This thread will be used to keep a record of The Bell Tree's events. Simple giveaways, small social gatherings, and regularly occurring gaming sessions will not be included. Each event will link to their relevant threads and archived boards if available. The general history of the forum is also useful to keep in mind to help better understand the context of our events. For example, the activity of the forum ebbs and flows with the release of new Animal Crossing games.
Our changing forum software also affected events and the way they were archived. The Bell Tree started in late 2004 on InvisionFree, a popular platform that hosted forums for free. During this time, the internet was filled with many thousands of different forums and InvisionFree made it possible for anyone to start their own. TBT eventually became a top three Nintendo forum on the platform. The InvisionFree team later developed new forum software called ZetaBoards, which we moved to in 2008 and eventually became their largest Nintendo-based forum.
Later, we sought to host The Bell Tree on our own to have more control and freedom. However, free-hosted forum platforms like ZetaBoards don't allow their users to directly access data, so we resorted to using an imperfect method of data transfer called scraping to transfer user information and posts. In early 2011, we moved the forum to vBulletin, which allowed for the addition of our more advanced shop system and collectibles, which would later end up being a key feature of our events. Unfortunately, not all boards were transferred to vBulletin using this method, including some of the archived event boards that will be mentioned below. We converted the forum from vBulletin to XenForo in 2020, around the same time that Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released.
Additional information will be included with each year to help explain this context and spotlight important details about the year. This thread is a work in progress! We'll do our best to continue adding information about our past events while expanding the list with new ones as they happen in the years to come.
2005
The Bell Tree's second year as a community contained its first events of note. Camp Redd was our first camp-style event, a very early predecessor to Camp Bell Tree. Camp events hosted by Nintendo-based forums were all inspired by Nintendo's own Camp Hyrule. As Nintendo did with their own camp, we hosted Camp Redd on a separate forum created specifically for the event, so there is little record of it. 2005 was also the year of our first recognizable The Bell Tree Fair, which was hosted during the site's first birthday and gave out many different prizes including a copy of Animal Crossing: Wild World. Unfortunately, the archived event board was not transferred when we moved the forum to vBulletin half a decade later. Some old posts may refer to this event as the "second" Fair, but 2004's Fair was barely an event by today's standards, so we consider 2005's to be the first one.
2006
The first iteration of our original summer event series was called Project Sunlight. It was comprised of two boards, The Arena and The Crossroads, which did not transfer to vBulletin in 2011. The Crossroads was a team-based event that had several different tasks for the teams to earn points in. This was also the first time for multi-forum events. The original forum software we used, InvisionFree (later ZetaBoards) hosted tons of forums and we became close with some of our fellow Nintendo-based ones. One of them was called Nintendo Forums (NF) and together we hosted an event called TBT & NF Olympics. Later in the same year, we joined with a third Nintendo forum called The Nintendo Zone (TNZ) and created Camp Wii. This was the very first iteration of what was later renamed Smash Camp with many different Nintendo forums participating over the years.
2007
Our next summer event was called Tide and it contained the second iteration of The Crossroads. Both archived boards for this event, The Boardwalk and The Crossroads (2007), failed to be transferred in the 2011 move.
2008
The third and final edition of our early summer events was called TBT Olympics and featured The Crossroads 2008. This was the very last time we saw The Crossroads or the other summer goings-on that were hosted alongside it, bringing an end to this trilogy of events. Another major summer event wouldn't be hosted on The Bell Tree until six years later in 2014. Like the previous two, its archived event boards failed to be transferred in the 2011 move.
2009
For TBT's fifth birthday at the end of 2009, we hosted a few activities to celebrate. It may have been a smaller event compared to what we're used to today, but it also included a special board to socialize during the occasion. Unfortunately, this board was once again not transferred in 2011, so the threads don't exist on the current version of the forum.
2012
After a quiet couple of years and our move to vBulletin, 2012 brought events back to TBT, but this time with an innovation: collectibles. During Halloween a Dark Candy was passed around, cursing users who kept it. Meanwhile, the Weird Doll was sold for 61 Bells. Later in the year, a signature contest awarded our first trophy collectibles.
