold out for the first time ever this year. Brendan “MrMAGFest” Becker (director of the convention, pictured above right with chiptune artist Zen Albatross) stated that MAGFest 9 was “the biggest and best one yet” – which, frankly, is a challenge to make next year even better. If that’s possible.
All photos were taken by and are property of Josh Harrison