Festival Venues & Activities
The annual Dragon Days™ Fantasy Festival in the City of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin is a city wide festival that includes venues throughout the city with family friendly events at each location. These venues are all within easy walking distance of each other and admittance is FREE to all attendees showing their Festival Passes.
An overview of each location and activities is provided below (click on the venue name in red for more detailed history of each spot):
Photo by Kevin Maurice
Library Park
1000 BLOCK OF WEST MAIN STREET
Site of our Dragon Days™ Fantasy Faire in the park! Come visit our magical world with our Enchanted Bazaar, Fantasy Village, and Dragon Days™ Dungeon Maze!
Open, Friday, 5 pm to 6 pm for our Opening Ceremony, and Saturday and Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. Activities at this venue include:
Fantasy Fair Opening Ceremony: Friday, 5 pm to 6 pm
Take a peek as we set up for the Dragon Days™ Fantasy Faire in the park! We will celebrate the opening of the festival with some Potions & Dragons! Free Dragon Days™ t-shirts to all who attend! (First come first serve.)
Fantasy Faire: Saturday and Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm
Hear ye! Hear ye! The Dragon Days™ Fantasy Faire will sweep you into a land of fantasy and imagination! Here you can find the following activities, just to name a few:
Fantastical Costume Contest: Wear your own costume or buy one to enter our Fantastical Costume Contest!
Visit Our Enchanted Bazaar: Shop for fabulous treasures from our costumed merchants, play games, have your face painted as a fairy or goblin, and go trick-or-treating!
Explore our Fantasy Village: See the blacksmith and other craftsmen hard at work or learn archery from our very own Robin Hood! Delight in the medieval street characters, musicians, circus acts, and other performers!
Adventure in Our Dragon Days™ Dungeon Maze: Come explore our dungeon maze in the Dragon Days™ Castle! Adventurers of all ages are called to seek treasure in the depths of our labyrinthine dungeon. Will you encounter a monster while lost in the maze? Will you find gold? A magic sword or magic wand? Or even a legendary dragon egg? Adventurers beware of delving too deep for those treasures will have little value if you can not escape the Dragon Days™ Dungeon Maze!
Click on one of the links below for more detailed information on our Fantasy Faire:
The Birthplace of D&D®
330 CENTER STREET
Your chance to visit the Birthplace of D&D®! This is where Gary Gygax wrote D&D®, the world’s first published role-playing game!
Open, Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm & Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. Activities at this venue include:
Tour The Birthplace of D&D®: Take a tour through this legendary landmark, guided by D&D® historian, Paul Stormberg. (Tours run every half-hour, generally 6-8 persons per tour.)
Included in the tour are the following activities:
Watch The Birthplace of D&D® History Video: Watch our short documentary video on the history of this amazing landmark.
Type up a Memory: Type a souvenir postcard for the 50th Anniversary of D&D® in Gary Gygax's office on the same sort of typewriter he used to type D&D®!
Sit in the Original Dungeon Master’s Place: Sit where Gary Gygax ran his first game of D&D® in his legendary Greyhawk Castle in 1973!
Visit the Basement where Fantasy Gaming Began: Descend into the basement where fantasy gaming was born! See the replica sand table and figures in the basement where Gary Gygax ran his first fantasy games!
Photo courtesy of Bruce Heard
Photo by Paul Stormberg
Geneva Lake Museum
255 MILL STREET
The Geneva Lake Museum houses an array of local historical artifacts and displays, including an all new exhibit on Gary Gygax, The Wizard of Lake Geneva™.
Open, Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm & Sunday, 11 am to 3 pm. Activities at this venue include:
The Wizard of Lake Geneva™: Check out the museum's newest addition! Created in cooperation with the Gygax Memorial Fund, The Wizard of Lake Geneva™ exhibit is dedicated to Gary Gygax and his legacy of imagination. The exhibit follows the life and times of one of Lake Geneva's most famous sons, including his world-changing game Dungeons & Dragons®, his Best-Selling books, the founding of GEN CON® (North America's largest tabletop gaming convention), and his launch of the first roleplaying game company and publisher of more than 360 science fiction and fantasy novels—all done in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin!
The Wizard of Lake Geneva™ Video Short: View our short history video on Gary Gygax and his legacy of Dungeons & Dragons® and his contributions to the City of Lake Geneva and the world.
Creature Column™: See how you and you hobbits measure up to the fantastical creatures of Dungeons & Dragons® at our Creature Column! Are you smaller than a pixie or taller than a goblin?
Find Fabulous Treasures in Our Gift Shop: Discover dragons, dice, books, adventure maps, and more! Get your free Wizard of Lake Geneva™ exhibit sticker while supplies last!
Meet the Game Wizards: Saturday, 1 pm to 2 pm & Sunday, 1 pm to 2 pm
Enjoy a talk and Q&A session on Gary Gygax, his company, TSR, and Dungeons & Dragons® with gaming legends Mike Carr and Jeff Leason.
Adventurer’s Map of Lake Geneva: Saturday, 2 pm to 3 pm & Sunday, 2 pm to 3 pm
Go on a guided tour with one of our Game Wizard’s, using our Adventurer's Map of Lake Geneva!