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
Our changing forum software also affected events and the way they were archived. The Bell Tree started in late 2004 on InvisionFree, a popular platform that hosted forums for free. During this time, the internet was filled with many thousands of different forums and InvisionFree made it possible for anyone to start their own. TBT eventually became a top three Nintendo forum on the platform. The InvisionFree team later developed new forum software called ZetaBoards, which we moved to in 2008 and eventually became their largest Nintendo-based forum.
Later, we sought to host The Bell Tree on our own to have more control and freedom. However, free-hosted forum platforms like ZetaBoards don't allow their users to directly access data, so we resorted to using an imperfect method of data transfer called scraping to transfer user information and posts. In early 2011, we moved the forum to vBulletin, which allowed for the addition of our more advanced shop system and collectibles, which would later end up being a key feature of our events. Unfortunately, not all boards were transferred to vBulletin using this method, including some of the archived event boards that will be mentioned below. We converted the forum from vBulletin to XenForo in 2020, around the same time that Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released.
Additional information will be included with each year to help explain this context and spotlight important details about the year. This thread is a work in progress! We'll do our best to continue adding information about our past events while expanding the list with new ones as they happen in the years to come.
2005
The Bell Tree's second year as a community contained its first events of note. Camp Redd was our first camp-style event, a very early predecessor to Camp Bell Tree. Camp events hosted by Nintendo-based forums were all inspired by Nintendo's own Camp Hyrule. As Nintendo did with their own camp, we hosted Camp Redd on a separate forum created specifically for the event, so there is little record of it. 2005 was also the year of our first recognizable The Bell Tree Fair, which was hosted during the site's first birthday and gave out many different prizes including a copy of Animal Crossing: Wild World. Unfortunately, the archived event board was not transferred when we moved the forum to vBulletin half a decade later. Some old posts may refer to this event as the "second" Fair, but 2004's Fair was barely an event by today's standards, so we consider 2005's to be the first one.
| March 6, 2006 | TBT Fan-fic Contest | |
| November 1, 2005 | Camp Redd | Closing |
| November 5, 2005 | The Bell Tree Fair 2005 |
2006
The first iteration of our original summer event series was called Project Sunlight. It was comprised of two boards, The Arena and The Crossroads, which did not transfer to vBulletin in 2011. The Crossroads was a team-based event that had several different tasks for the teams to earn points in. This was also the first time for multi-forum events. The original forum software we used, InvisionFree (later ZetaBoards) hosted tons of forums and we became close with some of our fellow Nintendo-based ones. One of them was called Nintendo Forums (NF) and together we hosted an event called TBT & NF Olympics. Later in the same year, we joined with a third Nintendo forum called The Nintendo Zone (TNZ) and created Camp Wii. This was the very first iteration of what was later renamed Smash Camp with many different Nintendo forums participating over the years.
| January 26, 2006 | TBT's Official Graphics Contest |
| April 1, 2006 | TBT & NF Olympics |
| May 14, 2006 | Project Sunlight |
| July 5, 2006 | Camp Wii |
| July 20, 2006 | The Crossroads |
2007
Our next summer event was called Tide and it contained the second iteration of The Crossroads. Both archived boards for this event, The Boardwalk and The Crossroads (2007), failed to be transferred in the 2011 move.
| June 18, 2007 | Tide |
| June 18, 2007 | The Crossroads 2007 |
2008
The third and final edition of our early summer events was called TBT Olympics and featured The Crossroads 2008. This was the very last time we saw The Crossroads or the other summer goings-on that were hosted alongside it, bringing an end to this trilogy of events. Another major summer event wouldn't be hosted on The Bell Tree until six years later in 2014. Like the previous two, its archived event boards failed to be transferred in the 2011 move.
