Fragapalooza

Last updated

Fragapalooza
StatusActive
GenreVideo Gaming
VenueLeduc Recreation Centre
Location(s) Leduc
CountryCanada
Inaugurated1997
Filing statusNon-For-Profit
Website http://www.fragapalooza.com/

Fragapalooza (also referred to as Frag or Fraga by participants) is an annual video game festival/LAN party that takes place in August currently in Leduc, Alberta, Canada. The name Fragapalooza was derived from the Military Slang "Frag" and "palooza" which is the suffix for any type of named festival or gathering, such as Lollapalooza. Traditionally held in the summer, Fragapalooza runs over a period of four days and lasting 24/7 for most of that time. In 2008, it was Canada's largest LAN party event, having reached approximately 900 attendees at its peak and is still one of the larger gatherings in western Canada.. [1] [2] It is also one of the longest running annual LAN parties in Canada.

Contents

History and background

Fragapalooza started in Edmonton, Alberta in 1997 by a group of computer game players playing the game Quake by ID Software. The first event consisted primarily of the first-person shooter game Quake and was held in an old airplane hangar at the Edmonton Municipal Airport. It has since evolved into a larger, annual gathering, drawing attendees mostly from across Canada but has included participants from as far as Asia, Europe, Australia and the United States. [3]

Fragapalooza is a nonprofit event, where proceeds from seat sales and sponsorship are rolled into the event itself to cover prizing, rentals, and various other event costs. The event is also volunteer-run that is drawn from many long time attendants.

This event currently requires participants to "Bring Your Own Computer/Console" (sometimes referred to as BYOC).

Sponsors

Fragapalooza has had many notable sponsors including Intel, and NVIDIA who have both previously supported the gaming convention. In 2004, NVIDIA sponsored Fragapalooza offering 20 GeForce FX 5950 Ultra graphics cards to winners and runners-up of the official LAN game tournaments. [4] In late 2002, companies such as Sympatico, Intel, Cisco Systems, ATI, Microsoft, E-Compu-Vison, and Digital Extremes sponsored the 3 day gaming festival billed as Fragapalooza East. [5] In 2007, a professional gaming store, Razer, was invited to sponsor Fragapalooza with the company offering a product prize pool of approximately $600. [6]

Activities and competitions

Besides the opportunity to win prizes in the events official video game tournaments, gamers are given the chance to win "impromptu" competitions. In 2006, during Fragapalooza's 10th anniversary, a dodgeball tournament was arranged. The organizers attempted to break the record for the largest dodgeball game ever at a LAN party. The record, at the time, was held by an event that occurred in Portland that had 200 participants. Crucial technology, a sponsor of the 2006 Fragapalooza event, attempted to break the record with 300 gamers taking part. Bad weather, specifically rain, caused the withdrawal of most of the participants resulting in the record not being broken however the match went ahead with three winners each gaining 2GB of Crucial DDR2 RAM. [1]

Another non-video game competition organized at the Fragapalooza 2006 event was a "crab walk" race across the west side of the Mayfield convention centre. The participants were instructed to crab walk across the centre floor and all the way back again. The three selected winners of the race received free computer hardware from Cooler Master and Memory Express. [7]

