RuneScape developer Jagex said this afternoon it’s delighted to confirm that RuneFest 2025 will take place at the Birmingham NEC.
It will run during the weekend of March 1st to 2nd 2025, the British games dev has announced.
On top of this, an additional 1,000 tickets to be made available later this summer.
“All existing tickets will transfer automatically, meaning RuneFest will be bigger than ever,” Jagex said in a press statement sent out today.
Any ticketholders who are unable to attend the new dates will be able to claim a full refund. Those who wish to claim a refund can do so via this SeeTickets RuneFest customer service page.
As Insomnia will no longer be a part of RuneFest, there will be no access to other events at the NEC and camping is no longer available – all camping tickets purchased will be automatically refunded.
The news of course comes after Insomnia Gaming Festival was cancelled back in May, with organisers Player1 Events entering liquidation following mass staff redundancies.
“RuneFest is now a standalone, independently-run event with the same ambition: bringing our wonderful community together to celebrate our games. We want to thank our fans for their patience while we found solutions to ensure RuneFest goes ahead.”
Meredith Ford, Jagex
RuneFest was originally due to take place alongside Insomnia 73 this September, following a five-year absence, but the news around the festival’s cancellation threw the event’s plans into disarray.
On June 14th, Jagex announced that RuneFest would be delayed to early 2025, around the time some creditors started receiving Insomnia payments.
Today, Jagex has confirmed the date, venue and ticket info in a statement, as well as thanking fans for their patience, and apologising for the disruption.
“We want to thank our fans for their patience while we found solutions to ensure RuneFest goes ahead, and we’re excited to confirm the new date in March next year,” said Meredith Ford, RuneFest Project Lead, Jagex.
“RuneFest is now a standalone, independently-run event with the same ambition: bringing our wonderful community together to celebrate our games.”
The dev added: “Jagex would like to apologise for any disruption caused to our fans, but is pleased to be able to confirm this new date for a fantastic celebration of all things RuneScape.”
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
