Going to DreamHack is like going to an amusementpark like Disneyland. Massive hyping, nights of restless sleeping, a long trip and pure joy the moment you arrive. There’s tons of awesome stuff to do for every visitor so you know you won’t get bored. At first it might be a bit overwhelming to get an oversight of all the things you can do. DreamHack only lasts a few days so you want to be sure you get the most out of your time. Here are some examples for you of what exactly there is to do at DreamHack Summer.
Competitions
As with all LANparties, DreamHack hosts a ton of different esports activities. While wandering across the venue you might encounter a few famous professional gamers attending the many official competitions. These games are always thrilling to watch and so is the crowd losing their mind when their favorite player wins the match. But it’s not only for gamers of the highest level. Just like previous years, DreamHack organizes a few BYOC tournaments for the most popular games for you to take part in. Not only is this extremely fun to do, you can also win some nice prizes including cash! Think you’ve got what it takes to be a winner? Check the BYOC schedules here and here. For the professional matches click this link.
Musical acts
Every edition DreamHack features some of the best live musical acts you can find. Every evening they’ve planned an amazing line-up guaranteed to get the crowd jumping. As with last year we will bringing Dj Dixz with us to perform an amazing act (Monday the 15th, 02:00 AM). Most of the acts will consist of Swedish musicians but that doesn’t make them less awesome. Confirmed acts are Dr. Bombay, ISAAC, John de Sohn and Alfons. Also confirmed is a special mini festival called Sabaton Open Air with bands such as Kreator, Raubtier and Sonata Arctica. The evenings will be filled with awesome music! For the full list of acts check the Main Stage schedule.
Gaming news
The event also features a nice list of developers showing off their latest games. You can try out most of these games at their booths on the showfloor and it’s totally free. Have a look and give the devs your feedback! Most importantly, this year’s DreamHack Summer edition happens to coincide with the yearly E3! As gamers, we all know what this means. Amazing announcements for long awaited games (Half-Life 3 please?), awe-inspiring trailers and wonderful new IPs we just can’t wait to get our hands on. The press conferences are perfect to watch this news happen firsthand and luckily most of them will be streamed during DreamHack. Gives us all something to talk about on the way home provided we’re still awake.
Showfloor
DreamHack isn’t just a giant LANparty, it’s an entire festival and a gaming festival isn’t complete without a showfloor. Here you can find your favorite brands showing off their wares and new products. Looking for some new gear to complete your setup? This will be your best bet of finding what you’re looking for.
Gaming of course
The biggest part of your time at DreamHack will be spent by playing games with your friends of course! With over 9000 BYOC visitors and an entire row of Packers you’re guaranteed to have a good time. You can play whatever you want be it with your team, friends or solo. With the festival lasting almost 72 hours there’s plenty of time to play your favorite games. Just be sure to get some sleep every now and then (unless you’re Hardcore).
For a complete overview of where you can find everything present at DreamHack check out this handy floorplan they made!
What to do during the trip?
The DreamHack venue isn’t exactly nextdoors so before we get there we first have to endure a 16-hour trip with our lovely mobile home (tourbus). 16 hours is a long trip, so how do you entertain yourself? Well, you’re in a bus with about eighty other friendly gamers so socializing will be a huge part of spending those hours. The bus has a few small televisions for us to watch movies on. If you have some cool movies you want to watch just bring ’em with you! Card games are always fun to bring along and play with your busmates. Bring your 3DS or some other handheld device with you. You’ll probably not be the only to think of this so the gaming can start early! Besides that there are tons of other things to do on the bus so be a little creative. During the trip we will have a few breaks for our busdriver during which you can go exploring. We will make two short trips by boat so this is a good time to stretch your legs (you’ll need it). Finally, try to get some sleep. We’ll probably arrive somewhere around 8 o’clock in the morning at the Elmia venue after which you still have an entire day of gaming to get to.
As you see there’s a lot of things for you to do at DreamHack. Just keep the most important thing in mind: have lots of fun!
See you tomorrow!