Past events

All events within Edmonton, Alberta unless otherwise specified

YearLocationApproximate AttendanceOfficial TournamentsNotes
1997Hangar at the Municipal Airport 70 Quake
July 16-19, 1998 [8] Hangar at the Municipal Airport 150 Quake
1999Hangar at the Municipal Airport 300 Quake 2
2000Hangar at the Municipal Airport 400 Counter-Strike , Quake 3
2001Mayfield Inn and Convention Centre700 Counter-Strike , Quake 3
2002Mayfield Inn and Convention Centre750 Counter-Strike
2002 (East)International Center, Mississauga, ON350 Unreal Tournament 2004 One time east event
2003Mayfield Inn and Convention Centre800 Counter-Strike
2004Mayfield Inn and Convention Centre800 Counter-Strike 1.6 , Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne , Unreal Tournament 2004
2005Mayfield Inn and Convention Centre800 Counter-Strike 1.6 , Counter Strike: Source , Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
2006Mayfield Inn and Convention Centre800 Counter-Strike 1.6 , Counter Strike: Source , Warcraft III , Quake 4
2007Mayfield Inn and Convention Centre800 Counter Strike: Source , Halo 2 , Supreme Commander , Unreal Tournament 2004
2008 Northlands Sportex 500 Call of Duty 4 , Counter Strike: Source , Defense of the Ancients , Team Fortress 2 , Unreal Tournament 2004
2009 (Winter)Holiday Inn, Grand Prairie, Alberta100 Call of Duty 4 Smaller regional LAN, format slightly different than main event.
2009 (Summer)DOW Centennial Center, Fort Saskatchewan 450 Counter-Strike 1.6 , Call of Duty 4 , Unreal Tournament 2004 , StarCraft , Rock Band 2 Fort Saskatchewan is a suburb of Edmonton.
2010Leduc Recreation Center, Leduc, Alberta 320 Call of Duty 4 , StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty , Rock Band 2 Leduc, Alberta is a suburb city in the Edmonton Proper
2011Leduc Recreation Center, Leduc, Alberta 270 StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Leduc, Alberta is a suburb city in the Edmonton Proper
2012Leduc Recreation Center, Leduc, Alberta 300 StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty , Team Fortress 2 , League of Legends Leduc, Alberta is a suburb city in the Edmonton Proper
2013Leduc Recreation Center, Leduc, Alberta 320 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive , Team Fortress 2 , League of Legends , TrackMania Leduc, Alberta is a suburb city in the Edmonton Proper
2014Leduc Recreation Center, Leduc, Alberta 325 Call of Duty , StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty , League of Legends , TrackMania Leduc, Alberta is a suburb city in the Edmonton Proper
2015Leduc Recreation Center, Leduc, Alberta 260 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive , Super Smash Bros. , Battlefield 4 , Left 4 Dead 2 , StarCraft 2 Leduc, Alberta is a suburb city in the Edmonton Proper
2016Leduc Recreation Center, Leduc, Alberta 345 League of Legends , Super Smash Bros. 20th Year Event
2017Leduc Recreation Center, Leduc, Alberta 326 League of Legends , StarCraft 2 Leduc, Alberta is a suburb city in the Edmonton Proper
2018Leduc Recreation Center, Leduc, Alberta 377 Team Fortress 2 , StarCraft 2 Leduc, Alberta is a suburb city in the Edmonton Proper
2019Leduc Recreation Center, Leduc, Alberta 386 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive , Overwatch , Super Smash Bros. , and moreLeduc, Alberta is a suburb city in the Edmonton Proper
2020Streamed Live on Twitch.tv/FPeventsPeak Viewership Online: 138 Assetto Corsa , Super Smash Bros. Virtual Only due to Covid
2021Streamed Live on Twitch.tv/FPeventsPeak Viewership Online: 123 Super Smash Bros. Virtual Only due to Covid
2022Fulton Place Community League

Streamed Live on Twitch.tv/FPevents

In-person: 50

Peak Viewership Online: 130

 Super Smash Bros. Limited in-person due to Covid
2024Leduc Recreation Center, Leduc, Alberta Also Online at twitch.tv/FPeventsIn-person: ~400

Peak Viewership Online: 250

Counter-Strike 2, Overwatch 2Leduc, Alberta is a suburb city in the Edmonton Proper

References

  1. 1 2 A Tech Zone article 1 retrieved 24 January 2008
  2. ↑ nVidia article retrieved 12 February 2008
  3. ↑ FutureLooks article retrieved 5 May 200
  4. ↑ nZone Web site retrieved 24 January 2008
  5. ↑ MTB online article Archived 11 September 2012 at archive.today retrieved 24 January
  6. ↑ Razerzone Website Archived 21 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 4 April 2008
  7. ↑ A Tech Zone article 2 retrieved 24 January 2008
  8. ↑ Jebens, Harley (13 May 1998). "Campers Coming to Play Quake". GameSpot . Archived from the original on 15 October 2000. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
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