Happy New Year! It’s finally 2026 and that means that Halo Fest is happening THIS YEAR!

We’ve still got a long way to go, but the studio has been cooking and each month we’re using this blog series to keep you, the Halo community, in the loop on what’s going down at Halo Fest. 

Last month we talked all about ticketing which you can find here: Halo Fest December update

And this month we’re going to start with ticketing as well – let’s get started!

We have been absolutely blown away by the response to Halo Fest at this point – here are some fun facts:

• VIP sold out within the first few seconds.
• Across concert and convention, more tickets were sold in 5 minutes for Halo Fest than all of HaloWC 2025 (which was the biggest HCS event ever).
• In roughly 24 hours, the Halo Fest concert sold out and total tickets sold across concert and convention double what was available for HaloWC 2025.

I guess you’re all excited about Halo Fest huh? We are too!

So, where do we stand today? As of right now, the Halo Fest Convention is nearly 70% sold out, and we’re expecting that we will be fully sold out within the next few months. While the concert is sold out, there are still tickets available for the convention, so please don’t wait to secure your tickets if you’re looking to attend.

Head to halofest.com/tickets – and we’ll see you there!

For Halo Fest 2026, it’s important to us that the community is directly involved in being part of the event – and one of those ways we will accomplish this is by hosting contests. Over the past few years at HaloWC we’ve held cosplay contests and for Halo Fest we will be expanding all of the contests for the big event.

Each year at HaloWC we host a $5,000 cosplay contest and we’re excited to confirm that for Halo Fest we have DOUBLED the prize pool to $10,000. Cosplay is an important part of the Halo community and we want to see all of the greatest pieces on display. Each year we are blown away by the level of creativity and craftsmanship, and we expect that level to rise even further for Halo Fest.

At HaloWC 2025 we debuted a new contest for those who just can’t stop being creative – the Maker’s Contest. Rather than full armor sets, the Maker’s contest is for those specializing in gadgets, weapons, helmets, and other similar items from the Halo universe. We offered a $2,500 prize pool at HaloWC and all spots were filled with your incredible crafts. This was a test run for us and for Halo Fest the Maker’s Contest is returning and once again the prize pool has DOUBLED to $5,000. We can’t wait to see what you all make for Halo Fest!

In partnership with ForgeHub, we’re excited to announce that we will be hosting a Halo Fest Forge Contest for those who love to build maps and experiences in Halo Infinite for others to play. This contest will begin later this Spring with the intent of having the final judging and playable experiences available on the show floor at Halo Fest for fans in attendance to go hands on with. This will also feature a $10,000 prize pool! Be on the lookout for more details from ForgeHub in the coming months.

Over the years Halo fans have been inspired to pick up their cameras (both digital and physical) to tell stories from the Halo universe – ones to make us say, “wow,” ones to make us laugh, and ones to hit us right in the feels. For Halo Fest 2026, we wanted to officially support this craft and will be hosting a $10,000 contest split across the following categories:

• Live Action: Predominately live action with human actors filmed with physical cameras, can include FX, 3D models, etc.
• 3D Animated: Predominantly 3D animated, can include stop motion.
• 2D Animated: Predominantly 2D animated, flat, “hand drawn”, anime/cartoon, can include stop motion etc.
• Machinima: Filmed by capturing in-game acting - FX and other animations can be added on top.
• Montage: Gameplay highlights montage with music playing over.

The purpose of today’s contest announcements was to ensure the community had an ample heads-up and could start planning to enter the contests. The specific rules for the contests will be arriving in the coming months.

What do you want us to cover in next month’s blog? Shoot me a tweet over at https://x.com/Tashi343i  

Once again, thank you to everyone planning on coming to Halo Fest – we cannot wait to host you and the entire community for an amazing celebration of all things Halo. 

Thanks, 

Tashi