Gamers flock to Harrogate for major festival which started originally as a small home gathering

Running from Thursday, March 13 to Sunday, March 16, AireCon has grown from a home gathering to a public event that takes up five halls at Harrogate Convention Centre.

Now Yorkshire's premiere analog gaming festival, this friendly and inclusive event offers endless things to do, from exhibition and demos, tournaments and events, Bring n Buy and RPG to playing games.

On top of that, it has partnered with Travelling Man to bring a games library of more than 500 games that you can borrow games from for free throughout the events.

Renowned MC Paul Flannery (of Knightmare Live and Questiny fame) will host a dazzling array of shows, each crafted especially for AireCon by some of the country’s most talented game creators and entertainers.

Other big names include legendary Johnny Chiodini, revered Dungeon Master and YouTube star (Oxventure), and Ivan Brett (The Traitors) with a second helping of his unique show, Entropoly.

Whether you've come alone or with a massive group you'll find plenty of fun to be had and new friendly faces to meet.

Ticket holders are also welcome to have a nosy at the FAQ section to answer all their burning questions.

Originally set up by Mark Cooke, the founder and director of AireCon, as a place for him and his friends to hang out and play games, the first AireCon was held in his North Leeds flat before teaming up with accountant Ben Clarkson and moving to a venue in Bradford for its first two public events in 2016.

After quickly outgrowing its first venue, Airecon added engineer Rick Meeson and Nabil Homsi, director of the Leeds-based Travelling Man chain of comic and board game shops to the team to focus on expansion.

A long search led them to The Harrogate Convention Centre, their home since 2017 and a platform that means Airecon is now an essential date for analogue games fans across Britain.

For information and tickets, visit https://www.airecon.co.uk/tickets