Virtual BreyerFest!

Last weekend was BreyerFest!

Because of Covid-19, the event was held virtually this year. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I knew I would regret it if I didn’t join in. I’ve watched BreyerFest online through forums and social media since… 2005-ish? And for various reasons, I’ve always been unable to attend.

BUT GUESS WHAT I GOT TO GO THIS YEAR YAAAAY!

For 2 1/2 days I was happily immersed in the model horse world, taking in as much content on Breyer’s site as I could. There was A LOT. Like, hours and hours worth of video content alone.

There were 30+ free workshops available to 3 day ticket holders. I joined in several of them, including a couple I wasn’t planning on doing originally.

I also ~~refreshed for hours and got lucky~~ did a little shopping in the Breyer store.

The live stream was one of my favorite parts. I missed most of Friday’s because of work, but for the next two days I kept it playing whenever it was up. I really liked the interviews, the products they showcased and the peeks at test models, including a trip to the archive room. I also loved hearing the winners for the contests and raffles announced in real time! Congratulations, everyone!

At night I curled up in bed to watch the Celebration of Horses and other videos. The Sunday auction was a highlight for sure. I have not laughed so much in a long, long time.

All in all it was SUCH a good weekend. Even now, a week later, I’m still filled with gratitude. 2020 has been a hard, stressful year, and I haven’t been doing well. But last weekend I had a lot of fun for the first time in… a while. I truly appreciate the amount of effort that went into putting this event online.

I also find it pretty incredible that Breyer was able to pull this together in the time that they did. I had no issues with the website, and any glitches I came across were resolved shortly or were because of my internet connection. I’m really grateful for the free shipping, how they shipped the Celebration horses out early for everyone, the added glossy store specials, the free workshops, access to all sorts of horse content, being able to see the contest and show entries, the free raffle entry, and how they’re allowing access to the site for the rest of the month. I’m still going through videos, but at a less frantic “gotta do EVERYTHING in 2 days!!!” pace. I was also excited to hear that a virtual component may be added to BreyerFest in the future, so mayyybe I’ll get to participate again? I really hope so. The “everyone’s at BreyerFest except for me” feels are very real every July. 😂