Midsummer Fire Festival Event Guide

We’re feeling hot-hot-hot, so let the festivities begin! This in-game holiday is a nod to real world Midsummer celebrations that occur during the summer solstice. In World of Warcraft, festival bonfires are lit around all of Azeroth (and beyond). Players can travel to honor (or desecrate) the flames, earning currency to purchase exclusive toys, cosmetics, and treats, and receive an honorary title.

When: June 21-July 5, 2023
Where: All of Azeroth, including faction capitals and cities in multiple zones

To get started, seek out a Fire Festival Commoner at any of the faction capitals and pick up their optional breadcrumb quest, or just head directly to the Fire Festival Camp in that city.

Recent Updates

• 2023:
  • Midsummer camps have appeared on the Dragon Isles, as well as corresponding Honoring the Flame achievements
  • The gear dropped from Frost Lord Ahune has been updated to item level 385
  • New vendor toy added: Flamin’ Ring of Flashiness

Currency

Players are rewarded with Burning Blossoms as they complete Midsummer Fire Festival activities, and can exchange them for goods sold by Horde Midsummer Merchants and Alliance Midsummer Suppliers near the bonfires in faction capitals.

Note: This currency will disintegrate once the event is over, so be sure to spend ’em before you lose ’em!

Rewards

Battle Pets

Item	Source	Note
Blazing Cindercrawler	Vendor purchase for 350	–
Frigid Frostling	Drop from Ahune	Learned from Ice Chip
Igneous Flameling	Vendor purchase for 350	–
Spirit of Summer	Vendor purchase for 350	Learned from Captured Flame

Transmog

In addition to the holiday cloaks dropped by Frost Lord Ahune, there are festive tabards, weapons, and cosmetic items available:

Item	Type	Source
Crown of the Fire Festival	Head	Quest (Alliance/Horde)
Helm of the Fire Festival	Head	Vendor purchase for 350
Mantle of the Fire Festival **	Shoulder	Vendor purchase for 100
Sandals of Summer **	Feet	Vendor purchase for 200
Vestment of Summer **	Chest	Vendor purchase for 100
Tabard of Summer Skies	Tabard	Quest from Ahune
Tabard of Summer Flames	Tabard	Quest from Ahune
Frostscythe of Lord Ahune	Weapon	Drop from Ahune
Formula: Enchant Weapon – Deathfrost	Weapon Illusion	Drop from Ahune

** Needed for achievement Burning Hot Pole Dance

Heirloom Upgrades

These heirloom upgrades can be purchased from festival vendors:

Item	Cost
Ancient Heirloom Armor Casing	300
Battle-Hardened Heirloom Armor Casing	600
Eternal Heirloom Armor Casing	600
Timeworn Heirloom Armor Casing	600
Weathered Heirloom Armor Casing	600

Toys

If those Burning Blossoms are still burning a hole in your cloak pocket, don’t worry – the festival vendors sell these collectible toys to cool you off:

Item	Cost
Brazier of Dancing Flames	350
Burning Defender’s Medallion	500
Cozy Bonfire	350
Fire Eater’s Hearthstone	300
Fire Festival Batons	50
Flamin’ Ring of Flashiness	500
Insulated Dancing Insoles	100
Set of Matches	500
Summer Cranial Skillet	150

Additional Festival Items

These items can be purchased from festival vendors and are used to complete various achievements, quests, or just for fun:

Item	Cost
Bag of Smorc Ingredients	5
Elderberry Pie	5
Fiery Festival Brew	2
Fire-Toasted Bun	5
Handful of Summer Petals	2
Juggling Torch	5
Midsummer Sausage	5
Toasted Smorc	5

Activities

Midsummer Fire Festival is quite a labor-intensive world event, with the primary activity of traveling to many different zones to visit each bonfire. Players can also visit Festival Camps in faction capital cities to pick up both daily and storyline quests, plus browse goods sold by Horde Midsummer Merchants and Alliance Midsummer Suppliers.

Bonfires

Embrace the warmth and revelry of the Midsummer Fire Festival by honoring (or desecrating) festival bonfires! Players must travel across Azeroth, lighting sacred fires and bringing the flames of celebration to remote corners of the world, all while reaping the rewards and basking in the festive spirit of the holiday.

• Honor or desecrate a festival bonfire by interacting with it and accepting the available quest. For completing each quest, players will receive Burning Blossoms:
  • Honor faction bonfire: 5
  • Honor neutral bonfire: 15
  • Desecrate enemy bonfire: 10
• In addition to desecrating the opposing faction’s capital bonfires, players can complete the quest, “A Thief’s Reward”, by stealing the flames from each of their enemy’s capital cities.
• Note: Dousing the enemy’s bonfire will flag you for PvP combat, even if you have War Mode turned off.

