Midsummer Fire Festival & New Fan Art

The Midsummer Fire Festival Begins

Yep, that's right. It's now Midsummer and it's being celebrated in World of Warcraft with the Midsummer Fire Festival.

Each summer, the arrival of the Midsummer Fire Festival signals a time of merriment and a chance to revel in the hottest season of the year by lighting celebratory bonfires across the land and sharing in what the elemental spirits have to offer. This year (beginning tomorrow and continuing until July 5), the festival features some brand-new events, quests, and prizes, including a special summoned boss for groups of high-level players. Learn more about the new Midsummer Fire Festival content in our updated page, which also includes a new screenshot gallery.

Tending the Flames

Across Azeroth, brilliant bonfires have been lit to signify the hottest months of the year. The chosen Flamekeepers are eager to ensure they continue burning long into the days and nights of the celebration - and they seek the aid of able explorers in doing so. Traverse the land and delve into dangerous dungeons at their behest. You may return hot, sweaty, and a little sooty...but these spiritual guides understand well the need to reward adventurers beyond the promise of "enlightenment."

Ahune, the Frost Lord

One of the main additions to the Fire Festival this year is a new summonable boss. Level 70 players can undertake this questline that takes you to the Slave Pens to seek and defeat Ahune, the Frost Lord. Ahune is a special summonable boss, similar to the Headless Horseman, that is only available during the Fire Festival. Luma Cloudsister, located just inside the Slave Pens, directs your party to where you can find and defeat Ahune - and loot his special rewards. The loot in Heroic mode is more powerful than on normal mode and includes epic items.

Dancing Around the Ribbon Pole

At every festival camp, one of these traditional decorations stands tall beside the bonfire. Take up one of the multi-colored ribbons and dance around the pole with your friends and fellow celebrants! The activity may appear a bit frivolous for your average ferocious fighter, but even the most seasoned veteran can appreciate the resulting 10% bonus to experience from killing monsters.

Torch Tossing

So you want to be a fire juggler? If you think you have what it takes - the dexterity, the reflexes, the courage - this is your chance to prove it! Take the provided torches and look for the braziers with markers flashing above them. While standing near the bonfire, throw a torch at each brazier as soon a mark appears above it. You must hit the marked brazier before the mark fades if you want credit for the toss. It's a good idea to place the practice torch on your action bar for easy access. After you have completed this quest, you unlock a follow-up quest to catch torches, and subsequently, a daily version.

Torch Catching

After successfully completing Torch Tossing, you're ready to show that you can not only throw torches, but catch them as well. Take the provided unlit torches and stand near the bonfire. Throw a torch in the air by right-clicking it, then follow its flight path (look for the shadow it casts on the ground) and catch it when it lands. After you catch enough torches, you will unlock a daily version of this quest and Torch Tossing which each grant five Burning Blossoms a day. Additionally, you will be able to toss torches to and catch torches from other players.

Unusual Activity

While celebration has its place, there are graver matters to attend to as well. When the festival began, reports began filtering in from Ashenvale about a sharp increase in Twilight Cult activity. Go to the camp just south of the Blackfathom Deeps entrance, in the ruins, and see if the cultists there will part with this information. This quest line continues on, eventually unlocking a daily quest for ten Burning Blossoms where the objective is to kill a particular enemy NPC.

Honor or Desecrate the Flame

Festival fires burn across the land, in Alliance and Horde settlements alike. If you make time to honor those of your faction, while desecrating those of the opposing faction, you will earn rewards for your efforts. You receive five Burning Blossoms for each same-faction fire you honor and ten for each opposing-faction fire you desecrate, and there are about 30 of each. Each individual fire can only be interacted with once per year. If you find them all, you can collect over 300 Burning Blossoms - which comes in handy if you wish to buy the big prizes. Additionally, if you manage to sneak into an enemy capital city to descecrate their flame, you will be rewarded with gold, a choice of consumable items, and 25 Burning Blossoms. The enemy players and guards likely won't take too kindly to your efforts, however. To add extra incentive to keeping your flame alive, all friendly players in the vicinity of a lit flame for your faction receive a special buff that grants bonus fire damage with every attack -- and this buff gets snuffed out if your flame does.

Fire in the Sky

The lengthy Midsummer Fire Festival traditionally ends with the sky itself being set alight. The goblins of Undermine have lent their considerable skill (and copious amounts of gunpowder) to the task, resulting in a tremendous fireworks show! Take up a festival mug and raise a toast to the season as the multicolored explosions dance across the sky above you!