World of Warcraft has been around since 2004—doesn’t time fly? The 20th Anniversary event for one of the most influential MMORPGs in history runs from Oct. 23 to Jan. 6, 2025, and it’s worth checking out, no matter your character’s level and gear.
Here’s a breakdown of the main trio of events that are part of the 20th Anniversary celebrations in WoW, looking at how you can take part and some handy tips and tricks for winning.
World of Warcraft 20th Anniversary schedule
The 20th Anniversary celebrations in World of Warcraft are on a rolling, hourly schedule, meaning you can participate in each main event without waiting too long.
The hourly event schedule is as follows:
- Story Time: On the hour
- Fashion Frenzy: 15 minutes past
- Story Time: 30 minutes past
- Mount Mania: 45 minutes past
Story Time has multiple iterations, so you likely won’t see the same story twice within the same hour, and you can pick up the achievements for this event easily by sticking around for both times.
If you’re trying to get all the achievements for World of Warcraft’s 20th Anniversary celebrations, make sure to open up the map and check out where the party-crasher bosses have spawned. You can find Doomwalker, the Sha of Anger, Lord Kazzak, and other iconic bosses throughout Tanaris during this event.
They’re scaled up to max level, meaning you won’t be able to solo them and will need to team up with other players.
They’re worth tackling, as they can drop exciting rewards—we got the Reins of the Grand Black War Mammoth from our first Doomwalker kill, despite accidentally respawning on top of the boss and being kicked like a football—and link to several achievements, too.
Alongside the world bosses and the variety of quests, puzzles, and Dailies in the Anniversary celebration area, there are three main events to take part in, as shown in the schedule above.
Fashion Frenzy
Transmog fans, this one’s for you. Fashion Frenzy is a fast-paced, fun fashion contest that tasks you with creating a new look based on a designated theme. To take part in it, you will need to wait by the stage until it’s 15 minutes past the hour and the organizer yells for participants in the chat.
The organizer, Althaea, will briefly explain the event before putting up a prompt for the transmog theme above the stage. The first one we tried was “Alliance vs Horde” and the most common one that popped up during our attempts was “Cataclysmic Costume.”
Several Transmogrifier NPCs are dotted around the stage, including behind the main stage itself. There’s also a Barber in this back room if you want to alter your character’s appearance directly, such as with a new hairstyle or eye color.
You are under a time limit for this, so make sure to plan accordingly and use any premade outfits you’ve already got if you’re stuck for ideas.
Once the timer ticks down to zero, players must return to the main stage and pick up voting ribbons, which you can find on tables to the side of the stage.
You must then use four ribbons to vote for your favorite players in the event zone—click on them and use the ribbon item to vote. It’ll pop up as a buff on their character, stacking to indicate how many times people have voted for them.
While it may seem like you need to get on stage for people to see your outfit, this will result in an automatic teleport. Simply stand in the area in front of the stage, and consider using any mounts or toys to complement your look and draw more attention to yourself if it’s busy.
This section is also timed. Once the timer ticks down to zero, the four winning players with the most stacks of the ribbon buff will be announced by name, and a copy of their character will be shown on stage next to Althaea.
While there isn’t a guaranteed way to win this event as it comes down to a voting system, it’s worth considering the popular interpretation of a theme and seeing whether you can put a creative spin on it.
For example, if you get “Alliance vs Horde” and you’re an Alliance player, why not make a Horde transmog? There are some pieces that Alliance members can access that have a Horde vibe to them, and it’s a great way to stand out from the almost certain sea of blue and gold that you’ll be competing against.
Mount Mania
If you have an impressive mount collection, you’ll have a field day with this event. Mount Mania is a collector’s competition that rewards players with the widest selection of mounts, pitting them against each other in a fast-paced contest.
To take part, wait until 45 minutes past the hour, then head to the event area near the main Anniversary celebrations tent. You’re looking for the NPC named Abigail Cyrildotr, who will shout in the main chat once the event begins.
Abigail will call out 15 mounts during this event, and your aim is to summon the same mounts as her to gather points. As the event begins, a progress bar will pop up on the right-hand side of your screen, indicating how many mounts remain.
The mount name will pop up directly above Abigail’s head, so you can easily see what you need to search for in your Mount Journal tab.
Your points will be shown as a stacking buff near the progress bar on the right-hand side of the screen. Missing a mount doesn’t mean you can’t take part—for example, if you have mount one but not mount two, make sure you still summon mount three if possible—so don’t get discouraged.
At the end of the 15-mount list, the winner will be announced on the stage. The mounts in the event are random, meaning they can be PvP mounts, random drops, unattainable old-world mounts, store mounts, or simple crafted mounts.
Story Time
The final event is Story Time, led by the iconic Lorewalker Cho from Mists of Pandaria. This is essentially like watching a play based on real WoW lore snippets; there isn’t too much you need to do to participate.
The event takes place twice in the hour, once right on the hour mark and again at the half-past mark. Head to the stage and grab a seat before Lorewalker Cho starts talking.
All you need to do to take part is listen to Lorewalker Cho and click the interaction buttons when they pop up—you may get prompted to laugh, cry, or even cheer the narrator as the story unfolds. The scene will play out on stage for you to watch alongside other players.
There are several achievements to pick up here, including one for watching every possible story, so it’s worth grabbing a seat if you’re keen on event achievement hunting.
The 20th Anniversary event in WoW is full of fun content and exciting rewards, and this trio of events only makes up part of it. Make sure to explore the event before Jan. 6 to pick up as many rewards and collectibles as possible.
