Dragon Festival 2006

Description
From the GuildWars official website:

June 30, 2006 7:00 GMT – July 5, 2006 7:00 GMT

In the spirit of celebration, adventurers on the continent of Cantha are cordially invited to the Dragon Festival, a summer festival with all the trimmings!

''After the destruction wrought by the Jade Wind, the newly crowned Emperor Hanjai (the eldest son of the assassinated emperor) oversaw the settlement of Shing Jea Island and the expansion of Kaineng City. The following summer, Emperor Hanjai dedicated a new Dragon Festival to commemorate the survival of the Empire of the Dragon.''

''Participants in the Dragon Festival can join in fun carnival-type games (Whack-A-Worm, anyone?), play new mini-missions and special PvP gameplay, undertake unique quests, and collect Asian-flavored treats such as red bean cakes and rice wine. Ceremonial Dragon Masks will be awarded to those players who are able to collect enough globes filled with the Jade Wind essence that changed Cantha two hundred years ago. The conclusion of the Dragon Festival will be marked with surprises true Canthans won't want to miss.''

Taking place in and around the Shing Jea Monastery on June 30, 2006 at 7:00 GMT and running through July 5, 2006 at 7:00 GMT, the Dragon Festival is an exclusive weekend event for Guild Wars Factions players.

Ingame Announcement
There are two different titles for this (same) announcement, one on the days before the event, and one on the days the event is taking place.

Pre-Event Title: Dragon Celebration Coming! Event Days Title: Dragon Celebration is Here!

''Join us in the Shing Jea Monastery of Cantha for a historic event that will run from 7:00 GMT on June 30 to 7:00 GMT on July 5th. You'll enjoy games, mini-missions, unique quests, treats of all kinds, and special PvP gameplay, too. And don't miss the special finale! See www.guildwars.com for more information.''

Update - Wednesday, June 28 2006
Attention fellow citizens of Cantha,

On behalf of Emperor Kisu, it is my pleasure to announce this year's Dragon Festival, a five-day celebration of games, dance, drink, and revelry, where we commemorate the dawning of the Age of the Dragon and all those who helped to rebuild our great lands after the Jade Wind. Throughout the duration of the festival, citizens of our great empire convene at Shing Jea Monastery to socialize with others, partake in carnival activities, and amass collections of Jade Wind Orbs to be redeemed for special prizes. Fans of sport can flex their muscles in the Dragon Arena, where battle prowess and longevity are recognized and rewarded.

There will be no shortage of engaging entertainment, so we hope you make the journey to our lush island and join us in revelry.

Update - Thursday, June 29 2006
The Dragon Festival has begun! Characters who wish to receive their Ceremonial Dragon Mask must collect 250 Jade Wind Orbs, which can be earned by undertaking quests, competing in the Dragon Arena, or taking part in the festival games. Emperor Kisu will honor us by appearing at the Shing Jea Monastery (Dragon Festival 2006) every 2 hours on the final day of the festival to reward those who have gathered 250 orbs. If you cannot attend the final day of the festival, take heart! The emperor has stationed an Imperial Supplymaster at the monastery, who will stay for a few days after the festival’s end to give Dragon Helms to those who have gathered their 250 orbs.

News - Friday, June 30, 2006
Dragon Festival Begins!

The Dragon Festival has begun, and players now are seeing a lantern-bedecked Shing Jea Monastery in a whole new light. NPC's are inviting visitors to participate in a novel form of PvP, to undertake new quests, and to try their hand at various carnival games. There are new wares in the collectors' stores, and a special event memento – a dragon mask – can be obtained from Emperor Kisu himself. You may have read some of the event details a few days ago. But that was really only the tip of the rice cake as to what you will experience now, on Shing Jea Island, during The Dragon Festival. Come join us in the celebration!

Quests/Missions
Imperial Guard Hanso - Shing Jea Monastery
 * The Rampaging Yetis
 * The Shrine of Maat
 * A Strange Request
 * Darkness at Kaitan

Captain Rujiyo - Shing Jea Monastery
 * Haiju Lagoon (Mission)
 * Jaya Bluffs (Mission)
 * Tsumei Village (Mission)
 * Tsumei Village (Mission 2)
 * Seitung Harbor (Mission)
 * Seitung Harbor (Mission 2)
 * Shing Jea Monastery (Mission)

Note: Completing all four quests from Imperial Guard Hanso will reward a total of 240 Jade Wind Orbs. Additionally, each completion of the Rift Mission rewards 50 Jade Wind Orbs for the Haiju Lagoon and Jaya Bluffs, with a 75 Jade Wind Orb reward for Tsumei Village and Seitung Harbour.

