RuneFest 2025

RuneFest 2025 logo.png

Event Information
Date March 1-2, 2025
Venue NEC, Birmingham, UK
Theme Community
Clan Quest
Number of attendees 9
List of attendees Cireon
Cyan Ryder
Darkestnight
Dawn
Diana
Iskh
Santa
Shane
Spy whoman

RuneFest 2025 was an event that took place on March 1st and 2nd 2025. 9 Clan Quest members attended. RuneFest returned triumphantly after 5 and a half years of being unable to be held due to world events. Jagex moved the venue to The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham, UK. After almost 6 years with no RuneFest it was quickly apparent that this RuneFest would feature familiar elements while introducing new experiences.

Ticket Sales

RuneFest 2025 was initially RuneFest 2024 as it was an event alongside the Insomnia Gaming Festival. 2,000 tickets went on sale and quickly sold out leading to some Clan Quest members being unable to secure tickets. Insomnia later declared insolvency which led to Jagex hosting RuneFest once again on their own and postponing the date to March 2025. This also brought an additional 1,000 tickets which enabled some Clan Quest members to still obtain tickets. Several clan members helped each other obtaining the tickets in the second batch due to queueing problems on the ticket website. All in all, this meant that this would be Jagex's biggest RuneFest ever with 3,000 attendees.

Preparation

As with past RuneFest's preparation for RuneFest 2025 began early. Typical RuneFest preparation at its core involves building a roster of potential attendees, determining what type of clan merchandise will be provided to attendees, and of course determining activities for Clan Quest outside RuneFest and at the event itself. The main preparation happened in the revived #runefest channel in Discord.

Clan members in 2025 received a t-shirt with an embroidered Clan Quest shield on the front and printed Clan Quest dragon on the back. This design deviated somewhat from previous years, which typically featured the text logo on the back, and the name and dragon logo on the front chest.

Front of the 2025 RuneFest t-shirt Back of the 2025 RuneFest t-shirt

Clan member Darkestnight brought Clan Quest brownies and cookies to share. Shane brought Clan Quest pins for attendees which many promptly affixed to their new t-shirts and displayed proudly at the event.

Clan Stuff RF2025.png
BirthdayGoodies RF2025.png

Clan Quest also was involved in RuneFest 2025's community marketplace on Sunday March 2nd. This was a booth shared with RSBANDBUpdate! that had the goal of promoting Clan Quest, clans in general, and the RSBANDBUpdate! podcast to the wider RuneScape community. Setup for this involved procuring banners, cards, and a 3D printed Clan Quest table topper.

RuneFest Events

Friday Pre-Event Gathering

RuneFest began for Clan Quest on Friday evening with the traditional "Cheeky Nando's" meal out. Previous years used Sunday as Clan Quest community day, but due to the two day duration of RuneFest, this was moved to Friday. This evening served for many as the first point of contact over RuneFest weekend. Questcaping also joined the group as a surprise guest on Friday evening. At Nando's the group shared a meal, became re-acquanted, and shared the various gifts that had been brought to the Clan Quest meetup.

RuneFest Day 1 (Saturday)

The first official day of RuneFest 2025 began with a RuneScape musical medley performed by Cole Rolland and Mod Ash (found on Spotify). The event featured traditional RuneFest staples like the Cosplay Parade, Big RuneScape Quiz, Golden Gnomes, and reveal keynotes for both RuneScape 3 with RuneScape Ahead and Old School with the OSRS RuneFest Summit.

RuneFest 2025 also saw the return of the fan favourite skill chips! Skill chips are awarded for completing certain activities at RuneFest. Activities included penguin hunting, Wise Old Man crafting, cabbage Ranged training, and trading card trading. These activities let Clan Questers meet up with old and new friends alike.

Notable updates announced at RuneFest 2025 included RuneScape's new area expansion Havenhythe and Leagues for RuneScape 3. Old School's announcements saw a playable Sailing alpha, further teasers for the finale of the Varlamore expansion, and new client and technology previews.

RuneFest Day 2 (Sunday)

RuneFest's Sunday saw skill chip acitivities continue in addition to more tailored talks for both the RuneScape 3 and Old School community. Specific talks that took place on Sunday included but were not limited to Boss Design in Old School, Lorehounds Assemble, Project Zanaris Live Demo & Q&A, and Glowing Up Gielinor.

The main feature on Sunday for Clan Quest though was the Clan Quest and RSBANDBUpdate! booth at the Community Marketplace. This was a place for RuneFest attendees to learn about Clan Quest, clans in general, and the RSBANDBUpdate! podcast. The booth was primarily staffed by Shane, Cireon, and Cyan. Together with the help of our Clan Quest attendees we shared stores about Clan Quest and gave attendees a tiny glimpse of what it is like to be a Clan Quest member.

ShaneRuneFest2025Booth.jpg

Closing RuneFest

RuneFest 2025 marked a trimphant return for Jagex's official RuneScape convention. While Clan Quest has maintained its own meetups in the years RuneFest was dormant there is nothing like a RuneFest weekend. RuneFest weekends are the quintessential celebration of everything RuneScape. Clan Quest takes this to the next level by bringing our own unique brand of community, nerdiness, and love of RuneScape to wherever Jagex holds RuneFest. Announcements, activities, and celebrities aside this is a weekend for Clan Quest by Clan Quest to celebrate RuneScape under the RuneFest banner.

Clan Quest started attending RuneFest conventions years ago. 2025 was no different than past RuneFest conventions as it was an opportunity for Clan Questers from around the world to meet and share a weekend about a game and community we all love. RuneFest 2025 has ended but the countdown has already begun for the next RuneFest.