Tenth Chicago Toy & Game Fair Sets Attendance Records

The 10th anniversary Chicago Toy & Game Fair continued its tradition as the nation’s largest public play event, attracting more than 25,000 people to Navy Pier on the weekend before Thanksgiving. The Fair was the finale of Chicago Toy & Game Week, which featured industry seminars, a highly celebrated inventor awards gala, and a new toy-inspired fashion show, playCHIC.

In addition to increased traditional media, the fair’s highly anticipated Media/Blogger Preview Event saw record numbers, with more than 600 attendees exploring the show floor in search of their favorite toys and games to share with their readers, fans, and followers. Social media purveyors of play posted their way through the fair on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and You Tube, resulting in #ChitagFair as a trending topic on Twitter during the two-day Fair.

Each year, Chicago Toy & Game Fair attendees have the chance to vote for their favorite toy and game. This year’s honors were awarded to PlaSmart for Best Toy with Perplexus Epic and Bananagrams for Best Game with PAIRSinPEARS.

More than 130 kids participated in the fair’s Young Inventor Challenge, which was sponsored by PlaSmart and judged by members of the United Inventors Association of America. Winners were awarded a prize package, which included hotel accommodations in New York where they’ll receive a VIP tour of the 2013 American International Toy Fair, and will present an award at the Toy Industry Association’s Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards. They will also receive an exclusive tour of Lund & Company Invention’s Chicago workshop, and will be featured in Inventor’s Digest.

About the author

Sierra McCleary-Harris

Sierra McCleary-Harris

Sierra McCleary-Harris is a senior editor at Adventure Publishing Group, editing and producing content for the Toy Insider, the Toy Book, and the Pop Insider. If she's not at her desk, you can find her somewhere doing a puzzle, losing it over the latest arts and crafts, or hanging out with her kitties Hazelnutz & Pepper Ann.

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