Dragondaze

Is an event that has its roots in the core of Newport gaming. It started as an annual event in 1984, for a limited amount of friends to meet and have a whole day of gaming with a little extra effort put in to make a day to remember. As with all good things, this came to an end as people moved on with their lives. Then in 2013, a few people, along with the original founder, had the idea to re-launch it but to make it bigger in every way and most importantly to use it as a platform to raise money for a great cause. It was decided that, like the phoenix rising from the ashes of previous years, on September 20th 2014, Dragondaze would take flight again! The plans were begun and instead of a dozen boardgames and role playing games in a church hall, the organisers aimed for bigger premises. The Newport Leisure Centre was secured along with many different attractions, all with the aim of raising as much money for Barnardos Young Carers as possible. Each year we have had 40+ trade stands from businesses both local and from all over the UK; Cosplayers including Daleks, Stormtroopers,Darth Vader and reenactors from Medieval and WW2; A Starship Bridge Simulator where participants can take over the role of Captain, Engineer, Comms and all of the others you would expect to see on Star Trek! Board Games Distributors demonstrating the latest games; Counters, a Boardgames cafe with a library of over 200 games for the guests to not only play at the event, but also be taught the rules by a friendly assistant;

A Bring and Buy stall where bargains can be won and lost; A raffle with in excess of £1000 worth of prizes donated from local and national businesses; local volunteers running role-playing games and wargames for the guests to play through the day.

Every year the event is opened by the Newport Mayor and so far Dragondaze has managed to raise over £5,554 for charity, and this year, with the aid of the Newport and Vale Lions Club, they are aiming to split the money raised between Barnardos, Sparkle Childrens Charity and the Lions Charity Fund.

To attract more people this year, Dragondaze has invested in some celebrities with the aim to recovering those costs and raising more too. This year they have some stars from science fiction TV shows and famous authors. In summary, Dragondaze aims to give its guests as enjoyable a day as possible while attracting people to Newport, generating business and most importantly, raising as much money as possible for some great causes.

Members of Newport and Usk Vale Lions club supported the event by manning the front desk, managing ticket sales, online ticket collections and trade access processes.  The Lions club also had a stand to raise the profile of Lions International and the work we do.

One of the Lions, Debbie Nash looked after two fo the celebrities attending the event for the day and this is her reflection on her experience:

I volunteered to help with Dragondaze this year and was asked to help with the 2 stars.  I looked after 2 ladies Pam Rose and Virginia Hey.I made sure they had enough to drink and eat throughout the day. I spent the day in their company.

Both ladies were delightful and easy to look after. I spent more time talking to Pam Rose and learnt a lot about her years as an actor and the films, shows and programmes she had been in.  This was very interesting. 

I was aware of the numbers of people who were using Dragondaze this year and had been told that they had exceeded more through the door than last year.  I had a great day and was glad to help Simon Powell and the other Lions who also helped that day. I spent all day with the ladies and had a thoroughly enjoyable time.   

As a club we look forward to supportign the 2018 event.

Pictures of the event can be seen in our picture gallery.