| March 10, 2008 | TBT Signature Contest |
| April 7, 2008 | TBT Signature Contest |
| August 4, 2008 | TBT Olympics |
| August 4, 2008 | The Crossroads 2008 |
| November 13, 2008 | TBT Signature Contest |
2009
For TBT's fifth birthday at the end of 2009, we hosted a few activities to celebrate. It may have been a smaller event compared to what we're used to today, but it also included a special board to socialize during the occasion. Unfortunately, this board was once again not transferred in 2011, so the threads don't exist on the current version of the forum.
| March 21, 2009 | TBT's 1st Screenshot Contest |
| November 7, 2009 | Five Year Anniversary |
2012
After a quiet couple of years and our move to vBulletin, 2012 brought events back to TBT, but this time with an innovation: collectibles. During Halloween a Dark Candy was passed around, cursing users who kept it. Meanwhile, the Weird Doll was sold for 61 Bells. Later in the year, a signature contest awarded our first trophy collectibles.
| October 27, 2012 | The Official TBT Candy Thread 2012 | |
| December 6, 2012 | Holiday Secret Santa Signature Contest | Closing |
2013
| Mar 31, 2013 | Bunny Day Easter Egg Hunt | |
| May 26, 2013 | Clash of the New Leaves | Closing |
| Oct 12, 2013 | Pokémon Week | |
| Oct 30, 2013 | The Woods (Halloween 2013) | Board, Closing |
| November 30, 2013 | The Bell Tree Fair 2013 | Boards, Closing |
2014
| April 1, 2014 | April Fools' Day: Bell Tree (Instrument) Prank | |
| April 19, 2014 | TBT's Second Annual Easter Egg Hunt | |
| August 5, 2014 | TBT Beach Party | Board, Closing |
| November 29, 2014 | The Bell Tree Fair 2014 | Boards, Closing |
2015
| April 5, 2015 | TBT's Third Annual Easter Egg Hunt! | |
| July 26, 2015 | The Bell Tree Fire Festival | Board, Closing |
| October 10, 2015 | The Bell Tree Spooktacular | Board, Reveal, Closing |
| December 13, 2015 | Jingle's Jolly Jamboree | Board, Reveal, Closing |
2016
| March 26, 2016 | TBT's Fourth Annual Easter Egg Hunt | |
| August 6, 2016 | The Bell Tree Fair 2016 | Boards, Closing |
| October 23, 2016 | Prize Pack Game | |
| October 29, 2016 | The Woods Expedition | Board, Closing |
| December 14, 2016 | TBT's 12 Days of Christmas |
2017
| April 1, 2017 | April Fools' Day: "April Fool's Update" | Closing |
| April 15, 2017 | TBT's Fifth Annual Easter Egg Hunt | |
| August 19, 2017 | The Bell Tree Fair 2017 | Boards, Closing |
| October 13, 2017 | The Woods Expedition 2: The Bone Chilling Bell Hunt | Board, Closing |
| November 8, 2017 | Five Years of New Leaf Mini-Event | |
| December 13, 2017 | 12 Days of Christmas 2017 | Board |
2018
| March 31, 2018 | TBT's Sixth Annual Easter Egg Hunt | |
| May 28, 2018 | Flower Week and Hybrid Breeding | |
| October 30, 2018 | Halloween Decorating Event | |
| November 16, 2018 | Pokémon Week | |
| December 14, 2018 | 12 Days of Christmas 2018 | Closing |
2019
| February 6, 2019 | Valentine's Flower Week | |
| March 16, 2019 | St. Patrick's Bell Boom Week | |
| March 31, 2019 | April Fools' Day: "Bell Boom Week #2 is here!" | |
| April 15, 2019 | TBT's First Egg Decorating Contest | Closing |
| April 20, 2019 | TBT's Seventh Annual Easter Egg Hunt | Closing |
| August 21, 2019 | Old School Animal Crossing Week | Closing |
| October 19, 2019 | The Woods Expedition 3: Dollhouse of Horrors | Board, Closing |
