Come join us this Memorial Day weekend for a day-long celebration of urban nerd culture! Blerd Bash, formally known as the "Throw Down Party Tour", is coming to the greater Chicago area for our next stop in our tour around the country! We're bringing you an awesome event that fuses urban and otaku/gamer culture. Whether you come alone or with a group of friends, you'll be surrounded by people with similar interests for a night of good vibes and good times.

What to expect:

💃🏾 Cosplay Dance Party (Hip-Hop/Rap/R&B)

🦹‍♀️ Cosplay Contest

🎮 Video Games Stations & Gaming Challenges

🍸 Food and Drinks

📷 Photoshoot

🎤 Local Hip-Hop Music Showcase

🛍️ Exhibitors

The Venue

This event will be held at Ignite Gaming (Skokie) where there is no shortage of gaming available with your selection of over 80 PCs, VR stations, numerous Xbox and PlayStation consoles, dedicated RockBand rooms, racing sims, and more. There are two full bars that sell a number of cocktails and great food including pizza, wings, sandwiches, milkshakes, etc.

Transportation and Parking

• Ignite Gaming is just 4 minutes walking distance from Oakton-Skokie station (Yellow Line).
• Plenty of nearby parking options available. Please drive responsibly!
• Ignite Gaming is approximately 15-25 minutes away from downtown Chicago by car (depending on traffic).

Gaming

• The gaming lounge will be open from 2:00pm - 12:00am (please note, the gaming lounge will be closed for the last two hours of the party which ends at 2:00am).
• Access to gaming stations is available on a first-come, first-serve basis and is subject to availability.
• Gaming is NOT included with the general admission ticket but can still be purchased on-site. Combination tickets are available online which offer the best rate for both admission to the event and access to the game stations.
• Game time does not have to be consecutive. For example, if you purchase the two-hour package, you can start playing at the couch console co-op for an hour, pause to go to check out the exhibitor hall for an hour, come back and play on PC for another hour. Your time will be paused when you are not on the game.

Exhibitor Hall (2:00 pm-8:00 pm)

Visit the exhibitor hall and support local and national brands related to anime, video games, comics, hip-hop culture, and other related topics. Please note a ticket is required to enter the exhibitor hall and the ticket covers admission for the entire event, both the exhibitor hall and the party.

Party (10:00 pm-2:00 am)

When the sun goes down is when the party starts! The exhibitor hall will turn into a huge cosplay dance party. Our live DJ will spin it up all night with some of the best old-school hip-hop songs along with the latest and greatest hits. A few rising artists will grace the stage with performances before back to more dancing, our cosplay contest, and more fun throughout the night.