Tabletop Scotland wrapped 2023 with its most successful year, with some 2,870 people through the turnstile, and that’s a whopping 38% increase in 2022.
Yet, the event nearly didn’t happen as the venue, the Dewars Centre in Perth, was set to close. At the last minute, saving Tabletop Scotland 2023, the death knell was postponed.
Tabletop Scotland 2024 will move to Edinburgh and the Royal Highland Centre. Despite the name, the Royal Highland Centre is further south than Perth and just outside Edinburgh. It’s the home to the world-famous Royal Highland Show and, later this year, will host a large Comic Con.
Tabletop Scotland will also move a little in time, edging out of August and into September. Tabletop Scotland 2024 will run from the 6th to the 9th of September. The week or so delay will make a huge difference as throughout August, the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, is host to a festival of festivals including the Fringe, Books and International Festivals. Prices skyrocket, and hotels, AirBnBs and guest houses sell out.
Tabletop Scotland explained why they didn’t pick one of the other four venues in Scotland that could host the event, such as Stirling Uni, Aberdeen P&J Live or the EICC. They said;
We wanted to have a guaranteed date not just in 2024, but also ensure we had the same weekend in 2025 and 2026. Only the Royal Highland Centre could give us that.
The Highland Hall provides the convention with significantly more space, essentially trebling what we have had in Perth. The venue is also a relatively modern facility which benefits from being close to lots of hotels, has great transport links, more than 5,000 parking spaces, and is next door to Edinburgh Airport. The latter being especially important from the perspective of attracting more exhibitors.
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