or many of Azeroth's inhabitants, combat on both a grand scale and at the level of individual skirmishes has become ritualistic and in some ways even ceremonial. This page documents the ongoing confrontations and celebrations in the game - and those events in between which the line has blurred.

Ongoing Events Participate in regularly scheduled events.

ver the course of Azeroth's troubled history, the times of celebration have fallen under the shadow of the conflicts that have shaped and scarred the world. Every day, as new challenges surface, new champions answer the call to arms, relishing the glory and the rewards of battles well fought. Below are details of some of the current disturbances warranting investigation - and participation - by the world's most adventurous heroes.

When the decorations of Hallow's End light up Azeroth's cities, you know there's mischief afoot! Seek special vendors in Orgrimmar or Ironforge and get your hands on treats! Aid a sick orphan in a little trick-or-treating! Deathcaller Yanka, attending the Forsaken's Wickerman Festival, and Sergeant Hartman of Southshore are seeking your aid in keeping the enemy out of their holiday affairs -- are you up to the challenge?

Holidays occur during most weekends, starting on Thursday night at midnight and continuing until Tuesday morning. During a holiday, emmissaries from that Battleground will be found in the major cities, and honor/faction rewards for performing objectives in that battleground are increased.

The Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza is a grand new event set along the coasts of Stranglethorn Vale. Early in the day, friendly neighborhood goblins will visit Ironforge and Orgrimmar to inform aspiring anglers of the grand tournament and give instructions. At the appropriate time, the shout will ring out across Stranglethorn to bait your hooks and cast your lines!

Will you be the master fisherman that gathers the necessary amount of tastyfish to win the grand prize? Can you reel in the right fish to receive some of famous Nat Pagle's fabulous fishing equipment? Will the Lucky Fishing Hat make its triumphant return onto the heads of anglers everywhere? You'll soon find out!

A gathering of the exotic from around the world and beyond, Silas Darkmoon has brought together the Darkmoon Faire as a celebration of the wondrous and mysterious found in Azeroth. While the Faire spends most of its time in parts unknown, they do stop from time to time in Mulgore and Elwynn forest. When the faire is on its way, barkers will stop by Orgrimmar and Ironforge to announce its arrival.

The Darkmoon Faire begins set up on the first Friday of each month, and continues for 3 days. On the early morning of Monday (4am server time), the Faire will begin.

Features:

• Many exotic vendors travel with Silas Darkmoon, offering adventurers hard-to-find items from the far corners of Azeroth.
• Players can earn tickets by gathering trade goods for Darkmoon Faire's vendors, which can then be turned in for items and special equipment.
• Strange sets of cards have been broken up and scattered across Azeroth. Players who are lucky enough to collect a complete set of these cards can turn them in at the faire to receive epic items.
• Cheap booze.

The Bloodsail Pirates have a penchant for illicit after-hours activities, especially those involving mass combat and treasure. To see that his crew has its nightly fill of extracurricular entertainment, a lone pirate captain will drop a chest in the center of Gurubashi Arena every three hours starting at midnight (Pacific Time). Be the first to get to the chest and loot it - while fighting off everyone else trying to do the same - and you'll reap the reward it holds. And the pirates will rejoice!

Reports of elemental incursions in different parts of Kalimdor are increasing. Every few days, a new wave of elementals blasts its way into the regions of Silithus, Un'Goro Crater, Azshara, and Winterspring - ostensibly, for the sole reason of seeing just how far into these territories they can penetrate before being beaten back by the forces of the Horde or the Alliance. Investigate these regions and aid your allies in countering these mysterious invasions.

Other Events Find out about how special events are celebrated in the World of Warcraft.

o help offset the strain and tension of constant warfare, the leaders of the Horde and the Alliance occasionally organize full-blown festivities for their people, centered around holidays and special events. What better way to celebrate the year's victories and other achievements than in the company of a few thousand of your closest allies?

Deep within the cavernous halls of Undermine, goblins labor and toil over their strange and fanciful engineering creations. When they are not constructing powerful devices of destruction, they find making fireworks a diverting pasttime. They work tirelessly over strange chemical concoctions used to produce precisely the right color and, of course, spectacular explosion. It is an artform that comes naturally to those who find great pleasure in making things explode in a variety of ways. Competition is fierce among the engineers as they strive for perfection within their pyrotechnics.

