[VEG] Finnish Grand Prix Helsinki / Ropecon - 28th July 2018

www.facebook.com/events/2070087793255985/
www.vekn.net/event-calendar/event/8855

VTES European Grand Prix - FINLAND
28 July 2018, 11:00 – 20:00

Messukeskus Convention Center in Pasila, Helsinki (exact address for you navigator: Messuaukio 1, 00520 Helsinki)

The same place hosted the 75th World Science Fiction Convention in 2017 and our friends there did amazing amount of solid information regarding the immediate vicinity, Helsinki and Finland in general so we'll be linking heavily to their excellent resources here.

Entry fee: Free with Ropecon entry (42€ for the weeked but 38€ if pre-purchased. Day tickets are also available and go for 30 euros for Friday & Saturday and 20 for Sunday.)
More info at Ropecon site: 2018.ropecon.fi/eng/tickets/

The traditional big Ropecon tournament is a Grand Prix event this year. We are trying out a new date and time slot, so instead of a (very) late night tournament this is actually run during the day and will probably even (gasp!) feature a lunch break. So far no additional VTES events have been booked for either Friday or Sunday but this will might change as traditionally there has been at least draft on one days.

Ropecon is the largest non-commercial role-playing convention in Europe with some 4000+ attendees. The three day convention offers a diverse program schedule suitable for all ages from tabletop and live-action role-playing games to card games, miniature war games and board games. In addition to tournaments and other gaming related programs Ropecon also features lectures, panel discussions and workshops on a wide variety of topics. The convention opens at 15:00 on Friday and closes on Sunday late afternoon / early evening, in between it never sleeps. Read more about Ropecon at their site: 2018.ropecon.fi/eng/about/

For the VTES Grand Prix you can either pre-register or register on site. On-site registration closes at 10:30 on Saturday!
More information, including pre-registration options, will appear at vtes.orava.org/ropecon2018. Stay tuned.


(ON SITE) ACCOMODATION
Sleeping bag accommodation available free of charge for all visitors throughout the convention weekend at the convention site. Please note that Ropecon does not offer any accommodation supplies, so remember to bring a warm mattress, a pillow and a blanket or a sleeping bag to ensure a more comfortable rest. The floor of the hall is made of concrete and as such can get pretty chilly. Please remember that the accommodation area is meant only for sleeping, not for storage: you can store your mattress, sleeping bag and other items at the luggage storage during the day. More on accommodation at the Ropecon site: 2018.ropecon.fi/eng/for-visitors/accommodation/

Messukeskus is just one stop from Helsinki Central Railway Station so even if you don't want to use the closest hotel Pasila (Original Sokos Hotel Pasila as the Holiday Inn right next to the venue is being renovated at the time of the convention) most hotels in downtown Helsinki are just a few minutes train ride away. One of the closest ones is Hotel Arthur and it is reasonably priced (when considering rather high Finnish hotel prices). Another one that has traditionally been on the cheaper side is Hotel Anna located some 10 -15 minute walk from the Central Railway Station. Omena Hotels and Forenom Aparthotels And Hostels offer very cheap apartments and nothing else. More info on hotels can be found at Worldcon 75 site (scroll all the way down to the "Detailed Hotel Information" and the map is rather good for checking the location of the hotels compared to the Messukeskus venue): www.worldcon.fi/about-worldcon-75/location/hotels/


GETTING THERE
Book a flight to Helsinki and take the half an hour's trip with I or P train from the airport to Pasila station (5.50€ or so) and the venue is right next to Pasila station (which is 2nd to last stop before Helsinki Central railway Station). Also from airport bus 615 or Finnair's own shuttle bus (aka. Finnair City Bus) will take you to Helsinki right next to Central Railway Station. Taxi should be around 40€ or so (as always in Finland , you sure can tip if you want but no one is going to frown on you if you don't as tip is not expected).

Worldcon 75 Progress Report 2 had a nice article about getting to Helsinki. According to it, in addition to checking the flights to Helsinki, you might want to check the flight options to Stockholm in Sweden (as you can experience the exotic atmosphere of the Stockholm-Helsinki Ferry. Also remember that there are ferries also going to Turku, Åbo in swedish, which are cheaper since the route isn't as long and Turku is only some 2 hour train / bus ride from Helsinki...), Tallinn in Estonia (ferries shuttle all the time between Tallinn and Helsinki almost non-stop and the trip takes just few hours. So driving to Estonia and taking the Tallinn ferry would probably be the most cost effective method to reach Helsinki for all Eastern Europeans!) or even St. Petersburg, Russia (once again, ferries to Helsinki). One option might be to fly to Tampere with Ryanair from Bremen or Budapest and take the couple hour long train or bus ride to Helsinki from there. More info on the page 7 of the Worldcon 75's Progress Report 2: www.worldcon.fi/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/progress_report_2_a4.pdf

