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

Excluding 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, Aakash Patel 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, Justin 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 Justin 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 The Human Use of Human Beings Modern Things Mike Bentley 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 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 Eyes That Do Not See VI Visual Art Mike Bentley 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 2013 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Notes Chicago History Doubles 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 2012 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Mike Cheyne's Disney Packet Disney Mike Cheyne Drew Scheeler's Community Packet Community Drew Scheeler Chicago History Doubles Dragonball Z Tournament HUSKY Visual Trash Ike Jose "ANFORTAS" Myth Tournament Mike Cheyne Film Tournament Mike Cheyne WELD Literature Doubles Will Nediger YMIR Myth Eyes That Do Not See IV Visual Art Mike Bentley 2011 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Chicago History Doubles Geography Monstrosity III Geography GUERILLA II 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 The Experiment II Bruce Arthur Eurofest Bruce Arthur RMPFest II Bruce Arthur, Shantanu Jha, and Dominic Machado Cheyne-Berry Comics Tournament Tommy Casalaspi Lit Tournament Tommy Casalaspi Mike Cheyne Fake Lit Tournament Mike Cheyne Chicago Literature Doubles Geography Monstrosity I Ike Jose Lit Singles 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 Lederberg Memorial Science Science Eric Mukherjee Science Nonstrosity Science Dream Tournament 2008 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers Gunpei Yokoi Memorial Tournament Video games, visual fine arts, european history, and meta Mike Bentley RMPFest I Chicago History Doubles Chicago Literature Doubles Chicago Movies Tournament Gaddis I Extremely difficult doubles Jonathan Magin, Ahmad Ragab, Dennis Jang, Shantanu Jha, Mike Bentley, Gautam Kandlikar, Charles Meigs, Greg Peterson, and Katy Peters Minnesota Impossible Speedcheck Minnesota Literature Doubles 2007 Tournament Name Tournament Subject or Gimmick Writers The Experiment I Bruce Arthur History Doubles Bruce Arthur 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