It's here! AireCon 2022 kicks off in Harrogate tomorrow and here is what to look forward to

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One of the biggest analogue gaming festivals in the UK, the three days of gaming, exhibitions, product launches, large scale social games, special guests and more. will see some of the biggest and most exciting names in international gaming with more than 60 exhibitors showing-off games and launching new products.

AireCon 2022 director Mark Cooke told the Harrogate Advertiser: "We can't wait to open the doors for our biggest ever AireCon.

"The buzz online has been really wonderful to see, and we're looking forward to welcoming everyone back to Harrogate.

"Also, AireCon are going to be running a ‘Games For Ukraine’ initiative in the form of a massive bring n buy sale.

"If you would like to help support the Ukrainian people we are going to set up a 'Pay what you feel' table in the Bring n Buy.

"We're asking for donations of games from our attendees to go on this table. Others can choose games from this table and pay what they think it's worth to the Bring n Buy team.

"They don't need to be pre-registered, just hand them in to the Bring n Buy team at AireCon.

"100% of the proceeds from these sales will be donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, providing food, water, shelter and healthcare to refugees and displaced families."

Running in the exhibition halls at Harrogate Convention Centre from Friday, March 11 and Sunday, March 13, this year's AireCon boasts guests of the calibre of the creators of CoraQuest - the West Yorkshire father and daughter lockdown project that sold more than 6,000 copies on Kickstarter - plus influential gaming YouTubers Watch It Played.

Originally set up by director Mark Cooke 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 and realising they were onto something big, Airecon added engineer Rick Meeson and Nabil Homsi, director of the Leeds based Travelling Man chain of comic and board gamenshops 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 has allowed them to become one of the largest events of their type in the UK.

Now an essential date for fans across Britain, this year AireCon will also be launching an exciting new addition to the festival with AireBus - The AireBus is a VIP coach complete with tables for onboard gaming that will be collecting passengers in London and driving to Harrogate via a number of shops throughout the country.

With community at its heart, AireCon offers a huge amount of table space for attendees to meet together and game outside of the exhibitor and demo space.

For those attending who are new to the hobby or wanting to experience gaming in this way for the first time, Travelling Man, the Leeds based comic shop chain, will be on-site with a huge library of free to play board games available to attendees.

The AireBus will be stopping at Ludoquist Cafe in Croydon, The Dice Cup & Warhammer World in Nottingham, Travelling Man in Leeds and The Secret Lair in Harrogate before arriving at AireCon.

For tickets, visit:

www.airecon.co.uk

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