Ropecon's article on getting to Ropecon (including info if arriving with your own car -a humongous car park is just by the venue):
2018.ropecon.fi/eng/for-visitors/getting-here/

Worldcon 75's article on getting to the venue:
www.worldcon.fi/about-worldcon-75/location/getting-to-messukeskus/

The train and bus timetables (trains depart roughly every 10-15 minutes most of the day):
www.hsl.fi/en/timetables-and-routes/terminals/transport-links-helsinki-airport

Worldcon 75's very comprehensive article on Helsinki’s Public Transportation System, concentrating naturally on getting to Pasila and to the venue, on page 19-23 of progress Report 5
www.worldcon.fi/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/progress_report_5_a4.pdf


EATING & DRINKING
Drinking alcohol at the venue is prohibited and will get you promptly booted from the premises, the only exception is the costly on site bars, which are even more expensive than the costly Finnish alcohol and food in general. Non-alcoholic drinks and food/ snacks are OK.

Ropecon's article on eating:
2018.ropecon.fi/eng/for-visitors/eat-drink/

Worldcon 75's staggeringly exhausting guide to eating in Helsinki (68 fricking pages!) has general info as well as restaurant specific reviews:
www.worldcon.fi/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/restaurant_guide_web.pdf

Worldcon 75's article on Finnish specialites, Finnish Foods and Where to Find Them, on page 25 of progress report 3. Sauteéd reindeer, Karelian pie, Baltic vendace, Salmiakki, Gin Long Drink, bread-cheese, etc -it is all included):
www.worldcon.fi/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/progress_report_3_a4.pdf


SOME GENERAL ARTICLES ON HELSINKI AND FINLAND
Since the nice people of Worldcon 75 also did some other informative articles on relevant subjects were mentioning those too in case someone wants to dig a little deeper, see the sights etc.

Progress Report 1
Finland: an Assortment of Notes and Information (pages12-14)
www.worldcon.fi/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/progress_report_1.pdf

Progress Report 2
Non-fandom things to do in Helsinki, if you have the time (pages 8-9)
Älä hätäile! Don’t panic! -a short guide for pronouncing finnish (pages 12-13)
The Word on the Street -guide to streetsigns/maps etc (pages 14-15)
www.worldcon.fi/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/progress_report_2_a4.pdf

Progress Report 4
Sauna in Finland (pages 17-21)
Helsinki, Daughter of the Baltic Sea -some general sights etc (pages 22-25)
Penrose tiling and other nerdy sights (pages 26-27)
www.worldcon.fi/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/progress_report_4_a4.pdf

Progress Report 5
Have Some Time off -more sights/places to see (pages 30-31)
Good to Know and Nice to Know -general and uselul info (pages 33-35)
www.worldcon.fi/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/progress_report_5_a4.pdf

An unique sight that is more or less omitted from everything above is the Temppeliaukio Chruch (aka Church of the Rock aka Rock Church) which is pretty unique in it's setup as it is hewn in the bedrock and has a huge copper dome above it. Some locals call it Anti-Devil Bunker.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temppeliaukio_Church
www.facebook.com/temppeliaukio/


ROPECON
2018.ropecon.fi/eng/
www.facebook.com/ropecon/

I think its worth noting that purchasing the Ropecon ticket (weekend or day) will make all
tournaments (except maybe drafts? Not 100% sure) free to enter. The philosophy of Ropecon is that once you pay yourself in, you're free to enter what you please.
People who play other games besides VTES might be interested in this.

Also after the poll about the date, it might be worth noting in the title or topic that the Grand prix tournament is indeed on saturday. Everyone can check their calendars, but still ^^

Bloodartist wrote:

I think its worth noting that purchasing the Ropecon ticket (weekend or day) will make all
tournaments (except maybe drafts? Not 100% sure) free to enter. The philosophy of Ropecon is that once you pay yourself in, you're free to enter what you please.
People who play other games besides VTES might be interested in this.

Hence the original post had "Entry fee: Free with Ropecon entry" in the beginning...

Drafts are never included in the Ropecon entry fee, but Ropecon's philosophy is that the tournament organizers etc can't charge for entry. For drafts people use BYOB (bring your own boosters) and at least Fantasiapelit makes a point of checking which products need to be brought for each and every draft at the convention.

my plane tickets are already taken. I would be present

Greiner alain 3200289

Welcome!

A little bird kinda already told me that you were coming...