The BFX Festival – one of the largest animation, visual effects (VFX) and gaming festivals in the UK – has announced its 2023 dates; the eleventh festival will be hosted from Monday 20 – Saturday 25 November 2023 across two locations The Hilton Bournemouth and Bournemouth Universities Talbot Campus.
A full programme of Games, VFX, and Animation industry speakers will be announced later in the year, along with Masterclasses where attendees can develop their creative and technical skills, learning from industry experts.
BFX Festival Director and Principal Academic in Animation at BU, Oleg Fryazinov commented, “As usual, we will bring the pulse of the animation, games and visual effects industry to our attendees. They will have the opportunity to hear from industry professionals during the speaker series, learning and evolving their skills in masterclasses and participating in the in-festival competitions.”
The BFX Festival holds associated competitions, for BU students and budding animators. The 2022 festival hosted five competitions, all of which will be returning for 2023. These are The Easter Jams, organised in partnership with BU’s animation society; The BFX Competition; The BFX Game Jam; The Caricature Competition; and The Speed-Sculpting Competition.
Competitions will take place throughout the year. The first, The Easter Jams – which took place earlier in April and the public vote is now open.
Charities in partnership with BFX for 2023 are, The RNLI, The Dorset Ukrainian Community, and National Park City Foundation. Speaking to Emily Harris at RNLI she comments, “The local RNLI fundraising team and our rescue services have been developing a wide-ranging relationship with Bournemouth University. We were very excited to be invited to be one of the charities that students will work with as part of the BFX Competition.
“These animations will be especially meaningful as it will be featured in the run-up to our 200th anniversary in 2024, where we are aiming to showcase our three themes to commemorate, inspire & celebrate all aspects of the RNLI.’’
Additional competitions taking place during the festival will be The Game Jam, the Caricature Competition, and the Speed-Sculpting Competition.
Find out more about the competitions and how to sign up.
Register for the latest festival news and announcements.
Author: Tanya Combrinck
Tanya is a writer covering art, design, and visual effects. She has 15 years of experience as a magazine journalist and has written for publications including 3D World, 3D Artist, Computer Arts, net magazine, and Creative Bloq.