DreamHack

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DreamHack winter 2004.

DreamHack is a LAN party, a local area network gathering with demo competitions, gaming competitions and more. It's arranged twice anually at the Elmia exhibition centre in Jönköping, 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.

[edit] DreamHack history

DreamHack begun as a small gathering of schoolmates and friends at a basement in Malung in the early 90's. People met to swap floppy diskettes and show off their skills in computer programming, graphics and music. Main organizers Martin Öjes and Kenny Eklund set up a public arrangement in the dining facility of Malung elementary school in 1994 and DreamHack became an annual event.

Right there at the school, DreamHack was a fully featured demoparty where the contributions were displayed on a ten feet projective screen. DH95 had well respected Swedish demogroups like The Black Lotus among the visitors, but also those who just wanted to play games. The most common kind of computer was the Amiga 500 and the participants could pay 20 kronor to enjoy a Drömfrukost (Dream breakfast) which consisted of a strong sandwich and half a litre of yoghurt.

In the year of 1997 a bit of megalomania struck the organizers and they made quick plans for the largest LAN party of Sweden, to be arranged at Arena Kupolen in Borlänge. Their plans almost fell on the finishing stretch as nobody pre-booked their tickets and the owners of Kupolen sort of withdrawn their verbal deal to lend the arena. The organizers asked everyone to email or phone in their interest for the event. A thousand emails later the deal was set. 700 people showed up to fill the seats of Scandinavia's third largest LAN party at the time. There was also a LaserDome playground and some other things.

During the upcoming years the organizers learnt about powerchording hundreds of computers and the network equipment expanded from a lended mess to high-end gear for them to own themselves.

The event grew rapidly and Martin could happily announce to the local news that DreamHack pulled as much power as the entire central Borlänge during the same time. In the year 1999 the Arena blacked out and DH became a very dark event for a few hours, as well as the shopping mall on the two lower floors. The visitors played cards, sang together and enjoyed one and another cold, but free hamburger.

The next year the visitors rasied to the number 2500. Arena Kupolen was now filled to the last bit of space and spite the new power lines drawn in, DreamHack could not get bigger on the premesis. And it wanted to get bigger. DreamHack 2001 was therefore held at the Elmia exhibition centre in Jönköping, where it has been since.

Starting the year 2002, DreamHack became a double "annuality" while DreamHack Summer takes place in June and DreamHack Winter is held during the last weekend of November.

[edit] The world's largest computer festival

DreamHack Winter 2004 had 5,272 attendees and 5,852 computers connected to the network. This year DH made it to the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest LAN party.

DreamHack is arranged with the help of hundreds 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 2005 official 10th anniversary DreamHack Winter was attended by 7,538 people according to the DreamHack organization.

At Dreamhack Winter 2006 the organization tried and succeeded in beating the existing world record for the biggest LAN party. Their goal was to gather 10,000 people there. As of October 15, 2006, ten thousand tickets had already been prebooked according to the ticket system. At 18:33 local time on the first of December, a representative from Guinness Book of Records officially announced that the record had indeed been broken. The new record is 7,752 attendants and 7,788 computers connected to the network. With temporary visitors, sponsors and crew included, the total attendance of DreamHack Winter 2006 was 10,638 people.

DreamHack of today consists of two large arenas where every participant has their own seat at their computer, but has also developed DreamHack Expo, which is a small fair within and outside of the premesis. 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 of seminars and lectures, go for miscellaneous competitions or try an outdoor activity like bungyjump and lasergame.