DreamHack
Encyclopedia
DreamHack is a digital festival, a local area network
gathering with demo competitions
, gaming competitions and more. It's arranged twice annually at the Elmia
exhibition centre in Jönköping
, Sweden
and also twice a year at Expolaris Congresscenter, Skellefteå
, Sweden and holds the world record (as recognized by the Guinness Book of Records and Twin Galaxies
) for the world's largest LAN party and computer festival.
In the year 2007 the founders of DreamHack received a diploma of honor from the municipality of Jönköping
for being so important to business, education and society of the local community.
in the early '90s. In 1994 it was moved to the school cafeteria and became one of the larger regional demoparties
at the time. The 1994 gathering was also the first one to go by the name DreamHack.
In 1997 the event took place at Arena Kupolen in Borlänge
and became the largest LAN party of Sweden and the third largest party in Scandinavia at the time. Furthermore, DreamHack 2001 and the upcoming events were held at the Elmia exhibition centre in Jönköping, where it has been since.
Starting the year 2002, DreamHack became a biannual event with DreamHack Summer, aiming for games, taking place in June and DreamHack Winter, slightly more specific for the demo scene, being held during the last weekend of November.
In 2007, the now fully featured corporation DreamHack AB also began arranging a third event during the late summer, in Skellefteå up the northern coast of Sweden. The Skellefteå event, though a lot smaller with a thousand seats, was sold out by a greater margin than DHW.
was set. The record is now
12,754 computers and 13,608 visitors. The previous record was set at DreamHack Winter 2007 when there were 10,544 computers and 11,060 visitors.
Dreamhack Winter 2006 was officially announced by Guinness World Records
to be the world's largest LAN party. As of October 15, 2006, ten thousand tickets had been prebooked according to the ticket system. At 18:33 local time on the first of December, a representative from Guinness appeared on stage to announce 7,752 attendants present and 7,788 computers connected to the network. As the summary was made after the party, the world record was set at 8,531 unique computers and 9,184 participants during DHW'06. With temporary visitors, sponsors and crew included, the total attendance of DHW'06 was 10,638 people according to DreamHack AB.
The 2005 official 5th anniversary DreamHack Winter was attended by 7,538 people according to the organization.
DreamHack Winter 2004 had 5,272 attendees and 5,852 computers connected to the network. That year DreamHack made it to the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest LAN party.
All DreamHacks 1997-2003 by far kept the record for Sweden's largest LAN party, ranging from the seven hundred visitors of DH'97, via the two and a half thousand attendants at DH'00, to the many more to fill the first large hall at Elmia in the early 21st century.
within and outside of the premises. The event offers demo and gaming competitions, displayed on huge screens, while the expo gives opportunities to view and try the latest technical advances, take part in seminars and lectures, go for miscellaneous competitions or try an outdoor activity like bungee jumping
, lasertag and kart racing
.
Attendees' ages range from elementary school to senior citizens, and ten percent are female. People arrive from all over the world, including the Americas and the United Arab Emirates
to participate.
DreamHack is arranged with the help of a number of volunteers, set up in Crew Teams. They work in shifts to provide service for the visitors, like the support crew that have a help desk where the participants can address their technical problems. The total number of volunteers is in the vicinity of 450 at DreamHack Winter. The organization also relies on local police and guards from Securitas AB
.
DreamHack Winter 2010 had a prize pool of 205 000 SEK ($35,000),
of which 180 000 SEK ($30,000) was dedicated to the DreamHack Steelseries LAN Tournament in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Virusnaama won the Grand Final against Mouz.MaNa in the final game of the best of five.
The Steelseries Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty LAN marks growing support for the new game as a tournament title.
Local area network
A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
gathering with demo competitions
Demoscene
The demoscene is a computer art subculture that specializes in producing demos, which are non-interactive audio-visual presentations that run in real-time on a computer...
, gaming competitions and more. It's arranged twice annually at the Elmia
Elmia
Elmia is a trade fair in Jönköping, Sweden. The building was built in 1961 for agriculture trade fairs later it expendad to also hold other trade fairs like boat and auto shows...
exhibition centre in Jönköping
Jönköping
-Notable people:*Lillian Asplund, RMS Titanic survivor*John Bauer, illustrator, painter*Amy Diamond, singer*Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA*Carl Henrik Fredriksson, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Eurozine*Anders Gustafsson, kayaker, Olympian...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and also twice a year at Expolaris Congresscenter, Skellefteå
Skellefteå
-Industry:*Boliden AB, a big mining and smelting company*Alimak*Natural User Interface Technologies AB - NUITEQ, a promising emerging technology start-up company-Sports:*Skellefteå AIK, an ice hockey team in the highest Swedish league, Elitserien....
, Sweden and holds the world record (as recognized by the Guinness Book of Records and Twin Galaxies
Twin Galaxies
Twin Galaxies is an American organization that tracks video game world records and conducts a program of electronic-gaming promotions. It operates the Twin Galaxies website and publishes the Twin Galaxies' Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records, with the Arcade Volume released on June...
) for the world's largest LAN party and computer festival.
In the year 2007 the founders of DreamHack received a diploma of honor from the municipality of Jönköping
Jönköping
-Notable people:*Lillian Asplund, RMS Titanic survivor*John Bauer, illustrator, painter*Amy Diamond, singer*Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA*Carl Henrik Fredriksson, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Eurozine*Anders Gustafsson, kayaker, Olympian...
for being so important to business, education and society of the local community.
