The Solvang Brick & Builds conference, held April 18th and 19th, brought brick builders and appreciators together in the beautiful town of Solvang under sunny skies. The event was held both indoors and out, with a short walk connecting the Veterans Memorial Hall where pro builders and their MOCs were displayed, to the lovely Solvang Park. The public park hosted a lively festival-type vibe with local musicians, and other vendors, Pro Brick Builders were actively building their creations for competition both days, while brick lovers could watch and ask questions. Everyone we saw was having fun.
One highlight unique to Solvang Brick & Builds was a bakery-themed building challenge. If you haven’t been to Solvang yet, there are so many bakeries with charming, old-world designs, it would be hard to choose. We loved that many of the impressive MOCs embraced the spirit of Solvang and were either Danish/Nordic in theme, especially Viking ships, or incorporated some of Solvang’s beloved architecture, including windmills.
A Brick Quest Scavenger Hunt encouraged folks to follow their map to visit participating locations, get stamps to complete the list, and return it to get a “brick-tastic” prize. Many of the folks we talked to over the weekend were hot on the trail of the scavenger hunt.
BrickLink™ held a panel on Saturday, and there were opportunities to meet and greet with the LEGO Master builders on both days. There was a special area set aside for youth builders, aged 12-17. It was something new for this conference, and we talked to a few of the youth, who were pretty serious and had some great MOCs.
The Women’s Brick Initiative booth area was limited to one table, and it was a good thing. Getting to build a square to become part of the quilt was so popular that we probably needed 4 times the amount of tiles that we had. We had to close up early on Saturday by 2 p.m. in order to save enough materials to have a presence on Sunday. We ended around 2 p.m. again on Sunday as we were down to the last two tiles!
We got to educate a lot of parents, youth, and other adults about the goals of WBI, and many of them took postcards to learn more.
There was one older woman who had experienced some physical ailments and found brick building to be one of her few joys. She was so excited to see women builders that we had a lovely conversation and encouraged her to find other women builders, join a LUG, etc., when she got back home.
We gained dozens and dozens of new creative quilt squares! While Solvang Brick & Builds was a smaller conference than some, it was well attended, and people meandered back and forth between the different venues both days, enjoying both the uniqueness of the town and the colorful, interactive world of brick building.