Side event

A side event is a small tournament usually run in conjunction with a quizbowl tournament (the "main event"). Typically, a "side event" is partnered with an academic tournament so that it can draw in more players.

Side events usually cover a niche selection of subjects, while "main events" usually cover a standard distribution of all subjects. Subject tournaments are common examples of side events. Colloquially, "side event" can also refer to a niche tournament or question set in itself (such as a vanity tournament), regardless of whether it is actually paired with a "main event."

Trash tournaments sometimes have certain attributes of side events (running in the evening or on Sunday after a larger academic tournament, providing 10 or fewer rounds, being unabashedly reflective of the authors' vanity interests) but are rarely categorized as "side events" unless they are further specialized to some subdistribution of trash. Similarly, official History Bowl events are not considered "side events."

The phenomenon of side events being announced without any real plan to actually write or hold them was satirized by Triacontakaipentagon in 2013.

Side event weekends

The difficulty of attaching side events to any given tournament has spawned side event weekends, in which primarily side events are played. Side event weekends are held routinely in the Midwest, and the NorCal Weekend of Quizbowl has been held since 2016.

List of side events by year

See also multiple category trash tournaments.

2020

Tournament Name	Tournament Subject or Gimmick	Writers	Notes
Internet Charity Tournament			packet sub à la Festivus proceeds were donated to the CDC and local charities
Let's Remember Yet More Guys	Sports		packet sub organized by Andrew Hart