To help you plan your adventure (and work toward each continent’s achievements), we’ve organized the bonfires by location and faction:

Frost Lord Ahune (Holiday Boss)

Frost Lord Ahune lurks deep inside the Slave Pens under the service of Neptulon, and can only be summoned during the Midsummer Fire Festival. To slay the frost lord, players can speak with Earthen Ring Elders located at Midsummer camps, or queue via the Dungeon Finder. The encounter is available for all characters level 10 or higher, however the event loot will only drop for those meeting the item level requirements.

Characters who defeat Ahune for the first time (ever) will complete the Ice the Frost Lord achievement. Shards of Ahune will be lootable from the chest, which starts a quest that rewards 20 plus either a Tabard of Summer Skies or Tabard of Summer Flames.

But wait, there’s more! Throughout the festival, players may continue to queue for the dungeon and complete the daily quest Summon Ahune. The first defeat of Ahune each day will provide players with some gold and a Satchel of Chilled Goods. The loot bag has a chance to contain 5-15 Burning Blossoms and the following rewards:

Quests

Commoners in each faction’s capital will get you started with quests that introduce the camps and NPCs you’ll be interacting with during the festival:

• The Master of Summer Lore (A)/The Spinner of Summer Tales (H).
• Incense for the Summer Scorchlings (A)/Incense for the Festival Scorchlings (H)

Speak with Master Fire Eater (A) or Master Flame Eater (H) to accept the Torch Tossing and Torch Catching quests, which are required to unlock their related daily quests.

• Torch Tossing (A)/Torch Tossing (H): Throw Practice Torches at the nearby braziers, being sure to hit the currently targeted brazier.
  • Note: These mechanics work like similar mini-games (such as the Shooting Range at Darkmoon Faire), meaning players with significant lag may find it a bit difficult to hit the correct/marked brazier before it switches.
• Torch Catching (A)/Torch Catching (H): Light Unlit Torches in the bonfire, then throw them in the air and catch them before they hit the ground.
  • Note: Pay close attention to the torch’s shadows on the ground. You may need to adjust your camera or move to another area if you’re surrounded by too many players, making the torch shadows difficult to see.
  • Once you perfect your craft, go ahead and catch 40 in a row to complete the achievement Torch Juggler!

Speak with an Earthen Ring Elder to start the “Striking Back” chain. Upon completion of the first three quests, you’ll receive a final quest to slay a Twilight Hammer NPC. Which NPC you’ll battle varies based on your character’s current level. Once this chain is complete, you will unlock the Striking Back daily.

• Unusual Activity
• An Innocent Disguise
• Inform the Elder
• Striking Back:
  • Striking Back: Frostwave Lieutenant on Zoram Strand in Ashenvale (Level 22)
  • Striking Back: Hailstone Lieutenant at Ethel Rethor in Desolace (Level 32)
  • Striking Back: Chillwind Lieutenant on the island in Northern Stranglethorn (Level 43)
  • Striking Back: Frigid Lieutenant in a cave underneath Firewatch Bridge in Searing Gorge (Level 51)
  • Striking Back: Glacial Lieutenant at Twilight’s Run in Silithus (Level 60)
  • Striking Back: Glacial Templar near the Dark Portal in Hellfire Peninsula (Level 64)

Daily Quests

• More Torch Catching (A)/More Torch Catching (H)
  • Reward: 5
  • Pre-requisite: Torch Catching
• More Torch Tossing (A)/More Torch Tossing (H)
  • Reward: 5
  • Pre-requisite: Torch Tossing

After completing the pre-requisite quest chain, there are six Striking Back dailies located in different zones, and all six can be completed once each day, rewarding 10 each:

• Striking Back – Ashenvale
• Striking Back – Desolace
• Striking Back – Hellfire Peninsula
• Striking Back – Northern Stranglethorn
• Striking Back – Searing Gorge
• Striking Back – Silithus

Achievements

There are a ton of achievements related to Midsummer Fire Festival, including the meta The Flame Warden (A)/The Flame Keeper (H), and of course, getting credit toward What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been, which awards the beautiful Violet Proto-Drake.

The majority of the holiday achievements are completed by honoring or desecrating the faction bonfires. For more information and tips on everything needed for these achievements, check out the Activities section above!