Mistress of Dragons
214 BROAD STREET (WEST WALL OF BUILDING)
This amazing artwork was created to celebrate the City of Lake Geneva as the Birthplace of Dungeons & Dragons® and the hometown of its creator Gary Gygax!
Open, until 10 pm daily. Activities at this site include:
Mistress of Dragons D&D® Mural: Take an epic selfie with the Mistress of Dragons! Or get your adventuring group to take a photo to commemorate your epic quest at Dragon Days™ 2024!
Photo by Alethea Salgado
Lake Geneva Public Library
918 WEST MAIN STREET
The Lake Geneva Public Library was a favorite haunt of Gary Gygax and houses the Appendix N Alcove, a collection of books that influenced his writing of Dungeon & Dragons®. There are activities here on Saturday only as the Library will be closed on Sunday. So make sure to visit on Saturday!
Open, Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm, only. Closed on Sunday. Activities at this venue include:
Children’s Fairy Tale Story Time: Saturday, 11 am, 1 pm, & 3 pm
Gary Gygax loved to tell bedtime stories to his six children, just like his father before him. The adventures often involved a small fisher-boy and his adventures in a fantastic version of Medieval Japan. Your children may gather 'round our Throne of Reading in the Appendix N Alcove for a magical tale about the adventures of the smallest samurai—an unpublished story of Ruko and the Octopus King by Gary Gygax!
Appendix N Alcove: Visit this mysterious alcove, deep within the library, where you will find collection of 100 books, donated by the Gygax Memorial Fund, that inspired Gary's design of Dungeon & Dragons®! In addition to the books a magical Throne of Reading may be found here where you can sit for a majestic photo op while reading your favorite sci-fi or fantasy novels.
Pixels & Programs: Geek out on our computer gaming exhibit that features computer games produced and licensed by Gary Gygax’s company, TSR! Millions of fans have played D&D® and TSR worlds through PC computer games!
Photo by Paul Stormberg
Photo by Paul Stormberg
Horticultural Hall
330 BROAD STREET
Gary Gygax founded of GEN CON® gaming convention at this site in 1968. The event was held here annually through 1977. GEN CON® would eventually outgrow Lake Geneva and become the largest tabletop gaming convention in North America, with attendance in excess of 70,000 attendees.
Open, Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm & Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. Activities at this venue include:
The Adventure Begins: New to Dungeons & Dragons®? Never played before? If you would like to learn or if you already play and want to join your friends and family as they learn to play, this is the perfect opportunity! Our D&D® demonstration games are a terrific way to learn as you play. Pick your character and set-off on an adventure! Games last approximately 30 minutes and players get to keep their character sheet and a set of D&D® dice as a souvenir of their first adventure!
These games are walk-up games and you do not need to sign-up, just sit down and join in the fun! Suitable for ages 8 and up!
Dragon Days™ Gaming: Play your favorite games—including role-playing and war games, board and miniature games, collectible card and dice games, and more. Newcomers welcome! We'll demo games and teach you how to play. Click on the link below for a list of games and to sign up to play:
Dragon Days™ Game Vendors: Discover games, art, books, dragons, dice, and more from one of our Dragon Days™ Game Vendors! Click on the link below for a list of our Game Vendors:
Dungeons & Dragons® 50th Anniversary Exhibit: View this amazing exhibit on the history of Dungeons & Dragons®! From its humble beginnings at Gary Gygax's home at 330 Center Street in Lake Geneva, to the game that changed the world!
The Great Kingdom World Premier: Saturday 8:00 pm
Join us for a fascinating 1 hour documentary on Gary Gygax's rise to prominence as a war game designer and leading figure in the hobby to his founding of GEN CON® and ultimately, Tactical Studies Rules to publish the world’s first role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons® in 1974! Hear the story told by Gary’s family, friends, and business associates through an incredible set of interviews.
Geneva Stage
244 BROAD STREET
Originally the Geneva Theater, which opened in 1928, where Gary Gygax viewed many matinees and late-night movies. One night, after watching The Thing from Another World, young Gary's imagination conjured illusions of The Thing lurking along the shadowy streets of Lake Geneva. The youth broke into a dead sprint to the safety of the front porch light of his grandparents home at 925 Dodge Street! Years later Gary, his business partner Brian Blume, and employee Tim Kask would watch Star Wars in the Geneva Theater in 1977 and think, "That is what we really need for D&D®—to become a major franchise!"
Open, Saturday, 1 pm to 4 pm & Sunday, 1 pm to 4 pm. Activities at this venue include:
Saturday Morning D&D® Cartoons: Saturday & Sunday at 1:00 pm
Watch an episode of the Saturday morning, Dungeons & Dragons® Cartoon from the early 1980s, followed by our featured film:
Dungeons & Dragons® Honor Among Thieves (2023): Saturday & Sunday at 1:30 pm
Watch the latest D&D® film, Honor Among Thieves (PG-13) will run approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes followed by a talkback by TSR game designer and artist Steve Sullivan. Steve shares insight on working at TSR, the original publisher of Dungeons & Dragons®. Steve will discuss the company’s early attempts at creating a D&D® movie, the cartoon, art done for the LJN toy line, and pointing out Easter Eggs within the film shown.