2019

Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Notes Age of Empires Ancient and Classical History Will Alston CANONEXPANSION Science Geoffrey Chen, Vishwa Shanmugam, Akshay Govindan Lederberg Trinity Science Eric Mukherjee, Aakash Patel, Geoffrey Chen, Steven Silverman, Paul Lee, Jonathen Settle, Jaimie Carlson, Anson Berns, Fred Zhang, Sohum Shenoy, James Lasker, Justine French Fight the Power Vol. 2 Hip-hop Connor Mayers, Andy Huff, Shane Mosley, Ryan Rosenberg, Vishwa Shanmugam, Sohum Shenoy, Rohan Vora GOLBEZ Video Games Jason Thompson, Billy Busse, Andrew Wang Imaginary Landscape 5 Audio Music Kevin Wang (TJ), Benjamin Xu, Michael Yue Let's Remember Some More Guys Sports packet submission organized by Andrew Hart META All-Subject sans science Nour Hijazi, Jakob Myers, Hari Parameswaran RULFO Literature, Fine Arts Justine French, Anson Berns, Max Shatan, Vishwa Shanmugam, Jakob Boeye, Keaton Martin, Darren Petrosino, Mazin Omer, Shubham Sengar, Michael Li Scattergories 3 Will Nediger's choice Will Nediger STAR BOWL Science Fiction Victor Prieto Look at this Photograph Visual Trash Erik Christensen Mixtape Trash Music packet submission run by Harris Bunker The Unanswered Question Fine Arts TUPAC Audio Trash Music Andy Huff BUMPY ii Visual Film Julian Bosse Guerilla History History organized by Nitin Rao but posted about by Will Alston STIGMATA Visual Trash Frances Clark-Murray MUSES The 9 Muses Bradley McLain, Mitch McCullar, Iain Carpenter, Ethan Ashbrook, Bryan Lu, Tim Cho, Govind Prabhakar 2018 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Notes Eyes That Do Not See IX Visual Art Mike Bentley ACRONYM 11 Trash Play Quiz Bowl Historature History, Literature Will Alston, Sameen Belal, Ankit Aggarwal, Eric Mukherjee, Jaimie Carlson all proceeds from the event were donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society GMX Geography Gabe Brison-Trezise SOUNDTRACK Audio Trash Steven Silverman, Aakash Patel PACENSC Pokemon Luc Wetherbee, Daniel Xu RAPTURE Religion Vasa Clarke packets The Human Use of Human Beings Modern Things Mike Bentley "Yo, Pass the AUX Cord, You'd Better Not Read" II Trash Fort Osage packets Words and Objects Objects and groups of objects Rahul Keyal, James Malouf, Bruce Lou, Will Nediger 2017 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Notes Eyes That Do Not See VIII Visual Art Mike Bentley Let's Remember Some Guys Sports packet sub organized by Andrew Hart There Will Be Stock Clues Food John Lawrence, Max Schindler Math Monstrosity Math Conor Thompson GRAB BAG Trash that Mike Bentley likes Mike Bentley João Myth Eddie Kim packets Jordaens Visual Arts Visual Arts Jordan Brownstein, Sarang Yeola packets Yo, Pass the AUX Cord, You'd Better Not Read Trash Fort Osage packets XENOPHON History and Literature Nour Hijazi, Hari Parameswaran packets RAGU Renaissance Art Hari Parameswaran, Pranav Sivakumar packets 2016 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Notes Eyes That Do Not See VII Visual Art Mike Bentley The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes Visual Film Will Nediger Tricon: The 4D IMAX Experience Subdistribution based on never-ran side events packet sub organized by George Berry 2015 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Notes Eyes That Do Not See VI Visual Art Mike Bentley Chicago Open History 2015: Quizbowl's New Chains Discovered Chicago Doubles Jeff Hoppes packet sub packets RILKE Literature Singles John Lawrence, Nick Jensen packets Chicago Open Visual Arts Visual Arts Stephen Liu, Doug Graebner packets Feynman's BONGOS Science Will Overman, Farah Kabir packets 2014 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Notes Lederberg Memorial Science II Science Eric Mukherjee Triacontakaipentagon 2.5 Subdistribution based on never-ran side events packet sub organized by Matt Weiner The Mike Cheyne Memorial Battle Royal Tribute to Mike Cheyne packet sub organized by Mike Cheyne packets 3M: Chicago Open History Doubles History Doubles Mike Larsen, Mike Cheyne, Eric Mukherjee packets 2013 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Notes Chicago History Doubles History doubles packet sub Triacontakaipentagon Subdistribution based on never-ran side events packet sub organized by Matt Weiner Collin Parks's Byzantine History Tournament Byzantine History Collin Park Eyes That Do Not See V Visual Art Mike Bentley HUSKY III Visual trash Mike Bentley, University of Washington packets could not be found TAMIL Visual trash Connor Teevens packets Angels in the Architecture Architecture Aidan Mehigan packets