GamerEscape

Final Fantasy XIV fans in Europe, Oceania and beyond will gather in London next month for the second 2023 Fan Festival. Today, Square Enix announced the schedule for the two day event, featuring our very own Rookuri as one of the hosts of the Crystalline Conflict Regional Championship! Find the full schedule below:

You can also find the full schedule on the Fan Fest website here.

All times listed below are Pacific time.

Saturday, October 21

• 2:00 a.m. – 3:30 a.m. Keynote
  Join Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida as he takes to the stage to announce the latest updates coming to FINAL FANTASY XIV.
  
  Presenter: Naoki Yoshida
  Languages: English/Japanese

• 3:30 a.m. – 4:00 a.m. Opening Ceremony
  The attending guests from the FINAL FANTASY XIV Development and Operations teams arrive to greet attendees and kick off the show.
  
  Presenter: Natasha Cheng, Julia Häuptner
  Languages: English/Japanese

• 4:30 a.m. – 6:30 a.m. Development Panel
  How are the fields, dungeons, and towns designed in the world of FINAL FANTASY XIV? Join Yoshi-P as he sits down with members of the Development team for a talk about all things environmental in this development panel!
  
  Presenters: Naoki Yoshida, Masato Shida, Tatsuya Okahisa
  Language: English/Japanese

• 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. Who Wants to Be a Gillionaire 2
  Who Wants to Be a Gillionaire is back! Join us for a showdown between Team Hydaelyn and Team Zodiark as they battle their way to glory through a series of challenging questions!
  
  Presenters: Natasha Cheng, Julia Häuptner
  Language: English

• 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Welcome to Naoki’s Room
  Yoshi-P will be joined by special guest FINAL FANTASY series founder Hironobu Sakaguchi to chat about his adventures as a Warrior of Light. In the second half we will also host a Q&A session to answer your burning questions!
  Players can submit questions here until Monday, September 18 at 3:59 p.m. (PDT). Please keep your questions concise and limit each post to a single question. This will allow other players to simply hit “like!” on the post to show their support and help us prioritize questions.
  
  Presenters: Naoki Yoshida
  Special Guest: Hironobu Sakaguchi
  Language: English/Japanese

• 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Piano Performance 
  Reminisce on past adventures and enjoy the mesmerizing melodies of FFXIV in this piano concert performed by Keiko. To ensure that all attendees can enjoy the concert without distraction, video or audio recording during the performance is strictly prohibited.
  
  Presenters: Keiko, Masayoshi Soken
  Language: English/Japanese

* Concerts will not be broadcasted.

Sunday, October 22

• 2:00 a.m. – 3:30 a.m. A Stroll with Yoshi-P
  Join us as Hironobu Sakaguchi, founder of FINAL FANTASY, tackles some familiar foes from the series! Get ready to hear anecdotes about bosses and content from the FINAL FANTASY series, as well as a peek behind the scenes with stories from the games’ development.
  
  Presenters: Naoki Yoshida
  Special Guest: Hironobu Sakaguchi
  Language: English/Japanese

• 4:30 a.m. – 7:00 a.m. Crystalline Conflict Regional Championship 2023 Europe & Oceania
  Four semifinalist teams bring the excitement to the main stage of Fan Festival to battle it out and see who claims the European champion title!
  
  Presenters: Rookuri, Lythi, Kevin Bouffard, Julia Häuptner
  Language: English

• 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Glamoured to Life – Cosplay Walk
  We’ve invited cosplayers of all skill levels to strut their stuff on stage for everyone to see! Come enjoy the pageantry and dedication on display! Stay tuned for more information on how to apply to participate, coming soon!
  
  Presenters: Natasha Cheng, Julia Häuptner
  Language: English

• 9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Cheering Choice
  Get ready to make some noise for the Cheering Choice game! Show your unwavering support and vote for your favorite answers to some (not-so) serious FFXIV-related questions, either by cheering at the show or voting on live stream!
  
  Presenters: Natasha Cheng, Julia Häuptner, Kevin Bouffard
  Language: English

• 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. THE PRIMALS Live in Concert
  Jam out to exhilarating tracks and relive your moments of triumph in this explosive live performance by everyone’s favorite FINAL FANTASY XIV band, THE PRIMALS!
  To ensure that all attendees can enjoy the concert without distraction, video or audio recording during the performance is strictly prohibited.
  
  Presenters: THE PRIMALS
  Language: English/Japanese

The concerts that close out each day will not be broadcast. Everything else, however, can be watched live on the Final Fantasy XIV Twitch channel.

For those that are attending, registration will begin on Thursday, July 27 from 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

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Original image courtesy of Square Enix and edited for use.