No Warhammer Fest in 2024, Games Workshop confirms, as Warhammer World Championships return for a second year

Warhammer has revealed official dates and locations for a suite of events happening throughout 2024. The popular miniature wargame maker will be hosting four competitions throughout the US, alongside a world championship and a pair of painting competitions.

Not on the list is the fan-centric Warhammer Fest, which was held in Manchester, UK last year and proved to be a “lacklustre” disappointment. Both our own impressions and the reception from fans painted the annual gathering as a frustrating mixture of vibrant community stymied by mismanagement and woefully inadequate facilities.

Games Workshop seemingly confirmed its death - at least for 2024 - by simply stating that “there’s no Warhammer Fest on the calendar” near the bottom of a recent post to their community-facing blog. The publisher instead detailed a bevy of organised play for the first full season to use the new Warhammer 40,000 10th Edition rules.

The US Open Series is a whistle stop tour of four American cities, each hosting their own tournaments for 40,000, Age of Sigmar and several smaller games such as Blood Bowl, Kill Team, Legions Imperialis and Underworlds. The roadshow plans to stop in Dallas, Tacoma and Tampa before finishing in Atlanta with the World Championship and Grand Narrative competitions - which will include opportunities for Kill Team players to participate.

Those who win the various US Open events will earn a spot to compete in the World Championships of Warhammer, the second such final competition that will also include qualifying players flying in globally to test their dominating armies against their peers. US Open attendees can also look forward to painting competitions, rooms dedicated to the various video and board games in the Warhammer franchise, hobby challenges and open gaming halls.

One Golden Demon painting competition will take place at AdeptiCon in March, while the second will join Europe’s largest tabletop convention at Essen Spiel 2024. Both will give miniature masters a chance to show off the crown jewels of their crafty collections, which now includes the recently rebooted Warhammer: The Old World for a chance to win the Slayer Sword.

Tickets for all stops of the US Open and World Championships will go on sale starting February 10th at 6 p.m. GMT / 1 p.m. EDT. More information can be found on the Warhammer Community website.