Schindler's Lit Literature Max Schindler packets Geography Monstrosity 5 Geography Alston Barbarians Packet Barbarians Will Alston packet Cheyne American History Packet American History Mike Cheyne packet Cheyne Death Packet Deaths in history Mike Cheyne packet The Joe Flacco Memorial Trash Packet Mike Cheyne packet The Kenan Thompson Memorial SNL Packet SNL Mike Cheyne packet Cheyne Thought Packet Mike Cheyne packet Cheyne Wrestling Packet Wrestling Mike Cheyne packet Nediger Common Links Packet Common Links Will Nediger packet Nediger Death Packet Death in literature Will Nediger packet Nediger Literary Works by Non-Literary Figures Packet Literary Works by Non-Literary Figures Will Nediger packet Fernando Arrabal Tournament of the Absurd Extreme difficulty Jerry Vinokurov CAHOOTS Guerilla trash organized by Carleton Disney Packet II Disney Mike Cheyne packets 2012 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Notes EPCOTT Disney Drew Scheeler no posted packets Cheyne Disney Packet Disney Mike Cheyne written in response to EPCOTT, with a focus on film/TV rather than the theme parks could not find forum announcement Community: It's Streets Ahead! Community Drew Scheeler packets Chicago History Doubles History doubles packet sub packets Dragonball Z Tournament Dragon Ball Z Ryan Dillon, Connor Teevens packets HUSKY Visual Trash Mike Bentley, University of Washington packets ANFORTAS Myth Ike Jose packets Film Tournament Film Mike Cheyne packets WELD Literature Doubles Will Nediger packets YMIR Myth Ben Zhang, Joe Brosch, Ankit Aggarwal packets Eyes That Do Not See IV Visual Art Mike Bentley This Tournament Has Eleven Thousand Writers Guerilla trash Packet sub organized by Mike Bentley packets Never Say Never "Awful trash" Eliza Grames and Melanie Keating packets TERP Maryland packets CAHFLS Loyola packets Teevens Trash Connor Teevens packets Bayou a Drank Tulane packets The Questions Concerning Technology Technology Will Butler packets Feats of Strength Matt Weiner packets Cheyne American History Packet American history Mike Cheyne packets Cheyne Death Packet Death Mike Cheyne packets Byzantine History Set Byzantine History Collin Parks does not appear to have ever been posted 2011 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Chicago Open History Doubles Guerilla History Doubles packet sub organized by Bruce Arthur packets Geography Monstrosity III Geography GUERILLA Guerilla the packet names imply it is the third of its name, but no announcement for it (or any previous iterations) has been found packets Eyes That Do Not See III Visual Art Mike Bentley 2010 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Notes Bruce Arthur's Wild Kingdom Animals Bruce Arthur Spring Offensive History Bruce Arthur, Donald Taylor, Shantanu Jha, Ahmad Ragab, Andrew Chrzanowski, Sandy Huang BELFAST Fine Arts Tanay Kothari Eyes That Do Not See II Visual Art Mike Bentley VAIN (Videogames are Extremely Niche) Video Games Mike Bentley Eyes That Do Not See I Visual Art Mike Bentley Jean-Baptiste Lully Memorial Fine Arts Abid Haseeb, Lloyd Sy, Shantanu Jha Chicago Open Literature Doubles 2010: SuperJha Saves Tournaments Lit Ike Jose, Shantanu Jha TIDUS (Tournament Involving Digital UniverseS) Video Games Jeremy Eaton Geography Monstrosity II Geography Jeff Hoppes packet submission edited by Jeff GUERILLA I Guerilla All-Subject Harry Potter Tournament (Name/Date TBA) Harry Potter Saul Hankin Bill Cullen Memorial Open Game Shows Nathaniel Kane PERV (Popular Entertainment Represented Visually) Visual Trash Logan Anbinder, Paul Marchsteiner Minnesota RPG Tournament Video Games guerilla event held during Minnesota Open 2011, with themed packet submissions by Eric Mukherjee, Mike Cheyne, Mike Bentley, Matt Lafer, Dwight Wynne, Ryan Westbrook, and Ike Jose MELD (Mildly Experimental Literature Doubles) Literature Doubles Will Nediger Julius Civilis Classics Tournament Classics Speedcheck Dallas Simons intended to be played by attendants of the National Junior Classical League convention Unnamed Chipola Lit/Fine Art Singles Tournament Literature, Fine Arts Chipola College 2009 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Notes The Experiment II Extreme difficulty Ryan Westbrook EuroFest History Doubles Bruce Arthur packets RMPFest II RMP Bruce Arthur, Shantanu Jha, and Dominic Machado Cheyne-Berry Comics Tournament Tyrone Slothrop Lit Literature Tommy Casalaspi packets Cheyne Vanity Lit Tournament Literature from off-beat Mike Cheyne packets Chicago Literature Doubles Geography Monstrosity I Mahfouz Memorial Literature Singles: