If you live in the San Francisco Bay area, or planning to visit there this weekend, don’t miss out on one of the largest LEGO convention, Bricks-by-the-Bay. Bricks-by-the-Bay is a special four day event for LEGO fans held from Thursday August 7th to Sunday August 10th, at the Santa Clara Convention Center (adjacent to the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara). If you are interested, below is more information about the event. 🙂
This is our fifth year for Bricks-by-the-Bay, and it has been growing steadily. It draws LEGO hobbyists and LEGO clubs from around the country, even internationally, and features LEGO club displays as well as individual LEGO creations, contests, vendors, and keynote speakers. This time over 50% more exhibit and vendor space has been added, increasing the convention floor to over 33,000 square feet. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are registered attendee exclusive days. And on Sunday they will have a public exhibition from 10AM to 4PM, with early entry at 9am and last entry at 3PM.
As mentioned above, and as is customary at most LEGO conventions, the first three days are a closed event for registered attendees only. If you have been to other conventions such as BrickCon (Seattle), BrickFair (Virginia/Alabama/New England), BrickWorld (Chicago), Bricks Cascade (Portland), etc. you are already familiar with the basic format; LEGO fans gather in a large hotel ballroom to display their models and participate in a variety of games, contests, presentations, discussions, and other fun activities. You can read more about the convention and how to register here: Bricks-by-the-Bay Convention
If you were planning to attend the first three days of Bricks-by-the-Bay you should have already completed your registration, as last minute and on-site sign-up are not allowed. However you may consider attending next year. If you are a serious LEGO fan it is really worth attending the convention part of these events. You have the opportunity to meet others in the hobby whom you only met online before, and see their LEGO models up close and personal, and of course you can also display your own LEGO models. And there are also the workshops, discussions, games, contests, and other activities throughout the first days that are really fun.
Unlike most LEGO conventions, Bricks-by-the-Bay has only one public day, on Sunday. So if you can’t make it for the other days, at least check out the exhibit on Sunday. The entire convention floor will be filled with LEGO creations on display and vendors selling all kinds of LEGO and LEGO-related accessories. For the public day you can buy tickets ahead of time, or also at the door. There are several ticket options (early-bird, regular, at the door, early entry), but they range between $10-$20 and kids under the age of two are free. You can read more about the public day and how to purchase tickets here: Bricks-by-the-Bay Public Expo
If you have attended Bricks-by-the-Bay in previous years and would like to share your own experience feel free to share in the comment section below. And if you have any questions you are welcome to ask as we have contributors on our team who regularly attend the event. 😉
And you may also like to check out the following related post:
- Tips for Attending a LEGO Convention
- BrickWorld Chicago – 2014
- LEGO Bricks-by-the-Bay Convention – Part 1
- LEGO Bricks-by-the-Bay Convention – Part 2
- LEGO Convention Philly Brick Fest Coming!
- LEGO Event Philly Brick Fest Repeats!
- BrickWorld: Have Fun in the World of LEGO!
- LEGO Users Groups In South East Asia
- Your Bridge to LEGO: Kevin Hinkle – Part One
- Your Bridge to LEGO: Kevin Hinkle – Part Two
