NOVA Open, Washington DC

NOVA Open is a tabletop gaming convention in the Washington DC area. Its own description puts the focus on organised play, charity, hobby seminars and getting gamers together, and it calls itself the premiere East Coast tabletop gaming convention. Miniature game player events are at the centre, with painting, seminars, shopping, role-playing and board games all under the same roof.

It's a convention of several days rather than a one day show. The 2027 edition runs from Wednesday to Sunday, and the organiser's figure for the last convention is over 4,200 people in 2025, its biggest yet. The focus is sci-fi and fantasy gaming, and painters have their own competition, Capital Palette.

From a barbecue to a hotel

The organiser tells a nice origin story. NOVA Open began in 2009 as a 32 player outdoor charity barbecue tournament in Springfield, Virginia. The first convention proper followed in 2010 in Chantilly, Virginia, with 114 players, and in 2011 it drew over 400 people in Arlington, Virginia, on a weekend that also brought a hurricane and an earthquake.

It passed 2,100 attendees in 2017, came back after the COVID break in 2022 bigger than ever across two hotels, and since 2023 it has been held in one venue, the Washington Hilton. The 2026 convention was its fifteenth year.

Who runs it

NOVA Open is run by its own team: a board of directors, staff working through the year and a large crew of volunteers, with event leads running the individual game events. Charity has been part of it since that first barbecue tournament and is still one of its core aims.

NOVA Open 2027 runs Wednesday 1 to Sunday 5 September 2027 at The Washington Hilton, Washington DC. It usually falls over the last days of August or the first days of September.

Wednesday is the soft start, with registration from midday and a short early opening of the vendor hall in the evening. Thursday to Saturday are the full days, with registration open from early morning and the hall open all day. Sunday is shorter: registration closes late morning and the hall closes in the afternoon, so do your shopping by Saturday if there's something you really want.

Game times, seminar times and the full schedule are published on the organiser's schedule as the convention gets closer. Registration is on the Terrace Level of the hotel, next to the lifts, and the quickest way through is the QR code from your online booking plus a photo ID.

At NOVA Open your ticket is called a badge, and every attendee needs one. Badges are sold online through TableTop.Events, linked from the official site. You need a badge before you can buy event tickets or convention merchandise, and event tickets are sold separately unless your badge includes one.

The organiser sets prices in US dollars for each badge type every year. We don't print them here, because they change and the 2027 badges aren't on sale yet; the badge page shows the current prices when sales open.

The badge types

Convention Access Pass. The standard badge, giving full convention access for the whole weekend. Add event tickets on top.

Premium passes. Super NOVA and Dwarf NOVA come with extras such as a swag bag, a backpack or carry case, a T-shirt and early access to the hotel room block.

Art First. Made for painters and hobbyists, with early hotel access, an art swag bag, a painting apron and one free Capital Palette entry.

Grand Tournament bundles. A one click bundle of the Convention Access Pass, a T-shirt and an entry to the Warhammer 40,000 or Age of Sigmar Grand Tournament, with early hotel access.

Youth Convention Pass. For ages 15 and under at a discounted weekend rate, including one free Capital Palette entry. Young people must be with an adult aged 18 or over.

Day Pass. A cheaper single day badge, which can be upgraded to a weekend badge if one day turns out not to be enough.

Refunds and transfers

Badges and event tickets can be passed to another attendee, and you can swap events through your TableTop.Events cart. Refunds have to be requested by a deadline before the convention (midnight 15 July in 2026) and carry a small administration fee, so check the organiser's policies before you book flights around it. Prizes, awards and merchandise aren't posted out afterwards: collect them before you leave.

Player events

The organiser lists over a hundred player events. The long-running headline events include a big Warhammer 40,000 Grand Tournament and X-Wing, and there are Age of Sigmar Grand Tournaments and narrative events for both 40,000 and Age of Sigmar.

The latest games line-up runs to around thirty systems, including Horus Heresy, Kill Team, Warcry, Necromunda and Inquisitor, Blood Bowl, Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game, The Old World, Underworlds, Kings of War, Warmachine, Battletech, Marvel Crisis Protocol, Star Wars X-Wing, Legion, Armada and Shatterpoint, Steel Rift, Arena Rex, Blood and Plunder and Black Powder, Red Earth. There's also a Kidshammer event, and Magic: The Gathering for card players. The organiser adds events through the year, so check the line-up for the systems you play.

Capital Palette

Capital Palette is NOVA Open's painting competition. The organiser describes it as a juried, open forum competition with judging at every skill level, so you're scored against a standard rather than against the other entries. Several entries can win the same medal.

• Three divisions: Apprentice, Journeyman and Masterclass, each with its own panel of judges.
• Six categories: single model small (up to 54mm), single model large (over 54mm), diorama, vehicle, unit or squad, and bust.
• Medals: gold, silver and bronze in each category of each division, a Best in Category for each, and one Best in Show.
• Extra awards: a youth award for painters 15 and under, plus awards for creativity, historical subjects and original sculpting (hand sculpted or 3D printed entries both count), and a Fan Favourite voted by attendees by QR code.

