BreyerFest 2023: What is BreyerFest and More

 BreyerFest 2023: What is BreyerFest and More

Welcome to Road To BreyerFest, a fan made and fan ran group to help you experience BreyerFest and provide a positive model horse community. But I know that you are really here for the BreyerFest information so let’s get started!

It is highly recommended that you join the FB group in order to get the most up to date and accurate information. Here is the link to that group and please remember the answer the questions to be added instantly: Road To BreyerFest

First, all information that is released about BreyerFest comes straight from Breyer and their BreyerFest Blog on their website. All of the information about BreyerFest here in this group will come directly from there and no other sources so the information here is completely reliable and accurate. No guessing in what might happen. However, this does lead to things being changed some times and information can and does change occasionally. You can rest assured that information here in this group, especially the Guides, is straight from Breyer.

That being said, What is BreyerFest? BreyerFest is a once a year celebration of all things horse. It takes place in Lexington, Kentucky and celebrates the horse in all of its forms. From plastic horses to real horses, everything that you see during BreyerFest will be horse related. You will be able to see the real horses that inspire the Breyer models, see new disciplines and the horses that excel at them, and meet the artists behind some of the fabulous model horses, both straight from Breyer and those that are custom made. This events spans over three days in July. BreyerFest is the comic convention for horse lovers. BreyerFest now includes a virtual aspect for those that are unable to make the trip to Lexington. The virtual aspect includes interviews with the Guest Horses, interviews with artists, a daily live stream to watch the equine Demonstrations and so much more. The virtual aspect takes place on the Breyer website.

When is BreyerFest? Typically BreyerFest happens the second week in July. 2023 has not had the dates officially released yet, so sadly they are not here in this group as of right now. A little hint to see when it might happen is to check out the Clarion (there are no rooms available at this time, but there is a wait list) and see what dates they have blocked off for the event. As soon as the dates are released, they will be made available here in this group and will be placed in the Pinned Post right as you come to the group so that you do not need to make a post to ask.

Where is BreyerFest? BreyerFest takes place at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. The main event takes place in the Covered Arena at the Horse Park and takes up much of the surrounding area there, from the barns to the grassy area in front of the Rolex Arena. The Altech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park is also used as it is the location of the Model Horse Shows for BreyerFest and in 2022 was the location for all of the Workshops. The Visitor’s Center at the Horse Park is typically the location for all of the free seminars. However, don’t forget that down the road a few miles is the Clarion (CHIN) Hotel and that is the location for the Room Sales, the Artisan’s Gallery, and the Swap Meet. BreyerFest can also be attended on the Breyer website by those that hold virtual event tickets.

How much is BreyerFest? The prices can and do change often so right now, I will be using the prices for 2022. There were five ticket types for BreyerFest 2022 and each one had a different price point and came with different things. For the in person events, there was a VIP Ticket, an All Access Ticket, and the General Admission Ticket. For the virtual events, there was an Online Traditional Ticket and the Online Stablemate Ticket. Each ticket comes with a model, but which model depends on which tickets have been purchased. Here is what 2022 brought us for the tickets:

VIP- $230 plus the cost of two Special Runs and two Limited Editions. You had to purchase the Special Runs and the Limited Editions at the time of ticket purchase and you could not forfeit a model. This price could easily be around $500 for the final cost per ticket and it was limited to one per address. It came with the following: One Celebration Horse Model, One full set of Event Stablemates, Two pre-purchased Special Runs, Two pre-purchased Limited Editions, the ability to purchase Limited Editions during the event, a parking pass, and more.

All Access- $80. You were able to purchase two Special Runs per ticket purchased using the Special Run Preference List (This is a list where you rank the Special Runs in the order that you like them and Breyer assigned you which models that you could purchase according to that list.) It came with the following: One Celebration Horse, access to purchase two Special Runs per ticket, access to purchase the Limited Editions during the event, access to purchase a parking pass, and more.

General Access- $25. It came with the following: One randomly selected Event Stablemate, access to purchase Limited Editions during the event, access to purchase the Limited Editions during the event, and more.

