CommandFests are on the horizon, and event organizers around the world are preparing ways to gather and celebrate everything they love about Magic, especially if Commander is their favorite way to play. Conventions coming to your region will bring groups of players to your area—today, we'll share CommandFest details and ways you can capitalize on the convention's presence.

CommandFest Dates & Regions

The first series of CommandFest events for the year kick off in April in the following U.S. cities and stores:

• April 14 – 16 in Richmond, Virginia – Star City Games
• April 14 – 16 in Indianapolis, Indiana – Pastimes Games
• April 14 – 16 in Orlando, Florida – CoolStuffInc
• April 14 – 16 in Seattle, Washington – Laughing Dragon

The dates for CommandFest coincide with Prerelease for March of the Machine, and the regional organizers will be hosting their Prerelease events in larger convention centers—while we don't expect these events to significantly impact store-hosted Prerelease in these regions, here are a few other ways you can take advantage of additional players visiting your area for an event.

Additionally, we'll be reaching out to stores in the above regions with more details about these events soon.

Advertise Events with Additional Formats

Attendees visiting CommandFest will primarily be engaging in rounds of Commander play, whether it's casual play or an event to compete for items on the prize wall.

Do you have a strong Pioneer community? Schedule an additional Pioneer event over the weekend and advertise to catch the eyes of CommandFest attendees. You might even decide to run additional Jumpstart or Booster Draft events using March of the Machine product, something recently allowed as part of your Prerelease week slate of events.

Whether your additional store events are casual or competitive, you may reach new audiences that leads to fresh faces coming out to support your store.

Host After-Hours Events

CommandFest events run throughout the day—but there will be plenty of players who take a break to leave for lunch or dinner, and if your store serves food, that's an opportunity for you to get the word out to players. That way, they won't have to stop playing and can keep the discussion rolling with fellow Magic fans.

Just like with advertising events in other formats, promote your store on social media as much as possible. Use relevant keywords pertaining to your store's events and play (and even the CommandFest hashtag) to capture as much attention from potential attendees as you can.

Above all else, make sure to have events on the calendar for players who might be planning in advance so they can pre-register! Players coming to the area from another city or another state may seek out what local game stores they can support when they're booking their travel—so get into Wizards EventLink and schedule your events for the month ahead of CommandFest.