| Brickfête | |
| Status: | Active |
| Genre: | Lego |
| Venue: | Various |
| Location: | Toronto area |
| Country: | Canada |
| First: | 2011 |
| Organizer: | Ontario Brick Builders |
| Website: | www.brickfete.com |
Brickfête is a Lego fan convention held annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It became the first Canadian Lego convention for adult fans of Lego at its inaugural event in 2011.[1] It was created by volunteers[2] and organized by the Ontario Brick Builders (OBB).[3] The main focus of the convention is for Lego fans and hobbyists bring their creations to display and share with fellow enthusiasts. Brickfête's mandate is to offer any fan, regardless of skill level or size of collection, a place to display their creations and to promote their revered hobby to new potential fans. Like other fan conventions, it offers workshops, presentations, special events, contests and challenges.
Brickfête is a four-day event typically held on a Thursday through Sunday. Brickfête is held typically in July in Toronto. In its third year, Brickfête also created a travelling road show (Brickfête - On the Road), which takes a similar, yet smaller show throughout Canada. Its first destination was Montreal, Quebec.[4]
Brickfête is a two part event with a private convention for (primarily adult) exhibitors and then a public exhibition (general public) on the weekend. The event is not sponsored by the Lego Company however it is recognized as a fan event by them.[5]
The main focus of the event is the private convention, which provides a venue for adult fans of Lego to bring and display their own Lego creations. Activities at the convention include presentations, seminars, guest speakers, raffles, games, contests and awards. The Lego company will sometimes provides designers or representatives as guest speakers or to show sneak peek previews of upcoming sets.[6] The full attendee receives an event package including a schedule of events, give-aways from vendors, souvenirs of the event including an event brick, and other exclusive material.[7]
The public exhibition is for Lego fans of all ages. For a nominal fee, the general public can view of hobbyist-built creations, meet and ask questions of their creators, or expand their interest in building or collecting Lego. Guest can expect to see custom creations that include but are not limited to Lego Robots & Mindstorms creations, city layouts with powered trains, space, Star Wars & science fiction creations, art, architecture and design, planes, trains and automobiles, historical buildings and castles, pirates, steampunk and Vikings, and mosaics and sculptures. There is a build area for hands-on experimenting.[8]
| Dates | Location | Organizer | Host Lug | AFOL & VIP Attendees | Theme | Guest Speakers | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 28–31, 2011 | Assembly Hall, Toronto | OBB | rtlToronto | 78 & 3 | Old School | Jim Foulds | First Brickfête event | |
| July 12–15, 2012 | Hilton Hotel, Toronto | OBB | WHaCKoLUG | 106 & 70 | Heroes | Kevin Hinkle | Moved to a larger venue, Star Wars characters entertained | |
| July 11–14, 2013 | Hilton Hotel, Toronto | OBB | rtlToronto | 122 & 78 | Canadian Inventions & Inventors | Kevin Hinkle, Pierre Normandin, Graeme Dymond | Life-size Lego figure entertained, Duplo play area for children under 3 was added | |
| Nov 21–24, 2013 | Montreal | OBB | QueLUG | 86 & 80 | Construction | Kevin Hinkle | First "On the Road" show | |
| July 17–20, 2014 | Delta East, Toronto | OBB | WHaCKoLUG | N/A | Elements | Jamie Berard, Kevin Hinkle | Venue change for better location and free public parking | |
| July 3–5, 2015 | Delta East, Toronto | OBB | WHaCKoLUG | N/A | Fire | unknown | ||
| July 7–10, 2016 | Delta East, Toronto | OBB | WHaCKoLUG | N/A | Music | unknown | ||
| July 8–9, 2017 | Delta East, Toronto | OBB | WHaCKoLUG | N/A | Canadian | unknown |
680 News[9] Etobicoke Guardian [10]