DreamHack history
DreamHack began as a small gathering of schoolmates and friends in the basement of an elementary school in MalungMalung
Malung is a locality and the seat of Malung-Sälen Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 5,146 inhabitants in 2005.-Overview:Malung is home to Malungs Folkhögskola, a few kilometers outside downtown. Specialized courses include folk music, dance, mountaineering and health.-External links:*...
in the early '90s. In 1994 it was moved to the school cafeteria and became one of the larger regional demoparties
Demoparty
A demoparty is an event that gathers demosceners and other computer enthusiasts to compete in competitions. A typical demoparty is a non-stop event lasting over a weekend, providing the visitors a lot of time to socialize. The competing works, at least those in the most important competitions, are...
at the time. The 1994 gathering was also the first one to go by the name DreamHack.
In 1997 the event took place at Arena Kupolen in Borlänge
Borlänge
Borlänge is a locality and the seat of Borlänge Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 49200 inhabitants in 2011.- History :Originally Borlänge was the name of a tiny village, and the first historical information about it is from 1390. The village was insignificant up until about 1870...
and became the largest LAN party of Sweden and the third largest party in Scandinavia at the time. Furthermore, DreamHack 2001 and the upcoming events were held at the Elmia exhibition centre in Jönköping, where it has been since.
Starting the year 2002, DreamHack became a biannual event with DreamHack Summer, aiming for games, taking place in June and DreamHack Winter, slightly more specific for the demo scene, being held during the last weekend of November.
In 2007, the now fully featured corporation DreamHack AB also began arranging a third event during the late summer, in Skellefteå up the northern coast of Sweden. The Skellefteå event, though a lot smaller with a thousand seats, was sold out by a greater margin than DHW.
The world's largest computer festival
At DreamHack Winter 2010 a new world recordWorld record
A world record is usually the best global performance ever recorded and verified in a specific skill or sport. The book Guinness World Records collates and publishes notable records of all types, from first and best to worst human achievements, to extremes in the natural world and beyond...
was set. The record is now
12,754 computers and 13,608 visitors. The previous record was set at DreamHack Winter 2007 when there were 10,544 computers and 11,060 visitors.
Dreamhack Winter 2006 was officially announced by Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
to be the world's largest LAN party. As of October 15, 2006, ten thousand tickets had been prebooked according to the ticket system. At 18:33 local time on the first of December, a representative from Guinness appeared on stage to announce 7,752 attendants present and 7,788 computers connected to the network. As the summary was made after the party, the world record was set at 8,531 unique computers and 9,184 participants during DHW'06. With temporary visitors, sponsors and crew included, the total attendance of DHW'06 was 10,638 people according to DreamHack AB.
The 2005 official 5th anniversary DreamHack Winter was attended by 7,538 people according to the organization.
DreamHack Winter 2004 had 5,272 attendees and 5,852 computers connected to the network. That year DreamHack made it to the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest LAN party.
All DreamHacks 1997-2003 by far kept the record for Sweden's largest LAN party, ranging from the seven hundred visitors of DH'97, via the two and a half thousand attendants at DH'00, to the many more to fill the first large hall at Elmia in the early 21st century.
DreamHack of today
The winter event now consists of three large arenas where every participant has their own seat at their computer (60 deep and 83 cm wide) while the summer events of Elmia utilize the original D hall and one of the other halls. DHAB has also developed DreamHack Expo, which is a small fairFair
A fair or fayre is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. It is normally of the essence of a fair that it is temporary; some last only an afternoon while others may ten weeks. ...
within and outside of the premises. The event offers demo and gaming competitions, displayed on huge screens, while the expo gives opportunities to view and try the latest technical advances, take part in seminars and lectures, go for miscellaneous competitions or try an outdoor activity like bungee jumping
Bungee jumping
Bungee jumping is an activity that involves jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord. The tall structure is usually a fixed object, such as a building, bridge or crane; but it is also possible to jump from a movable object, such as a hot-air-balloon or helicopter, that...
, lasertag and kart racing
Kart racing
Kart racing or karting is a variant of open-wheel motorsport with small, open, four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits...
.
Attendees' ages range from elementary school to senior citizens, and ten percent are female. People arrive from all over the world, including the Americas and the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
to participate.
DreamHack is arranged with the help of a number of volunteers, set up in Crew Teams. They work in shifts to provide service for the visitors, like the support crew that have a help desk where the participants can address their technical problems. The total number of volunteers is in the vicinity of 450 at DreamHack Winter. The organization also relies on local police and guards from Securitas AB
Securitas AB
Securitas AB is a security services , monitoring, consulting and investigation group, based in Stockholm, Sweden. The group has approximately 300,000 employees in 50 countries in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Securitas AB is listed at Nasdaq OMX Stockholm,...
.
DreamHack Winter 2010 had a prize pool of 205 000 SEK ($35,000),
of which 180 000 SEK ($30,000) was dedicated to the DreamHack Steelseries LAN Tournament in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Virusnaama won the Grand Final against Mouz.MaNa in the final game of the best of five.
The Steelseries Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty LAN marks growing support for the new game as a tournament title.