Minigames
To access the mini-games, talk to the Monastery Keeper in Shing Jea Monastery (Dragon Festival 2006) near the storage. All games require Festival Tickets that may be purchased for 15 gold a piece.
 * Rings of Fortune
 * Nine Rings
 * Dragon Nest

The Emperor's Visits
Every two hours, the emperor will visit Shing Jea Monastery. He will begin walking from Linnok Courtyard, and stop near the storage. Immediately when he stops, Honsu will announce the Emperor, Kisu, and Kisu himself will make a few comments. After he is done, your orbs are automatically exchanged for a dragon mask. You need only be in the district at the right time for your mask to be awarded. The Imperial Supplymaster will remain after the 5th of July to exchange masks for those who did not get to see the Emperor.

This period where you can exchange for the mask is quite short. Immediately afterwards is a mini-game. Everybody in the monastery must collect Celestial Charges and bring them to a nearby Imperial Sorcerer. These sorcerers stand around in various places around the monastery, and when you pick up an orb, yellow flares on your map will indicate their location. For every charge delivered, Cantha scores a point. For every person caught by a grasp, the grasps score a point.

The Grasp: Grasps will hunt out those who are holding Celestial Charges, much like the Grenth minions did at the winter festival 2005. If one of them touch you while you are holding a celestial charge, you will instantly die. Do not worry, you will be ressurected soon! To avoid the grasps, it is good to do a few things in certain situations. A) Drop the charge when they come near. They will wander away to find someone else. When they are a safe distance, pick it up again and run. B) Only pick up a charge if there are no grasps around. Also, make sure there are no grasps in between you and the particular Imperial Sorcorer you are targeting. Often times there will be an alternative Sorcerer you can reach safely. C) Finally, to better fulfill A and B, keep an eye on the map and look for moving green triangles. They are the grasps, and you should never pick up a charge with one in your aggro circle. The Grasps sometimes will touch a charge laying at it's spawn point, thus  they will destory it and the enemies will gain 1 point.  The best way to avoid this it to quickly pick up the charge, then drop it right away. Additionally, grasps seem to run faster than normal. Eating a red bean cake will put you up to their speed.

Note: These deaths do not count as real deaths and as such will not affect your Survivor title.

The mini-game will last 15 minutes. After which, fireworks will go off, and Festival Prizes will spawn randomly for roughly 15 minutes. In the spirit of the festival, be kind to your neighbor and try to make sure everybody gets at least one prize. If the Canthans lose the mini-game, then the Grasps will run around the outpost killing every player they can get their hands on. If you find yourself in such a district, the simplest way to avoid death is to move to another, hopefully more successful, district.

After this period of Festival Prize spawning, the emperor will take his leave. The Emperor's visit lasts about 40-45 minutes, which means his next visit will be in an hour and 15 minutes after he leaves.

Titles

 * Account-based
 * Lucky - Tickets won in games of chance.
 * Unlucky - Games of chance lost.

Items

 * Ceremonial Dragon Mask
 * Jade Wind Orb
 * Festival Prize
 * Festival Ticket
 * Red Bean Cake
 * Bottle of Rice Wine

Areas

 * Shing Jea Monastery (Dragon Festival 2006)
 * Dragon Arena
 * Kaineng Center

Glitches

 * In many districts, the emperor did not leave properly after his appearances, resulting in several emperors standing in the same spot. This also occurred with the Imperial Sorcerers in some districts.
 * In several districts, after the emperor's appearance, the minigame did not commence, and thus no fireworks or prizes.
 * Grasps failed to despawn as well, making the minigame almost impossible to complete following the next iteration, as there would be double the number of Grasps killing players.
 * For the Captain Rujiyo missions, if you had Henchmen in your party when you accepted his Quest, all of the Henchmen would be duplicated at the beginning of the quest. Even if you are killed and press "Leave" in the party menu when you are sent back to the Monastery, the duplicates would not be visually removed from your group list until you leave town.

Weblinks

 * Official announcement by ArenaNet
 * Information from the Taiwanese website
 * Comprehensive Guide at GuildWarsGuru.com