BrickFest - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

BrickFest was the first convention for adult fans of Lego(AFOLs) in the US. The focus being to have fans bring their favorite creations, often referred to as MOCs (My Own Creations), to display and share with fellow enthusiasts.

Like other conventions, it offered workshops, presentations, special events and challenges.

BrickFest was typically held on a weekend in mid-August in the Washington, D.C area annually from 2000 through 2006. The 2007 and 2009 BrickFests were held in Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

at the Oregon Convention Center.

Private convention

The Private Convention's main focus is to provide a venue for adult fans of LEGO to bring and display their own LEGO

Lego

Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...

constructions. Activities at the convention included presentations, seminars, round-table discussions and contests. The full attendee received a Convention Packet containing a personalized brick name badge and a program of activities.

Public exhibition

The Public Exhibition's main focus was to invite LEGO

Lego

fans of all ages of the general public to view hundreds of hobbyist-built creations and mee their creators.

History

BrickFest 2000 was held in August on the campus of George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia. The lead organizer was Christina Hitchcock. Approximately 60 people attended.

BrickFest 2001 was held in August on the campus of George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia. The lead organizer was Christina Hitchcock. Approximately 150 people attended.

BrickFest 2002 was held in August 2002 on the campus of George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia. The lead organizer was Christina Hitchcock. Approximately 180 people attended.

BrickFest 2003 was held in August 2003 on the campus of George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia. The lead organizer was Christina Hitchcock. Approximately 220 people attended. The first public expo drew about 1000 people.

BrickFestPDX was held 02/13/04 to 02/15/04 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon. It was the first BrickFest to be held outside Virginia. Approximately 200 people attended. The public expo drew about 1200 people.

BrickFest 2004 was held on the campus of George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia from 08/12/04 to 08/14/04. The lead organizer was Christina Hitchcock. Approximately 250 people attended. The public expo drew about 2000 people.

BrickFest 2005: was held on the campus of George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia from 08/12/04 to 08/14/04. The lead organizer was Christina Hitchcock. Approximately 330 people attended. The public expo drew about 3000 people.
- Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen owner of the LEGO Group and grandson of the founder, attended.
- Jake McKee and Mark Hansen announced the release of LEGO Digital Designer. With Lego Digital Designer, customers can design custom sets online, and Lego will pack it up and send it them.

BrickFest 2006 was held at the Sheraton Premiere at Tyson's Corner, Virginia. The lead organizer was Joe Meno. There were approximately 420 people in attendance. The public expo drew about 3500 people. This was the first BrickFest since the launching of Lego Mindstorms NXT
Lego Mindstorms NXT
Lego Mindstorms NXT is a programmable robotics kit released by Lego in late July 2006.It replaced the first-generation Lego Mindstorms kit, which was called the Robotics Invention System. The base kit ships in two versions: the Retail Version and the Education Base Set . It comes with the NXT-G...

, and many of the MUP and MDP members were there to talk about it. Allan Bedford, author of The Unofficial LEGO Builder's Guide, was also there, signing copies of his book.

BrickFest 2007 was held at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon from 03/30 to 04/01. This was originally slated as BrickFest PDX 2007, but relabeled as simply BrickFest 2007 when the August convention was cancelled.

BrickFest 2009 was held at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon from 03/28 to 03/30 2009.
- Approximately 240 people pre registered to attend. The public expo is estimated to have drawn about 4000 people.

BrickFest 2011 was cancelled by the organizers, citing staffing issues.

Private convention

Public exhibition

History

External links

See also