E-Sports
LevelUp Longmont esports ‘Brawlhalla’ tournament at Longmont Public Media
This month, the Longmont community is invited to push “play” on a new event aimed at celebrating video games.
LevelUp Longmont is the city’s inaugural esports tournament and gaming event. On Sept. 27, the free festival will include showdowns between the region’s top gamers as they face off against each other in the fighting game “Brawlhalla.”
The esports tournament will be hosted at Longmont Public Media at 457 Fourth Ave. Tournament watch parties, in which guests can view the action remotely, will be held nearby at the Longmont City Council chambers and the Longmont Public Library.
“It’ll just be a fun day to come to the library, Civic Center and Longmont Public Media area and really celebrate esports,” said Donald Prellwitz, device specialist at the Longmont Public Library.
LevelUp Longmont is co-hosted by the library, Longmont Public Media, NextLight and the city’s Children, Youth and Families department.
Prellwitz said getting the library to host a gaming festival has been one of his longtime passion projects. By partnering with other city staff members and community leaders who care deeply about esports, Prellwitz was finally able to bring his concept to life this year.
“We’ve just had immense support for this, and it’s been really easy to move forward and offer this to the community,” he said.
Over the summer, the library hosted Brawlhalla qualifiers to discern which gamers were fit to advance. Qualifiers were held in July and August, and 12 total finalists were picked to move on and play in the tournament.
Prellwitz said the library was happy with the turnout for the qualifiers and the sportsmanship demonstrated by the participants. He recalled that many players shook hands and told each other “good game” after their matches.
Guests visiting the festival this month can enjoy food trucks, vendor booths and an opportunity to meet the Brawlhalla players. The tournament will also feature live commentary on the players’ abilities from announcers.
“We really wanted to give the players that true, professional esports experience,” Prellwitz said.
Prellwitz said the organizers chose Brawlhalla for the tournament because it’s free to play and fit for all ages. As a library event, accessibility is going to be a key part of LevelUp Longmont.
“I know a lot of libraries out there are waiting to see whether we succeed,” he said. “I’m very excited for something like that, as well, because I would like to see this grow.”
For more information, visit bit.ly/LevelUpLongmont.
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