It is the First of September and after a long journey you finally arrive on the steps of a looming, enchanted castle. For some your journey here was your very first while for others this is familiar ground. You enter the school with your fellow students and are lead to a grand hall to be seated and one by one the new students are called up to the front. Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, the new students are sorted into their Houses, join their newfound classmates, and with the Sorting Ceremony concluded enjoy one of the greatest dinners they’ll ever have before embarking on their challenging school year!
Welcome to the
"The very best of evenings to you! Now… to our new students, welcome, to our old students, welcome back! Another night full of drunken education awaits you…"
WHAT THIS IS
The Start-of-Term Feast, formerly the Pre-PAX Dinner, is a yearly, buffet style, catered dinner held at Barça the night before PAX
Prime West that gives PAXers, both new and old, a chance to hang out, eat a ton of great food, and get to know each other! It also gives everyone attending the Pre-PAX West Pub Crawl: The Triwizard Drinking Tournament, a chance to eat before a merry night of drinking and charity fund raising which you should totally sign up for!
https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/205298/pax-thursday-the-triwizard-drinking-tournament-2-registration-is-live/p1
And yes, you are totally free to wear your TWDT costumes to this! I’d be a little disappointed if you didn’t, honestly

WHEN IS THIS
September 1st @ 6:00 PM
WHERE IS THIS
The dinner will be held in its traditional location:
Barça!
1510 11th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
http://www.barcaseattle.com
Barça has been a fantastic location for years and the staff there has shown us an incredible amount of hospitality for as long as the dinner has been held there. Please be respectful to the staff and the bar itself!
HOW DO I GET IN
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-start-of-term-feast-aka-the-pre-pax-dinner-tickets-26017359623
As always, I make exactly zero dollars on this event. Tickets are priced to exactly cover the cost of the caterer. I will be happy to provide a copy of my expenses to anyone wanting to see them in case there’s a question about this.
THE MENU
Catering this year is being provided for the first time by Joy Max Catering!
SALADS
•Cucumber Greek Salad
•Cucumbers, Roma Tomatoes, diced Red Onions, Feta Cheese tossed in a Greek Dressing
•Carrot Broccoli Raisin Salad
•Shredded Carrots and Broccoli Floweret’s steamed till tender with sweet Raisin tossed in a Tangy Sweet Coleslaw Dressing
SIDES
•Steamed Baby Yukons and Reds with Butter and Fresh Herbs -
(Vegetarian and Gluten Free)
•Cheese Tortellini w/Mushrooms, Spinach and Pancetta - Sauteed Mushrooms, Onions, Spinach with a touch of Pancetta tossed with Olive oil and Cheese Tortellini
•Butter Herb Rice - Steamed Long Grain and Wild Rice with Butter and Herbs
( Vegetarian and Gluten Free)ENTRÉES
•Tuscan Chicken - Oven roasted Italian Bone In Chicken slow cooked with Italian Herbs, Sweet Stewed Tomatoes, Green Spanish Olives and Shallots
(Gluten Free)
•Memphis Maple Grilled Pork Tenderloin - Pork Tenderloin marinated and rubbed in a sweet but spicy blend of spices than grilled till just done in the center
(Gluten Free)
•Shrimp Quiche Pie
•Sundried Tomatoe Quiche Pie
(Vegetarian)
@PAXTriwizard on Twitter for updates on this year's PAX Thursday night shenanigans!
Posts
Maybe they will surprise you
Now, during the triwizards drinking tournament, the band is normally there but blasting out damn good video game tracks..
Oh and Woot! Got my ticket for the food
4 Year Pax West Attendee
Do the event you don't usually do. All the pre-PAX events are awesome. Also, nightly gaming is easy to find every night during PAX, but a big catered dinner an pub-crawl is not.
Sweet, join us in dinner, then join us at the TWDT :-D
4 Year Pax West Attendee
Yup! I dunno if the video game music band will be back for the crawl but the dinner has always been a music free event.
Looking forward to my first West!
I switched caterers so the watermelon dish is gone forever, sadly.
I always do. I cut ticket sales off two weeks early so that I can submit a final count and then the caterer has time to prep and I only get charged for what was sold. 78 people have signed up with a couple hours left so not a bad turnout!
Ugh, I just got my ticket... but it looks like I have to cancel. I hate doing this last min, but am happy that @iAlex0488 wants to go. I have a bunch of Enforcer meetings that I have to go to that conflict with dinner.
Order refunded!
@iAlex0488 her ticket is now open!
Hmmm, seems like it's still sold out. Was I too slow?
Unfortunately it looks like someone else snuck in even though I never advertised anywhere else the ticket was available