WILLIAMSBURG — BurgQuest, a family-friendly festival celebrating board games and role-playing games sponsored by the City of Williamsburg, will take place Oct. 10-12 at the Sadler Center on the campus of William & Mary.
Guests may purchase a single badge, good for access to all three days of the event or a day pass for Saturday or Sunday.
According to the city, BurgQuest has partnered with the tabletop division of gaming nonprofit MAGFest — or Music & Gaming Festival — to host a free play game library at the festival. Attendees will be able to browse through a library of hundreds of game titles to check out and play with others on-site.
BurgQuest will also feature a variety of live musical, game show, and comedic performances. Highlights include “The Fantasy Tavern,” an interactive musical show from New York City, a “Mario Party Live” adaptation of the Nintendo digital tabletop game, a cosplay contest and historical combat demonstrations from Virginia nonprofit Virago Alley, and multiple “actual play” role-playing game theater performances.
“Last year was a great success, and we discovered a real hunger for this kind of festival or programming in Williamsburg. So we’re very excited to build upon what we started last year with a bigger event, a bigger space, a bigger lineup of programs, more games and we’re very excited to see it all come together,” said Adam Stackhouse, owner of AVAdventure Production, which is organizing the event.
Players curious to try new games with experienced game masters can sign up for sessions to learn from the pros and play with other attendees, including Mahjong classes from local organization RichMahj and one-shot Dungeons & Dragons adventures with expert Dungeon Masters from Goblins and Growlers.
Organizers add attendees can also try their hand at making their own games in the festival’s Game Design Workshop series, led by academic guests Nicholas Fortugno and Bobby Schweizer.
Additional guests include voice actors Sarah Elmaleh (Fortnite, Hi-Fi Rush) and Noshir Dalal (Critical Role, various Star Wars roles), who will be leading industry workshops on voice acting and motion capture performance.
A panel lineup featuring talks from both guests and submitting attendees will feature a variety of topics: from sessions on playing role-playing games for the first time to high-energy comedy shows with audience involvement, organizers said.
Registration for guests over the age of 10 is $40 for the full weekend, or $30 for a day pass. Children ages 3-10 can register for $20 for the full weekend, or $15 for a day. Children aged 2 and under attend for free.
The full weekend schedule, tickets available for purchase, and additional details are available at the event website: burg.quest or burgquest.com.
