Insomnia has grown exponentially since its creation way back in 1999, before internet celebrity was even a term used by anyone. Since then the event has become the largest gaming festival in the UK and attracts many gaming and YouTube celebrities to come check out the event.

We’re not going to sit here and name every single one, there are quite a few, but for a taster here are just a few celebrities you can meet and greet at i61.

Dan Bull – YouTube gaming rapper.

JeromeASF – Gaming YouTuber

The Yogscast – Gaming YouTubers and Streamers

Ashens – Comedy, technology, idiocy YouTuber.

Esports have been a big part of Insomnia since their conception, and i61 isn’t going to change any of that. CS:GO, Rocket League, Hearthstone, Team Fortress 2 and Overwatch all have tournaments set up for the BYOC events, with finals being hosted on the Esports stage, the atmosphere of these events is something only i-series can create.

But don’t worry if you’re not going to the BYOC events, Insomnia host plenty of turn up and play tournaments too for gamers who don’t fancy lugging their PC across the country.

A lot of old school Insomnia veterans probably go for the LAN itself, but the exhibition has become a worth while weekend away in its own right. Many of the attendees from the Newbury Racecourse days will remember when the expo was less than 10 stands all selling PC parts, well it’s come a long way since then. Hundreds of volunteers and industry members have turned the expo into an event worthy of rubbing shoulders with EGX.

There are also some hands-on play time available for games like Call of Duty: WW2, Fifa 18 (which is your first chance to play it in the UK) and FarCry 5 just to name a few.

Even if the LAN scene isn’t your scene, the expo is more than worth checking out.

Like everything else at Insomnia, the pub quiz has a legacy of starting small and growing into a monster mainstay of the events. The quiz is always fun, always funny, always goes on

The quiz is always fun, always funny, always goes on way later than it’s supposed to and always sends everyone home with stories they laugh about for years. Obviously the quiz is for over 18s only, so it’s certainly something for the adults to enjoy.

Tickets for the quiz always sell out super fast, so make sure you pick yours up before it’s too late.

At the end of the day, Insomnia has come from very humble beginnings and grown into a superpower of gaming and entertainment, but the one thing that has never changed is the people who really make it what it is, the players.

Gaming communities, especially online ones, have always had the stereotype of being toxic or just bad to each other, but at Insomnia all that goes away.

I-series is approaching its 20th Birthday, meaning those of us who have been there since the start have just sprouted a grey hair reading that sentence, but it means that the community that helps Insomnia get off the ground, are the same people who have kept it going for so long.

There are more kids at Insomnia than ever before, but they are the kids of the veterans, they are going to take Insomnia to its 40th birthday, and if Insomnia’s community was to stay the same as it’s always been, then it will forever perfect.