HandyCon’s New Era

Join us for our founding weekend at the new venue: Staverton Park Hotel and Golf Club, 30th October to 1st November 2026, and help shape the future of Handycon.

As some of you know, from Monday 17th August 2026, after the completion of Handycon August, the Delta Marriott Hotel in Milton Keynes closes its doors, and we are forced to move. 

This was not a snap decision. We looked at lots of hotels and had site visits to ten different ones, spending well over 24 hours on the road, grilling event coordinators. We wanted to make sure hotels could provide the things that our attendees have grown accustomed to, or improve in areas where hotels have occasionally fallen short. Milton Keynes town council, for the record, flatly refused to build us a brand new hotel just for HandyCon, and that is exactly the sort of narrow-mindedness we are aiming to rise above. Staverton Park ticked so many of our boxes and even made some extra boxes of their own and then ticked them as well.

From Friday 30th October to Sunday 1st November 2026, HandyCon will be running from Staverton Park Hotel and Golf Club, set in 220 acres of Northamptonshire countryside just outside Daventry. Our January event follows on 15th to 17th January 2027. There will also be more events in 2027 to be announced in the new year. 

This is a bigger site than we have had before, and it comes with something we’ve wanted for some time: a hotel wrapped around the convention, with additional space we can grow into in the future to accommodate increased attendance. You will be able to enjoy 16+ sizeable, air-conditioned gaming spaces with 247 bedrooms onsite, so even more of you can make a weekend of it, roll out of bed and be placing workers while the cockerels haven't even considered vocal warm-ups. You will not need to think about the drive home after a long day of gaming. There are hundreds of free parking spaces, with EV charging spaces and accessible parking spots. When you need a break from the tables, there is a bar, a restaurant, a pool and grounds to walk.

October is the founding weekend at the new home. The people who turn up for it are the ones who get to shape what HandyCon becomes at Staverton Park, and that first weekend will inform how we run January. If you have ever wanted to be in the room where it happens, this is it. Oh, and with Essen Spiel the week before, expect a stack of the new hotness in the library. 

We couldn't be happier with our choice, but that said, we also want to be honest about some of the small differences. You would rather hear it from us now than discover it on the day.

What is changing, and how we are handling it

Access to the main floor. Much of the convention will run on the first floor, reached by multiple stairwells or by a single lift. We know one lift is a real limitation, so we are looking hard at what we can run downstairs to take the pressure off, and we are building a proper accessibility plan with the venue. We will share that plan before booking closes.

If you have any access needs, please contact us at info@handycon.co.uk before you book, and we will sort out a plan with you. We would much rather hear from you early than have you turn up hoping it works.

Food. Catering works differently here, and one part of that is good news for grumpy Paul FH.  Meals will not be eaten at the gaming tables; anyone who has watched a library rulebook take a pizza finger attack will understand why we are embracing it. 

• A reduced price bar menu, much like at the current venue, but eaten downstairs in the bar and restaurant area. This is your flexible, turn up and order option.

• A two-course buffet at around £22 (reduced from the usual £30), ordered in advance. This has to be booked and paid for two weeks before the event, or you can bundle it in when you book your hotel room. If you want a proper sit-down meal, this is the one to sort early, because we cannot add you on the day. Handycon will be offering this ticket option on the website soon, and it will expire in mid-October. 

• A tuck shop and bottle bar upstairs in the hall for snacks and drinks through the day. Prices are set by the hotel, but we are working hard to keep them close to what you were used to at Milton Keynes.*

  
  

*Like our other venues, the hotel does not permit food or drink brought from outside to be consumed in the convention areas, for licensing and allergen liability reasons. 

Getting there. Staverton sits just off the M1 and close to the M40 and M6, so it is an easy run from most directions, around half an hour from Milton Keynes. We will be straight about the distance: for some of you this is a move of around 20 miles further away, and for others it actually cuts your journey and brings us closer to you. 

Already bought tickets? Day Zero was the Thursday, at £5 above the standard ticket, and it is not running at the new venue. Your ticket now becomes a standard 3-day ticket at £50. You can have that £5 back, or tell us to use it for a charity donation. If we do not hear from you, we will hold the £5 as credit until you tell us which you would prefer. If Staverton is a step too far for you, email us, and we will refund the whole thing, no hard feelings.

But I don't like Golf. There is currently no requirement that any attendee at Handycon October plays golf while they are there. 

The practical bits

Where: Staverton Park Hotel and Golf Club, Daventry Road, Daventry, Northamptonshire, NN11 6JT  https://www.stavertonpark.co.uk/

HandyCon October: Friday 30th October to Sunday 1st November 2026 

HandyCon January: Friday 15th to Sunday 17th January 2027 

Parking: Free, onsite, hundreds of spaces, plus EV charging 

Staying over: Bed and breakfast: £84 single and £94 double occupancy 

Dinner, bed and breakfast: £106 single and £138 double occupancy

Rooms are bookable directly with the hotel

A code and room booking link will be sent out shortly after the Staverton Park Events Coordinator returns from annual leave on 19th August 2026

Food to order ahead: Buffet must be booked by two weeks before the event. Menus to be released soon.

Tickets: Ticket sales have reopened. For refunds or changes to an existing ticket, see 'Already bought tickets?' above, or email info@handycon.co.uk.  

Questions or access needs: info@handycon.co.uk

A word from Paul

"A venue move was not something I expected nor welcomed fondly. The process of finding a suitable replacement was long, frustrating at times and advanced me at least 20 episodes of my favourite podcast, driving around the country. We love this place; it scored in the top 3 in every scoreboard. The location is wonderful, and the rooms and layout will make for a different weekend and, I think, possibly even a better one than our previous venues. I'm certainly going to disappear for a swim (or a round of golf if I can find room for my clubs). Most of all, it allows us to keep HandyCon what it was always meant to be: a festival of gaming that brings the whole community together under one roof. The single lift and the new food setup are challenges we are taking seriously, but this October weekend is the start of something new. And I don't quote High School Musical lightly. Come and be part of building this with us."

Paul Frohnsdorff-Harris, Founder, HandyCon

About HandyCon

HandyCon is a friendly, community-run tabletop gaming convention with a huge open board games library, fun events, and an atmosphere that regulars come back for. We have successfully run 20 large events ranging from 400-600 attendees in 3 different hotels. Our team and the Handycon vibe are what make people come back time and time again, and we hope you will join us at the new venue soon.