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PAX West returns to Seattle Convention Center for Labor Day weekend
The West Coast's biggest celebration of all things gaming and pop culture returns to the Seattle Convention Center this Labor Day weekend.
SEATTLE - More than 100,000 video game fans are expected to gather at the Seattle Convention Center this weekend for the four-day PAX West convention.
The annual event features panel discussions, video game vendors, live concerts, and merchandise.
When and where is PAX West 2025?
The convention runs from Friday to Monday. The show floor hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with additional activities and events going on until midnight on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Tickets are still available for purchase for all four days of the event.
Where can you pick up your PAX West badge
If you have not gotten your badge yet for the convention, you can pick them up onsite on level 3 of the Seattle Convention Center Arch Building located at 800 Pike Street.
The hours for badge pick up are:
- Friday, Sept 4: 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
- Saturday, Sept 5: 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
- Sunday, Sept 6: 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
- Monday, Sept 7: 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Scenes inside the Seattle Convention Center during PAX West
What is the bag policy at PAX West
For anyone attending the convention, you are welcome to come as you are, or cosplay your favorite characters.
Bags are permitted, but may be checked.
These are the items that are not permitted inside the convention center during PAX West:
- Strollers (they may be carried)
- Stilts
- Remote controlled vehicles
- Rollerskates, rollerblades, and other forms of recreational wheeled transport
- Rolling bags, rolling backpacks, suitcases, or wagons
The humble beginnings of PAX West
FOX 13 Seattle spoke to Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, the creators of PAX West and the webcomic Penny Arcade, about the convention.
The two started creating their comic together in Spokane, then moved West to the Seattle area in the early 2000s.
Holkins and Krahulik tell FOX 13 Seattle the first iterations of their convention, which now attracts tens of thousands of people every year from across the world, had humble beginnings.
"It was in a food court, the first PAX, essentially," said Krahulik.
"I would say as many as two dozen people," Holkins added.
Jerry Holkins (left) and Mike Krahulik (right), creators of PAX.
The convention has since evolved into a four-day event that brings people from all walks of life.
Krahulik says they want everyone to feel welcome.
"If you’re intimidated by gaming, I can understand why, but it really is for everybody at this point and there is something, specifically, at this show for everybody."
For more information and for tickets, click here.
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The Source: Information in this story came from PAX West and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.