MidCon

MidCon has been running since 1978 and its purpose over the decades has remained unchanged:  to give people a place to play a huge range of games with others from all over the country (and overseas). 

It takes place in the Derby Mickleover Hotel, and should it need spelling out, that's in Mickleover, near Derby (in the Midlands). MidCon takes over the entire convention wing of the hotel, which contains two small rooms, two medium rooms and one very large room. There is also playing space on the first floor of the hotel's main rotunda, and a further room (which will probably be used for the Bring & Buy) on the top (3rd) floor of the hotel's main rotunda.

The con lasts three days and you don't have to be a resident at the hotel to participate, although roughly half of the 260 or so attendees will be staying at the hotel, taking advantage of the special MidCon rate. 

Aside from one games stand and the MidCon-run Bring & Buy stall, there is no trade presence at the con. It's all about bringing your games and playing them, or playing someone else's games. The website (https://midcon.org.uk) features a “FInd a game” function to make it easier to find game openings or other players for a game you want to play. 

Traditionally, the con takes place in the first or second weekend of November, which means all the hot new games from Essen will be available (and someone will have worked out most of the rules issues!)

There are no seminars, no tournaments, no podcasts, no games demos, no sponsors, and no corporate presence. There is a Saturday night quiz, and a selection of real ales from the Dancing Duck brewery. 

Weekend tickets cost £25, or you can pay £15 for a single day's attendance (£10 on Sunday, as the con officially closes at 6.00 PM, although there is usually a gaggle of gamers still playing in the bar until closing time). You can register in advance on the website.