Fragapalooza
Fragapalooza 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.. It is also one of the longest running annual LAN parties in Canada.
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.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".
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. 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. In 2007, a professional gaming store, Razer, was invited to sponsor Fragapalooza with the company offering a product prize pool of approximately $600.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.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.
Past events
All events within Edmonton, Alberta unless otherwise specified| Year | Location | Approximate Attendance | Official Tournaments | Notes |
| 1997 | Hangar at the Municipal Airport | 70 | Quake | |
| July 16-19, 1998 | Hangar at the Municipal Airport | 150 | Quake | |
| 1999 | Hangar at the Municipal Airport | 300 | Quake 2 | |
| 2000 | Hangar at the Municipal Airport | 400 | Counter-Strike, Quake 3 | |
| 2001 | Mayfield Inn and Convention Centre | 700 | Counter-Strike, Quake 3 | |
| 2002 | Mayfield Inn and Convention Centre | 750 | Counter-Strike | |
| 2002 | International Center, Mississauga, ON | 350 | Unreal Tournament 2004 | One time east event |
| 2003 | Mayfield Inn and Convention Centre | 800 | Counter-Strike | |
| 2004 | Mayfield Inn and Convention Centre | 800 | Counter-Strike 1.6, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, Unreal Tournament 2004 | |
| 2005 | Mayfield Inn and Convention Centre | 800 | Counter-Strike 1.6, Counter Strike: Source, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne | |
| 2006 | Mayfield Inn and Convention Centre | 800 | Counter-Strike 1.6, Counter Strike: Source, Warcraft III, Quake 4 | |
| 2007 | Mayfield Inn and Convention Centre | 800 | 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 | Holiday Inn, Grand Prairie, Alberta | 100 | Call of Duty 4 | Smaller regional LAN, format slightly different than main event. |
| 2009 | 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. |
| 2010 | Leduc 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 |
| 2011 | Leduc Recreation Center, Leduc, Alberta | 270 | StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty | Leduc, Alberta is a suburb city in the Edmonton Proper |
| 2012 | Leduc 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 |
| 2013 | Leduc 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 |
| 2014 | Leduc 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 |
| 2015 | Leduc 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 |
| 2016 | Leduc Recreation Center, Leduc, Alberta | 345 | League of Legends, Super Smash Bros. | 20th Year Event |
| 2017 | Leduc Recreation Center, Leduc, Alberta | 326 | League of Legends, StarCraft 2 | Leduc, Alberta is a suburb city in the Edmonton Proper |
| 2018 | Leduc Recreation Center, Leduc, Alberta | 377 | Team Fortress 2, StarCraft 2 | Leduc, Alberta is a suburb city in the Edmonton Proper |
| 2019 | Leduc Recreation Center, Leduc, Alberta | 386 | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Overwatch, Super Smash Bros., and more | Leduc, Alberta is a suburb city in the Edmonton Proper |
| 2020 | Streamed Live on Twitch.tv/FPevents | Peak Viewership Online: 138 | Assetto Corsa, Super Smash Bros. | Virtual Only due to Covid |
| 2021 | Streamed Live on Twitch.tv/FPevents | Peak Viewership Online: 123 | Super Smash Bros. | Virtual Only due to Covid |
| 2022 | Fulton 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 |
| 2024 | Leduc Recreation Center, Leduc, Alberta Also Online at twitch.tv/FPevents | In-person: ~400 Peak Viewership Online: 250 | Counter-Strike 2, Overwatch 2 | Leduc, Alberta is a suburb city in the Edmonton Proper |