Nicola AskerThis could be a long one, but hopefully, it’s helpful! I’ll walk through how I tackled the convention with my six-year-old, sharing tips along the way and comparing it to UKGE (the only other board game convention I’ve been to).
TL;DR
Airecon was fantastic! It was much easier to play games compared to UKGE. The food situation wasn’t as convenient, but the organisers have taken on a lot of feedback and are working on it. It didn’t ruin the event, and I’d definitely recommend attending.
Friday: Arrival and Prep Work
We arrived in Harrogate around 6 PM, dropped our stuff at the Airbnb, and walked over to the convention centre to collect our passes. We had four-day passes, but even with a weekend pass, you could collect them in advance. I’d highly recommend doing this as it made things much smoother the next morning and gave us a chance to figure out the entrances. Having your pass already also lets you enter half an hour earlier.
Saturday: Diving Into the Convention
We joined the queue around 9:30 AM, but it moved quickly. Bags were checked, and we were in! My plan was to skip the exhibitor hall initially and grab a table to play some library games first… but that plan was abandoned as soon as we saw the games at the Hatchette stand available to try. We played a few until an urgent toilet break disrupted things—worth noting that the toilets were easy to find but felt quite far from the entrance. If you have kids, plan tactical bathroom breaks!
Next, we explored the Game Seekers area, where there were giant games and other fun activities. We played for a while before heading to the exhibitor hall for Giant Stomp the Plank. I was also coordinating pre-arranged game sales, which added a bit of stress but worked out fine. By this point, the hall was significantly busier, so we retreated to the family zone, grabbing sandwiches, drinks, and snacks on the way.
We tried another game, but Hayley was getting frustrated, so we took a break and joined the Create Your Own Game session. It was fantastic! She got to draw, cut, stick, and make up random stories, which was exactly the change of pace she needed. This was a huge highlight, and I’ll look for similar activities at future conventions (or pack my own supplies).
Refreshed, we played more games throughout the convention, making good use of the game library. Setting up my account in advance made checking out games easy. However, since it was just the two of us, every time we wanted to swap a game, we both had to go back with all our stuff. On Sunday, we secured a table near the library, making it easier for me to swap games while Hayley stayed with our things.
By 3 PM, we were both getting tired, so we took a break at our Airbnb and dropped off my newly acquired games. An hour later, we felt recharged. I realised that many people would be at the charity raffle (which we hadn’t entered), making 4:30 PM the perfect time to revisit the trade hall. My strategy paid off—we had a quieter experience and got to try more games, including Macromicro Kids, which we played the longest. We even braved the Bring & Buy, which had no queue at that point. I was surprised that we ended up staying until 6 PM, at which point I insisted we go get some dinner!
Sunday: A More Relaxed Approach
We started the day playing a library game at our Airbnb before heading back. The queue was shorter than Saturday’s, and we grabbed a prime table near the library. Hayley seemed a bit gamed out, so she listened to her Yoto Mini and did some colouring while I played a solo game.
We took another wander through the exhibitor hall before attending the only event I’d booked: The Last Banquet, a social deduction game run by a friend. I was hesitant about signing us up, but Hayley had a blast! She was on a different team than me and ended up being chosen as their assassin—hilarious and definitely another highlight of the weekend.
I was keen to get on the road, but a few more games caught our eye on the way out. The hall was much quieter by then, so we finally got a turn at Giant Pac-Man Quoridor and another round of Crokinole before heading home.
Final Thoughts
There were so many places to play games! We had options in:
- The exhibitor hall (multiple stands with demo games)
- The family zone
- The Game Seekers area
- The library
- The demo area (we didn’t check if any suited Hayley)
- Plenty of open gaming tables for borrowed, bought, or brought games
We played 20+ new games, which is way more than at UKGE. That might be because Hayley is a year older and more into games now, but it still felt easier to get games to the table at Airecon.
I’ve now booked tickets for HandyCon based on a friend’s recommendation—I’ll let you know how that compares!
Matthew Bailey