Entry fees, drop-off and collection times are in the competition information on the Capital Palette page. Read them before you start painting.

Art and hobby seminars

The seminar programme is big: the organiser talks of over 300 hours of art classes and seminars, running all day on every day of the convention, taught by around thirty instructors. They're pitched at all skill levels, from painting your first miniature to finishing a competition piece. Seminars are booked like events, so add the ones you want to your badge.

Hobby Haven and painting extras

Hobby Haven is a large open painting area on the Lobby Level with primers, paints, brushes and basing materials to use. It's a social space for casual painting and swapping tips. A veterans' mental health charity runs paint and take and speed painting sessions there, with proceeds going to its work.

Demos, board games and big battles

A demo hall lets you try games for free, the board game library is free to play, with some games you can win a copy of just by playing, and there are learn to play tournaments for board games too. Giant battles with upsized models run for anyone who wants to join in or watch.

Role-playing games

Role-playing sessions are run by game masters and publishers in quieter rooms away from the main halls. Recent conventions have covered dozens of systems, from Dungeons and Dragons and Call of Cthulhu to Warhammer settings, plus Youth D&D and workshops on running and writing games. The organiser's advice: just bring your dice.

The vendor hall

The vendor hall is the place to see games, miniatures, hobby tools and accessories in person, and to chat to the people who make and sell them. It's on the Concourse Level, with a short early opening on Wednesday evening.

Tournament players. If you play a Games Workshop system, Star Wars, Warmachine, Kings of War or one of the smaller skirmish games, there's likely an event for you, up to the big Grand Tournaments. Check the format and points level for your event when the schedule is published.

Painters. Capital Palette's three divisions mean a first entry is judged at Apprentice level, not against the Masterclass painters, and the seminars and Hobby Haven make it a good trip even if you never pick up dice. If you're thinking of entering, our guides on how to enter a painting competition and what the judges look for are a good place to start.

Beginners. Seminars are pitched at all skill levels, the demo hall is free to try, and the board game library and role-playing rooms are relaxed places to start. You don't need an army to have a good time.

Families. The organiser calls NOVA Open a family-friendly event. There's a discounted Youth Convention Pass for ages 15 and under, who must be with an adult, a youth award at Capital Palette, and recent line-ups have included Kidshammer and Youth D&D.

Visitors from the UK. It's a big trip, but five days of events makes it a fair one. Pair it with a few days in Washington, and see our events around the world page for the other big American conventions.

The venue

NOVA Open is held at the Washington Hilton, 1919 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC. The hotel has hosted events since 1965 and is close to the National Zoo, the Metro and the restaurants of Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan. The whole convention is inside it, spread over several floors: registration and Capital Palette on the Terrace Level, the vendor hall and the biggest game halls on the Concourse Level, and Hobby Haven on the Lobby Level.

Flying in from the UK

The organiser lists three airports for the convention: Reagan National (DCA), Dulles (IAD) and Baltimore Washington (BWI). From there, the Metro and Amtrak trains into Union Station connect you to the city. If you're playing a long tournament, leave yourself a spare day to get over the jet lag first.

By Metro

The nearest station is Dupont Circle on the Red Line, about four blocks away: leave by the north exit onto Q Street and walk north up Connecticut Avenue, and the hotel is on the right. U Street station, on the Green and Yellow Lines, is about seven blocks away.

Parking

The hotel's own garage is self-park at $25 a day at the convention rate, open 24 hours, with its entrance on 18th Street NW only and a low ceiling of 6 feet 4 inches. Tell the hotel you're with NOVA Open. Spaces are limited and first come, first served, and the organiser says it's unlikely to be the cheapest option.

There are two public garages close by with cheaper day rates, card only, lower ceilings and no overnight parking on weekdays, about a dozen other paid car parks within a short walk, and free all day parking at the National Cathedral or the National Zoo, about a mile's walk away. As the organiser puts it, once you're at the convention you won't need your car until you leave. Full details are on the parking and transit page.

Staying at the hotel

The Washington Hilton is the official hotel, with a block of rooms at a convention rate booked through a link on the organiser's hotel page. The general room block opened 1 May at 8pm Eastern in 2026, and the premium, Art First and Grand Tournament badges came with a few weeks of earlier access. Room rates aren't published on the organiser's site, so check the booking link when it opens, and book early.

House rules worth knowing

Costumes are welcome but should stay family-friendly, and prop weapons are checked by staff on arrival: soft materials only, no realistic firearms and no whips. Ask before you photograph anyone, don't record a class without the instructor's permission, and bring a reusable cup for the water stations around the convention.

Details checked against the organiser's website in October 2026. Always check the official site before you travel. Badge prices, the event list, the schedule and the Capital Palette rules are published by the NOVA Open team, so that's the place to look for anything this page doesn't cover.

Planning more than one show? Our miniature events around the world page lists the big shows by region, including the other big American conventions.