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Minecraft fans have definitely heard the name of the widescale Minecraft-themed convention, "MINECON," at some point in their lives.
MINECON (later renamed; "MINECON Earth," "MINECON Live," "Minecraft Live," and, "Minecraft Festival.") is the most well known name for the annual interactive convention themed around gamers' favorite sandbox game Minecraft.
The convention has been held, officially, since 2010. The last in-person convention was held in 2016, before MINECON transitioned to an interactive online livestream format in order to be more inclusive for players around the world.
However, "Minecraft Festival" is set to be held in-person during 2022 in Orlando, Florida, after being delayed for nearly two years.
There is much to know about the history of MINECON. In this article, we'll not only be informing readers who plan to attend Minecraft Festival 2022 about what they need to know about ticket prices, and where the convention is held. We'll also take a look at the history of MINECON, and the way it's evolved since 2010.
The History of MINECON
MINECON began as a spontaneous gathering conceived through a blog post on Markus "Notch" Persson's Tumblr. It was unofficial, but it was dubbed, "MinecraftCon," and became the first unofficial Minecraft convention.
There was another, unofficial, MINECON that was also held in 2010. This gathering was organized in a thread on the forums, and held on a classic server. It featured a variety of minigames, including spleef and a building competition for those who attended.
They also featured a signature wall signed by each of the attendees, including Notch himself. Although it was unofficial, it was the first convention to coin the name, "MINECON".
The first, official, MINECON was held in 2011. It was located at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 18th. The date of the convention coincided with the official release of the game, and had over four thousand attendees.
This MINECON was very similar to events that would be held in the future. It featured a variety of different events that would continue to be featured in later conventions, such as: building contests, breakout classes about different topics pertaining to the newly-released sandbox game, costume contests, meet and greets, exhibits, and much more.
Attendees of MINECON 2011 also received an exclusive in-game cape, a tradition that would be repeated for years to come.
MINECON 2012 was held in Disneyland Paris from November 24th through the 25th. This convention was just as big of a success as the previous one; with roughly 4,500 attendees present at the convention.
This is most likely attributed to the location, which made the convention available for European fans who might not have been able to attend earlier events. Attendees of MINECON 2012 would, also, receive an exclusive in-game cape.
MINECON 2013 was held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida from November 2nd through the 3rd. Tickets to the event were sold in batches of three; with 2,500 tickets in each batch.
Every single batch of tickets sold out within seconds, bringing the total attendance of this MINECON up to 7,500. Attendees of MINECON 2013 also received an exclusive in-game cape.
MINECON 2015 was held at ExCeL London in London, England from July 4th through the 5th. After plans for MINECON 2014 fell through and were canceled until the following spring, the community excitement for this annual convention was boiling.
There were two batches of tickets; each respectively released on March 27th, 2015, and March 28th, 2015. Each batch had 5,000 tickets, and both completely sold out.
It was announced during the convention's opening ceremony that MINECON had won the Guiness World Record for highest attendance at a convention solely for one game. (However, this is no longer the case as of October 16th, 2016; with Minefaire taking the record). Attendees of MINECON 2015 would receive another exclusive in-game cape.
MINECON 2016 was held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California from September 24th through the 25th. This was the last in-person MINECON to date; until the announcement of Minecraft Festival. Attendees of MINECON 2016 received an exclusive in-game cape.
This was, unfortunately, the last time fans would receive a free, exclusive cape with their convention ticket until MINECON Live 2019.
MINECON Earth 2017 flipped the script from previous conventions. While prior events were held in-person and had paid entry; this was to be a 90-minute interactive livestream, held on November 18th, 2017 that was completely free to attend and watch.
Attendees could purchase MINECON-branded merchandise throughout the livestream and have it shipped to their home address. MINECON Earth 2017 marked the birth of the Minecraft "Update Aquatic" a major update announced and showcased during the broadcast.
It also marked the start of community polls for upcoming features, such as mobs and biomes. The mob that won MINECON Earth 2017's poll was dubbed, "The Monster of the Night Skies," and was later renamed to its current in-game name, "The Phantom."
MINECON Earth 2018 was broadcasted on September 29th, 2018. It was the second livestream event following its predecessor convention a year prior. It remained completely free to attend, but had purchaseable options such as merchandise.
The "Village & Pillage," update was announced and showcased during the livestream. There was another community poll, this time to determine the next biome in-game. The taiga biome won, and its features would be added to the following major update.
MINECON Live 2019 came with another name change for the convention, and would be broadcasted on September 28th, 2019 at 4:00 PM UTC. The change in name is largely attributed to the release of the mobile game, "Minecraft Earth."
Coordinators thought the old name caused too much confusion with the newly released mobile Minecraft spin-off. The "Nether Update," was announced and had its features partially showcased on the live stream. The mountains biome won the community poll and would be added to the next major update.
MINECON Live 2019 had it's own exclusive in-game cape that was available for free on the marketplace for a limited time as a promotion for the character creator on Minecraft Bedrock Edition.
Originally, the annual convention was supposed to be dubbed; "Minecraft Festival 2020." This change stepped away from the name "MINECON" once and for all as no further events have been announced under the original title.
It would have been an in-person convention held in Orlando, Florida from September 25th through the September 27th, 2020. However, this wasn't possible as the pandemic prohibited large in-person gatherings.
Instead, the livestream portion of the event, "Minecraft Live" would take over as the annual convention, dubbed "Minecraft Live 2020". The "Caves & Cliffs," update was announced during the livestream, and a community vote was held for the next mob. Between the three options, "Iceologer," "Moobloom," and, "Glow Squid," with the squid narrowly winning the vote.
Minecraft Festival 2022
Minecraft Festival 2022 is on the horizon. Well, it's a little farther than "on the horizon," but as the worldwide percentage of fully vaccinated people rises, and more conventions begin opening up and sharing their updated event dates; it feels close.
Minecraft Festival 2022 was aimed to be held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida from September 25th through the 27th. It's since been officially announced that the dates and location of the convention may change, but since MINECON has been held at the very same convention center during prior events, it's likely the location won't change. Convention-goers who plan to attend should definitely stay updated on future changes to the event's date and location.
These updates will most likely be found on the official Minecraft website, or from any of the official Minecraft social media accounts.
Tickets are not up for grabs yet. However, expectant attendees can keep their wallets prepared for the rapid dash for tickets; as ticket pricing was not listed under possible changes and might be made closer to the convention date.
Above is the official Minecraft Festival ticket chart as of now. Attendees can spend as much as three hundred dollars on a three-day pass that allows them into super-secret areas of the convention, early access to panels and events, as well as exclusive merchandise.
