Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts come from all over to enjoy festival at Bridgetown

The Blackwood Dungeons and Dragons Winterfest had table-top enthusiasts from all over the country enjoying Dungeons and Dragons sessions in Bridgetown over the weekend. In its fourth year, the event is an extension to the Fridgetown Fest, held in Bridgetown to celebrate the town’s cold temperatures and frosty season, with the Winterfest being held on Saturday and Sunday at the Centenary Hall at the Bridgetown Showgrounds. The two-day festival event consisted of two day-time all-day events, appropriate for all ages, as well as an adults-only night-time event “Dungeons and Drunks”, where adult players could wind down, enjoy alcoholic beverages, including mulled wine and hot chocolate with brandy, and dive into a more mature version of the beloved game. Dungeons and Dragons is a fantasy table-top role-playing game, which allows players to create their own character and enjoy adventures, where a dungeon master will set a scenario and tell a story for the players to improvise and problem-solve, using their characters’ skills, dice rolls and co-operation from their fellow players. “It’s basically a cross between an improv theatre, sport and board gaming,” Winterfest event founder Emily Smith said. “It combines dice rolling with storytelling and character improvisation and acting.” Approximately 150 people participated in the two day-time events, while 90 people attended the Dungeons and Drunks night-time session. “This DnD community is from all over Australia and we have had people fly in for this and we’ve got guest dungeon masters from the eastern states,” Ms Smith said. “We actually sold tickets out straight away every time we released new tickets, so we could’ve had double the amount of people we have now.” She said the weekend was to celebrate the beloved game and the table-top role-playing community and noted the resurgence in popularity for the game. “It’s going through an absolute renaissance at the moment, with Dungeons and Dragons going from the ‘Satanic Panic’ of the eighties’ through to shows like Stranger Things and Critical Role, ushering in a new era where Dungeons and Dragons is mainstream, and we now have an A-List movie that’s sold out in cinemas around the world,” she said. “Dungeons and Dragons is not just a wonderful tool for socialising and making friends, but it’s been proven to be a massive assistant as a therapy and education tool.” Ms Smith had been running the festival since 2018, having started in the Rabbit Hole in Bridgetown as a solo-run project, now having grown to a full festival with numerous volunteers. “We took a year break due to COVID, but we are incorporated, we have a committee, we are non-profit and we have the goal of promoting table-top gaming around the community and using that to raise money for charity,” she said. She encouraged those interested in learning more about the game to come to one of their sessions at the Cidery or during one of their more child-friendly events during the school year and school holidays. “We run Dungeons and Dragons games at the Cidery every third Friday of every month, as part of the local community, so if you’re checking it out as a first-time player, I recommend going. “We’re also looking to build on events throughout the year and get more opportunities for younger players, including an intermittent school holidays program through Blackwood Youth Action, and I know there’s talks about doing talks with families, particularly parents, on how to run sessions with their kids and how to make it a bonding experience.”