| December 7, 2019 | Red Balloon World Tour | Board |
2020
| February 16, 2020 | Gaming Week | |
| July 7, 2020 | Celebrating Diversity: Animal Crossing Art Contest | |
| August 16, 2020 | The Bell Tree Fair 2020 | Boards, Closing |
| October 24, 2020 | Halloween 2020 (Part One) | Board, Closing |
| October 31, 2020 | Halloweaster 2020 (Part Two) | Closing |
| November 22, 2020 | TBT's Turkey Day | |
| December 14, 2020 | Season of Giving 2020 | Board, Closing |
2021
| January 15, 2021 | Winter Short Story Contest | Closing |
| February 28, 2021 | Valentine's Day 2021 | Closing |
| March 27, 2021 | TBT's Second Egg Decorating Contest | Closing |
| April 1, 2021 | April Fools' Day: "Introducing TBT's Dark Theme!" | Closing |
| April 3, 2021 | TBT's Ninth Annual Easter Egg Hunt | |
| May 8, 2021 | The Bell Tree World Championship | Boards, Closing |
| Jun 23, 2021 | Celebrating Diversity: New Horizons Character Designing Event | |
| July 11, 2021 | 6 Days of Scavenging | |
| August 8, 2021 | Camp Bell Tree 2021 | Boards, Closing |
| October 23, 2021 | Haunted Home Para*DIE* | Boards, Closing |
| December 12, 2021 | The Bell Tree's Holiday Market | Boards, Closing |
2022
| February 7, 2022 | Valentine's Day Arts & Crafts Contest | Closing |
| April 1, 2022 | April Fool's Day: "We Are Now a Kirby Forum!" | |
| April 15th, 2022 | TBT's Tenth Annual Easter Egg Hunt | |
| June 19, 2022 | Celebrating Diversity 2022: Villager Design Event | Closing |
| August 6, 2022 | The Bell Tree Fair 2022 | Boards, Closing |
| October 24, 2022 | The Ghostly Glade | Board, Closing |
| December 10, 2022 | TBT's Season of Giving 2022 | Board, Reveal, Closing |
2023
| January 14, 2023 | New Year, New Horizons! - ACNH Blogging Contest | |
| April 1, 2023 | April Fool's Day: "New Owner, New Exciting Business Model" | Board, Closing |
| April 5, 2023 | TBT’s Third Egg Decorating Contest | Closing |
| April 7, 2023 | TBT's Eleventh Annual Easter Egg Hunt | |
| June 7, 2023 | Celebrating Diversity 2023: Arts & Crafts Contest | Closing |
| July 21, 2023 | Camp Bell Tree 2023 | Boards, Closing |
| October 14, 2023 | The Bell Tree's Haunted Carnival | Boards, Closing |
| December 13, 2023 | TBT's 2023 Stole-iday Season | Board, Closing |
2024
| February 9, 2024 | Lunar New Year 2024 | Board, Closing |
| March 7, 2024 | Farewell to New Leaf | Boards, Closing |
| March 29, 2024 | TBT’s Fourth Egg Decorating Contest | Closing |
| March 29, 2024 | TBT's Twelfth Annual Easter Egg Hunt | |
| April 1, 2024 | April Fools' Day: "The Bell Tree's Time Portal Tragedy" | |
| April 20, 2024 | Earth Week 2024 and Hybrid Flower Breeding | Closing |
| May 18, 2024 | TBT World Championship 2024 | Boards, Closing |
| June 7, 2024 | Celebrating Diversity 2024: 3D Crafts Event | Closing |
| July 27, 2024 | The Bell Tree Fair 2024 | Boards, Closing |
| September 26, 2024 | Mushroom Season | |
| October 18, 2024 | The Return of the Haunted Carnival | Boards, Closing |
| November 7, 2024 | Twenty Years on The Bell Tree | |
| December 12, 2024 | TBT's Season of Giving 2024 | Announcement, Boards, Reveal, Closing |
2025
| February 8, 2025 | Valentine's Week at The Bell Tree | Board, Closing |
| March 24, 2025 | Sakura Week and Hybrid Flower Breeding | |
| April 1, 2025 | April Fools' Day: "The Bell Tree's Soft Serve Storefront" | Board |
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