Since holding an exhibition indoors -- particularly within range of a goblin engineer's workshop -- is completely out of the question, it was decided by the Tinker's Union that a day would be chosen wherein the pyrotechnists would go out into the world and share their creations with the world (for a modest fee, of course). For one glorious day, the sky would be alight with the fantastic creations of engineers throughout Azeroth.

Whether Alliance or Horde, these pyrotechnists are more than happy to help you set the sky on fire during the Engineers' Explosive Extravaganza! (Just remember, point all incendiaries away from the face.) Children's Week is celebrated by both the Horde and the Alliance in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. At the beginning of May and lasting for a week, it is a time for heroes of both sides to give back to the innocents of war...the orphans! The great feast of Noblegarden has long been celebrated by the races of the Alliance and recently adopted by those of the Horde. On this joyous day, it is customary for the nobles and lords from each race to hide coins, candy, and the occasional treasures within special eggs painted to look like wildflowers. These eggs are then scattered around the major cities for the citizenry to find. From heroes to commoners, and everyone in between - the feast of Noblegarden is meant to bring communities together to share the joy of life and friendship.

Formal Holiday Attire

Brightly Colored Egg

'Twas the feast of Great-Winter
And all through the land
All the races were running
With snowballs in hand.

The cooks were all frantic
And for those "in the know"
Swoops and owls were crashing
Like new-fallen snow.

Cookies and eggnog
Were consumed by all
As the snowballs flew freely
And drunks smashed into walls.

May your feast of Great-Winter
Be one merry and bright
And from all here at Blizzard
We wish you a fun night!

The Feast of Winter Veil is upon us, and Greatfather Winter is busy spreading holiday cheer in major cites across the land! Here are a few holiday treats players can now experience in-game:

• The Jinglepocket Goblins have set up their seasonal fare shops in major cities. Adventurers can purchase many holiday favorites - including Greatfather's Winter ale, candy canes, gingerbread cookie recipes, and mistletoe.
• All the cheer-spreading is making Greatfather Winter hungry, and he is looking for adventurers to get him his daily fix of milk and cookies.
• Smokeywood Pastures needs a few brave adventurers to investigate the disappearance of a shipment of holiday goods traveling though Alterac.
• Unconfirmed reports say that consuming eggnog during a snowball fight can have some chilling results.

We'd like to thank our players for celebrating in Azeroth with us, and we wish you all safe and happy holidays!

       Azeroth trembled before the might of the Burning Legion. Human and Orc alike fled before the massive infernals summoned from the chaos to wreak havoc upon the hapless populace. Countless adventurers, driven to protect their homeland, fell before Dreadlord and Doomguard, Giant and Dragonkin. Though the defenders achieved small victories in the defense of their cities, there was no end to the monstrous army that bore down upon them. The damage was devastating. Strangest of all, witnesses swore they could smell roast chicken...

World of Warcraft's Open Beta ended with a bang (or cluck) last Thursday! The Burning Legion launched an attack on the major cities and locations of Azeroth. Fearless adventurers banded together to in a vein attempt to repel the invasion. There were also unconfirmed reports of characters and monsters suddenly and inexplicably turning into chickens! Click here to check out screenshots from the event.

The World of Warcraft open beta test has now come to a close. During the beta test, over 500,000 players adventured through the lands of Azeroth and helped World of Warcraft on its way to becoming one of the largest massively multiplayer online games in the U.S.! The beta test community has been a tremendous source of information and feedback for the development teams, and we wish to thank our beta testers for participating in the beta test process. When the final version of World of Warcraft hits stores on November 23rd, you'll see the culmination of your hard work. The entire World of Warcraft team is now focusing on a smooth launch, and we look forward to hearing your thoughts about the game. Thank you again for your continued support with this project; we look forward to seeing you on in Azeroth.

Once again we'd like to thank all of the testers who participated in World of Warcraft's beta test. Your contributions helped create a fun and exciting game that will entertain players for years to come!