The Game of Fates Literature Singles Ike Jose packets Gaddis II Extreme difficulty Jonathan Magin, Ahmad Ragab, Shantanu Jha, Mike Bentley, Gautam Kandlikar, Chris Chiego, Eric Mukherjee, and Jerry Vinokurov Minnesota Guerilla Sports Tournament KLEE Arts Doubles Shantanu Jha, Aaron Rosenberg, Ted Gioia, Guy Tabachnick, and Chris White packets Lederberg Memorial Science Science Eric Mukherjee Science Nonstrosity Science Dream Tournament Ferdinand Tonnies Memorial Trash Tournament Trash Andrew Yaphe, David Sea, Michael Arnold, and Mike Sorice run as CO Trash packets GARBAGE Trash packet sub Fred Morlan, Evan Nagler 2008 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Notes Gunpei Yokoi Memorial Tournament Video games, visual fine arts, european history, and meta Mike Bentley packets RMPFest RMP Bruce Arthur, Michael Arnold, William Dix, Seth Kendall, Evan Nagler, Charles Meigs, Chris Chiego, Grace Li Chicago History Doubles: The July Crisis History Doubles Bruce Arthur packets Chicago Open Lit Literature Doubles Jonathan Magin, Ahmad Ragab, Eric Mukherjee, Dave Letzler, Dennis Jang, Shantanu Jha packets Chicago Movies Tournament Movies packets Gaddis Extremely difficult doubles Jonathan Magin, Ahmad Ragab, Dennis Jang, Shantanu Jha, Mike Bentley, Gautam Kandlikar, Charles Meigs, Greg Peterson, and Katy Peters MO Lit: An Encounter Literature Andrew Hart packets The Richard Eberhart Memorial Impossible Speedcheck Shootout Literature Speedchecks played at Minnesota Open packets JECHT Video games Jeremy Eaton played as doubles at Minnesota Open packets 2008 FOGHAT Trash Jeremy White, Ben Lea never posted Eric Axel Karlfeldt Memorial Open Trash Andrew Yaphe, David Seal, Michael Arnold packets 2007 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Notes The Experiment Extreme Difficulty Ryan Westbrook CO History Doubles: The Guns of August History Doubles Bruce Arthur packets Chicago Open Lit Literature Singles Jonathan Magin packets 2006 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Seth Teitler Myth Tournament Seth Teitler Berkeley Science Monstrosity Chris Frankel History Doubles Chris Frankel 2005 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Jacopo Pontormo Art 2004 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Berkeley Movies Tournament Berkeley Science Monstrosity Folly and Glory Lit Singles 2003 No recorded side events in this year 2002 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Berkeley Science Masters Anthony de Jesus Singles "S.O.B." Singles 2001 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Herbert Spencer Singles Mark Discordia Singles "Fleetwood" Mac Singles Andy Goss Trash Singles 2000 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Chicago Open Singles 1999 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Chicago Open Singles Case Western Trash Singles 1998 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Chicago Open Singles ??? Season Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Site(s) held Winner(s) Stats 2010? Doug Graebner's Painting Tournament 2010? Dan Passner's Judaica Bowl 2010? Gautam Kandlikar's India Tournament 2009? Zach Foster's Military History Tournament 2011? High Schooler Produced Japanese/Asian Lit Thing 2012? Fred Morlan's Music Tournament 2011? Matt Duchan's Sports Tournament 2013? Nolan Esser's Rock Music Tournament 2010? Nathan James's "Chad C. Mulligan Open" Mini-ACF Tournament 2011? "Krik? Krak! Moo: Electric Blankets are Optional" Short Literature Tournament 2008 Andy Watkins's "20th Century Side Event" 2011? Bruce Arthur's "Amazing Planet" Animal Tournament 2011? Shan Kothari's Music Tournament 2011? Andrew Hart's Arrested Development Tournament 2011? Joe Brosch's Anime Tournament 2013 Summer Aidan Mehigan's Architecture Tournament 2011? Michael Hausinger's Engineering Tournament 2010? Andy Watkins's "Science, Dismal and Gay" Tournament of Science, Economics, and Poetry 2012? Isaac Hirsch's Hats Tournament 2009 Matt Weiner's "Henry Darger Tournament of the Unreal" 2007? Andrew Ullsperger's Science Tournament 2008? Ryan Westbrook's "Varying Difficulty" Tournament 2008? Rom Masrour's Movie Tournament 2010? Andy Watkins and Hannah Kirsch's "Uwe Boll" Common Links Tournament 2011? "The Eric and Ben Myth Tournament" 2025 Ted Gioia's "Secret Literature Tournament for Andrew Yaphe" 2011? Jeff Geringer's "Trastastrophe III" 2010? Bruce Arthur's "Your Choice Fest" 2008? Matt Chadbourne's Math Tournament 2011? Fred Morlan's Movie Tournament 2012? Aaron dos Remedios's Board Game Tournament 2011 Ike Jose's "Thought" Tournament