Hello! We’ve got some small news for the NG Fests that are upcoming! Yay! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

The last fest was super fun, and the past few years have been great. The besties, Slimygoo, Anislug and I want to keep going with it. I’m really thankful for the patience you’ve granted us in getting to the next point. We’ve got some silly things in store again for this winter! I hope you’ll stick by us for it all. :3

Saying that, let’s get into it!

ANNOUNCING THE WINTER FESTIVAL

Today we are officially announcing that the Newgrounds Winter Festival is slated to happen during the weekend of February 21st! As before, the programming will start Friday night, and close out the following Sunday. The event will be formally hosted in the NG Fests Discord server - and streamed on our Youtube Channel. Regardless of where you watch, you will be able to participate.

Due to the range of content being featured and for the safety of users, the event Discord will continue to be accessible only to users who are 18 years of age or older. Age verification is required to join the server.

Click here to fill out the server application!

Please understand it will take us some time to sort through this.

If you do not want to join the server (or can’t), worry not! You will be able to participate in the festival through the Youtube Livestream as well! The chat will be monitored by staff so participation in various events will be possible - don’t worry about being left out. We’ll do our best to include everyone. (´◡`)

PANELS

A few panelists have already been sorted out, and while that is super cool, Newgrounds is what it is. This means Everything by Everyone! If you want to host a panel this year and have a super cool and awesome idea - or maybe some super secret info you think everyone should know - the time to apply is now! Panels can be anything from community events, workshops, or a history lesson. Perhaps even some sort of evil nefarious plot to steal the sky… Anything!

Currently, we are looking for panels covering these categories:

Writing

Animation

Audio / Music

Art

Newgrounds History & Culture

Interactive Community Events

If your panel does not fall into any of these categories, don’t worry! We still want to see it! Be what you want, and express what you believe we should hear. Do you think we should blow the moon up? Sure! That’s fine! Tell us about it. Do your best. Applicants can submit more than one panel, so don’t feel restricted.

You must be 18 or older to host a panel.

The application deadline is January 3rd @ 11:59PM EST.

Click here to apply to be a panelist!

EVENTS AND CONTESTS

If you are interested in hosting an event or contest during the Newgrounds Summer Festival, contact Kekiiro with details via PM.

VOLUNTEER STAFF

This has been and will always be a community event! As such, it makes sense that the staffers are those from the community. We’re looking for a team of staff who can help things flow nicely. 

As such, Winter Festival Staff applications are now open for volunteers! If you have experience working conventions or other such events - or even if you don’t and just want to get involved, this could be for you! As long as you have a love for Newgrounds and the community, we’d love to have you!

The responsibilities of volunteers are varied and can include things such as chat moderation and helping to ensure panelists are set and ready for stream time. You may even be asked to assist with a panel, such as gathering questions from the YouTube live stream during Q&A sections. 

You must be 21 or older to staff the event.

Click here to apply to be staff!

The deadline for staff applications is January 15th @ 11:59PM EST! So you have tons of time to decide if this is really what you want to do. It’s no rush - best of luck. (◕‿◕)

WINTER FEST ANIMATION PROJECT

Just like previous years, we’ll be putting together an opening animation for the event!  Production will start closer to the event, and an announcement will be made in December to begin recruiting animators.  If you’re super keen on joining the team, or you just have questions about the cartoon, send Slimygoo a PM on Newgrounds.

You can see the previous year’s animations here!

A FEW REQUESTS

Art Assets

This year we would love to showcase things created by users on the site more. We’re looking for art that can be displayed during intermissions between panels on the live stream. If you want to create something for this purpose, please contact Kekiiro or Slimygoo.

The theme for this upcoming festival is Winter in the City! So try to base anything around this.

Gamedev showcase

Do you have a game? Or two? Maybe? Do you want to share it? We’re looking for titles far enough in development to have trailers or short gameplay demos that can be shown during the event! These games can be hosted on the site or for commercial release! All are welcome as long as it’s a game. 

Recently released games are also good! Bring everything you’ve got! Unless it’s a moba! I promise we won’t play league on stream again this year!! Pinky promise.

Music?

This festival we’re going to be working on a playlist of music to play during intermissions.  If you have music you’ve made that you’d like on this playlist, please let us know.

Okay yay! This is all for today’s update. We’ll have something a little more substantial the closer we get to the event. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Very excited to see how this year goes. Hopefully, we’ll see you all there!

Feel free to leave questions, concerns, suggestions, or silly comments!

-NG Fests Team