Convention Survival Guide

Last weekend saw the UK Games Expo take place in Birmingham, which is the UK’s biggest convention dedicated to tabletop gaming in all its forms. If you’ve never been, it’s an amazing, and absolutely enormous, explosion of board games, roleplaying games, card games and more and I highly recommend it!

And there are loads of other conventions happening around this time of year as well, from MCM Comic-Con in London (in May and October), to my favourite festival of all, Fantasy Forest in Cheltenham, and that’s not to mention all of the smaller comic-cons and festivals which happen all throughout the country. Do a quick internet search and I’m sure you’ll be able to find one near where you live!

Conventions can be lots of fun, but they can also be overwhelming and tiring. Depending on the size and location of the event that you’re going to there can be a lot of people in an enclosed space, which can be challenging.

In this blog post we’re going to think about some top tips to help you survive and thrive at conventions and festivals.

Look After Your Body

This might sound obvious, but it’s amazing how easy it is to forget to look after your physical needs when you’re busy having fun!

Make sure you drink plenty of water. Whether the event is indoors or outdoors you need to keep yourself hydrated. I recommend taking a refillable water bottle, as lots of places will have drinking water taps or fountains where you can re-fill them (or if they don’t you can ask the staff at coffee shops to refill it for you) and that way you won’t have to spend money on bottled water, which is better for both your wallet and the environment.

If the festival is outdoors, like Fantasy Forest, then make sure you wear sunscreen and keep topping it up throughout the day, you don’t want to end up as red as a tiefling the next day!

Wear comfy shoes, or at least take some with you to change into if you absolutely must wear uncomfy shoes as part of a cosplay outfit! You will be doing a lot of walking at a convention or festival, so your poor feet will thank you for wearing something comfy.

Avoid Sensory Overload

Conventions and festivals can be a sensory nightmare. There are so many people, and so many sights, sounds and smells. If you know that that is something that you struggle with then it’s okay to go and find a quiet spot to rest and destimulate, or even leave the event for a while and come back later when you feel ready.

If the noise of an event is an issue, you can wear earplugs or ear defenders. I personally use Loop Engage earplugs and I find them so helpful, as they reduce the background noise but still allow me to hear conversations I’m having.

Plan Ahead

This advice is two-fold, as by this I mean planning ahead both before and during the event.

Before the event make sure you think about everything you might want to take with you. Have you packed your… Water bottle? Sunscreen? Painkillers? Food? Extra bag for the inevitable purchases you are going to make?

When you’re at the event, or before if you’re keen, make sure you have a good look at the programme and decide in advance which panels/shows/events/etc you want to go to. There’s nothing worse than realising you missed out on something you really wanted to go to because you didn’t know when it was happening.

Pace Yourself (And Your Wallet!)

Whilst you might want to go to every single panel and show, I am sorry to say that that probably won’t be possible. For starters some of them will be at the same time so you’ll have to pick between them, but also you’ll just end up really tired and overwhelmed. Try to prioritise the things you really want to do/see, and if you’re at an event for multiple days try to spread things out across the different days.

Similarly, whilst you might want to buy every single thing you see, you probably can’t afford to, unless you’re a millionaire or something. A few years ago at the UK Games Expo, the friend that I was there with was lucky enough to win their competition for a £1000 spending spree at the event. It was an incredible experience to walk around the convention with a member of staff and have them pay for anything and everything that we wanted, until we had spent £1000!

If you’re not a millionaire or a competition winner though, you might find it helpful to decide in advance what your spending budget for the event is (don’t forget to include food and drinks) and then get that amount out in cash, and only spend that cash at the event. Don’t let yourself use your bank card or phone at all, as it’s way too easy to spend more than you mean to if you’re not using cash. Plus then the vendors don’t lose some of their profit to the card machine companies, so really it’s a win for everyone!

Any more?

So there you have our top tips for surviving big events like conventions and festivals. Do you have any other suggestions that you find helpful? Let us know in the comments we’d love to hear them.