NoA hotel unit on that beach, fully dedicated to the event, will have a thousand games available in various areas prepared for this purpose, the president of Spiel Portugal, Paulo Soledade, told the Lusa agency.
“In this edition we’re going to have around 850 people at the convention, around a thousand games available for anyone to use, we’re going to have a room dedicated just to families and children – LeiriaKids -, a Lego ‘workshop’ and a more academic component, the LeiriaTalks”.
LeiriaCon “is certainly the biggest national convention” for board games, stresses the head of the association that organizes the event.
“More than a national convention, it is already starting to be an international convention. We are going to have around 150 people coming from abroad, from various European countries, above all. Perhaps the most exotic this year is a (participant) from Uruguay, but we have people from all over the world”, added Paulo Soledade.
The growth of the convention has been “remarkable and remarkable”, having forced the organization, since 2022, to charge entrance fees to control the affluence.
“We had about a thousand people, but we were forced to control the entrances”, because “there is a physical limit of the hotel”. Otherwise, “we would have even more people”, assures the president of Spiel Portugal.
The convention, which started in 2007 in Leiria, with a few dozen people, has grown in recent years, reflecting the interest that modern board games have aroused, which increased during the pandemic, points out Paulo Soledade.
“There has been a noticeable growth, even in Portugal as well. Perhaps, because of that, the result is in sight and we are joining more and more people here too”.
A component that has also seen an increase is the academic approach to this form of entertainment.
The “LeiriaTalks”, which are part of the convention’s program for the fifth year, “serve a slightly different function” than simple recreation, and there is even “a partnership with the Lusófona (University), highlights:
“There is a lot of work done around strategy games and how they can be implemented from a social point of view”, attracting this reflection researchers from various parts of Europe to LeiriaCon in Praia da Vieira.
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