Online Traditional Access- $55. This ticket was very much confused with the All Access Ticket, however this ticket was for the virtual event only. It came with the following: One Celebration Horse model, access to purchase one randomly selected Special Run per ticket, access to purchase the Limited Editions during the event, and more.

Online Stablemate Access- $25. This ticket came with the following: One randomly selected Event Stablemate, access to purchase the Limited Editions during the event, and more.

Those are just the tickets and the ticket prices, according to 2022, however when planning BreyerFest, you do need to factor in the cost of models that you want to purchase (Breyer does release the Special Run and Limited Edition prices before the event), hotel, food, and travel expenses. Here in the group, we have an adjustable estimate helper located in the Files section to help you plan out what you might need. While I do ask that you not reveal how much that you are taking to BreyerFest (safety concerns), I can tell you that depending on what you want to do, it can be well into the thousands. I have personally done BreyerFest on $25 and on $2000 and all sorts of amounts in between.

Where can I stay during BreyerFest and what hotels are recommended? This is a very, very common question during BreyerFest planning and that lead me to create a list of ten recommended hotels in the area as well as the links to them. The Clarion is already booked for 2023 and it is always hard to secure a spot there, however there are other hotels that are close by and even some in Georgetown that are great to stay at, provide a quiet place to rest after a full day of BreyerFest, and more. I highly recommend taking a look at that list. More is added to that list with each year and I hope that people will add their recommendations and experiences to the list as well.

BreyerFest planning is just getting started, so this is definitely a work in progress, as it is each year. Information released from Breyer changes yearly, however there are some things that always remain the same, like the location of the event, the fact that you need to purchase tickets to attend, and that you will be spending a lot of money during the event. The Guides here in this group are designed to help you plan your BreyerFest Adventure and to help explain everything that will happen during the event and I hope that you will take full advantage of them. The Guides are here to answer your questions rather than wait for the admins to approve your posts and then wait for an answer.

It is highly recommended that you join the FB group in order to get the most up to date and accurate information. Here is the link to that group and please remember the answer the questions to be added instantly: Road To BreyerFest

Using this Group and the Guides to the fullest: I know that reading long text walls is not fun and I do try to limit things, however there are some times that I cannot. In order to combat that, there are several places in the group where you can find information without needing to read the long text walls in the Guides.

The Pinned Post in the Featured Section when you first come to the group is a Fast Facts post. This post includes the dates (when they are released), the theme, ticket prices, models released, prices, and links to the Breyer website. This post changes with the theme and does get edited OFTEN to reflect all information and changes that Breyer has released through their BreyerFest Blog. It also includes the direct links to the Guides here in the group, the Album of what models have been released for BreyerFest, the BreyerFest Blog on the Breyer website, and more. It is a great place to check first if you have a question.

The Album of Models Released for BreyerFest is in the Albums here in the group and there will be a link to it in the Pinned Post. This Album will be named BreyerFest 2023: Driving Forward Models and More and will feature each model released from Breyer for BreyerFest 2023, how to obtain them, how much they cost, how many were made, and more. It will also contain screenshots of other important information for the event.

The Guides are divided into several sections, however if you are only planning for BreyerFest, there are two Guides that you will need to read and check on. The BreyerFest for Beginners Guide breaks down all of the information for BreyerFest, gives tips and tricks for surviving BreyerFest, FAQs about BreyerFest, hotel recommendations, food recommendations, and other locations to visit during your time in Lexington, Kentucky. The Let’s Talk BreyerFest Guide directly breaks down and explains all of the information released from Breyer on the BreyerFest Blog. The other Guides are the Rules and Regulations for this group (I know, boring), Learning about the Theme of BreyerFest, Other Model Horse Events, Model Horse Hobby Information, and BreyerFest History. In the BreyerFest History Guide, you will find the prices of the BreyerFest releases from 2017 to current as well as the Guest Horses that have graced the arena during the event starting in 2020.

There will be many more posts coming, however this is just the start. I hope that this has helped you and I hope that you are looking forward to BreyerFest as much as I am!