Applications are now open for Season 3 of Winterland, a charity project starting with a three-week SMP, followed by a selection of tournaments and events.
“We try to give the SMP a true winter vibe,” project organiser Bluekwyrm tells us, “so just like last year we’ll be creating a datapack that will make it snow in every biome, and there will be some more small changes to really make it feel like winter.”
The SMP, which forms the main part of the project, will run from 14th December until 4th January. “The SMP is strictly limited to last three weeks, with no milestones to make it last longer,” Bluekwyrm explains. “This means that the stakes are a little lower, so if people want to have six thousand froglights to build a giant moon over spawn, we can give those without it feeling particularly unfair – although we do tend to make the creators work for it a little. While SMPs usually tend to be focused on grinding for basics and getting good villager trades and all that, we provide villagers at spawn which sell the most important stuff, so people can focus on whatever aspect of Minecraft they like to do most. For some that is still grinding for gear, but others prefer to focus on building or on social things. The first season of Winterland was very much focused on having a relatively low-effort way to make some last memories of the year with friends and fellow creators, and while we have added the charity aspect, that still holds true as well.”
The money raised throughout the course of the SMP will determine how many other events will follow the SMP’s conclusion. These events may include minigame tournaments, custom-coded events, as well as events outside of Minecraft. While Season 3’s events have not yet been announced, Season 2, which ran from December 2024 to July 2025, included partnered events with minigame tournaments Klyx Games and Fusion Frenzy, a Bingo event hosted by Reject Events, an MCC Island tournament, a custom Winterland Gameshow, and a relay streaming marathon.
Season 2’s charity, selected by Bluekwyrm, was Make A Wish – with the season raising $1,907.32 USD for the cause. “For the SMP of Season 2, we blew through all of our original milestones within the first day, and had to scramble for milestone ideas and getting them realised,” Bluekwyrm says. “This caused a lot of stress for us admins, and there were some deadlines that were barely met. This year we’re much better prepared on what to expect and how much effort things will take, so we have our basic plans but are ready to scale things up if that proves necessary.”
“This year we figured we’d let the creators themselves decide the charity,” Bluekwyrm tells us. “They mentioned wanting to raise money of an LGBTQ+ cause, so we compiled a list of ones we thought were good and then had a vote.” For Season 3, the SMP and subsequent events will all be raising money for Rainbow Railroad – a global charity that helps LGBTQI+ people facing persecution based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or sex characteristics get to safety. “I think this cause resonated with people so much because we’ve heard a lot of news about people being displaced in these past few years,” Bluekwyrm continues, “and having a good place to call home is the basis of feeling safe.”
“The thing I’m looking forward to most about the season is seeing people interact,” Bluekwyrm says. “We hope to form a roster of players that are from all sides of the community, which means people you never thought would ever cross paths might meet and play together. I think the thing I enjoy most is seeing the friendships formed in this SMP and the events after last for longer than our season does.”
Content creators can apply to play on the server here. Applications are set to close on Sunday 16th November 2025 at 11pm GMT / 6pm EST.
About The Author
