Zeldathon


Zeldathon is a biannual video game charity marathon, broadcast live on Twitch. Traditionally, every major video game in The Legend of Zelda series is completed back-to-back throughout the event, over the course of several days. Viewers are encouraged to donate directly to a selected charity in order to reach various goals and motivate the attendees to perform various challenges, such as playing the game upside down, or dressing up as a recurring video game character.
As of 2020, more than 100 people from across the world have participated in the event, with the most recent instances featuring over 70 attendees each. Over the course of 25 marathons, the team has raised more than $2.6 million for various charitable causes.
At the conclusion of the 22nd marathon, a documentary on the event's history, Money Making Game, was announced with a projected release of December 2019 to celebrate Zeldathon's 10th anniversary. The documentary was premiered at the 25th marathon, Zeldathon Forces.

Founding

Zeldathon was first organized in late 2009 between Matthew “MC” Moffit and Zak Ondish, having taken inspiration from other charity gaming marathons such as TheSpeedGamers.
Following the first marathon, motivation was low to continue to create another event. However, another attendee of the initial event wanted to do a second as a high school senior project. Moffit agreed to help, and they planned and executed a second summer event. Following this, the marathon continued to return twice annually, in the summer and winter, with occasional mini-marathons being held as needed.

Honors

In September 2016, the Zeldathon Team was awarded the "Help Award" by , for excellence in fund-raising following their fifteenth marathon, Zeldathon Hope. The award was given as a direct result of their effort in raising more than $250,000 for Help Hope Live in the 150-hour event.

List of marathons

There have been 25 mainline marathons to date, with the next event planned for 2020.
#TitleStart DateEnd DateCharityTotal RaisedDurationNotes
1Zeldathon for CharityDecember 27, 2009December 30, 2009Child's Play$30172 Hours
2Zeldathon for the American Cancer SocietyJune 19, 2010June 22, 2010American Cancer Society$3,32272 Hoursa.k.a. Zeldathon ACS
3Zeldathon for the American Diabetes AssociationDecember 27, 2010January 1, 2011American Diabetes Association$4,001120 Hoursa.k.a. Zeldathon ADA
4Zeldathon QuestJune 22, 2011June 24, 2011RJ's College Fund$2,67248 HoursMini-Marathon
5Zeldathon for the American Red CrossJuly 19, 2011July 23, 2011American Red Cross$13,28096 Hoursa.k.a. Zeldathon ARC
6Zeldathon Child's PlayDecember 29, 2011January 5, 2012Child's Play$15,473170 Hours
7Ultimate ZeldathonJuly 7, 2012July 12, 2012Child's Play$27,176120 Hours
8Zeldathon WaterDecember 27, 2012January 1, 2013$45,273120 Hours
9Zeldathon LivesJuly 5, 2013July 10, 2013$53,039120 Hours
10Zeldathon: Headstone for a HeroOctober 4, 2013October 6, 2013$10,20248 HoursMini-Marathon
11Zeldathon St. JudeDecember 27, 2013January 1, 2014St. Jude Children's Research Hospital$54,965120 Hours
12Zeldathon AdventureJuly 10, 2014July 17, 2014St. Jude Children's Research Hospital$97,251156 Hours
13Zeldathon ReliefDecember 27, 2014January 2, 2015Direct Relief$106,100141 Hours
14Zeldathon DeluxeJune 19, 2015June 25, 2015charity: water$196,097140 Hours
15Zeldathon HopeDecember 27, 2015January 2, 2016$251,554147 Hours
16Zeldathon RecoveryJune 17, 2016June 23, 2016Direct Relief$230,077148 Hours
17Zeldathon ClassicOctober 14, 2016October 17, 2016Child's Play$27,54672 HoursMini-Marathon
18Zeldathon CuresDecember 27, 2016January 2, 2017St. Jude Children's Research Hospital$376,157143 Hours
19Zeldathon WildJune 5, 2017June 11, 2017The WILD Foundation$169,982147 Hours
20Anything Other Than ZeldathonSeptember 29, 2017October 2, 2017Help Hope Live$26,80375 HoursMini-Marathon - Did not play Zelda titles
21Zeldathon MissionDecember 27, 2017January 2, 2018Direct Relief$224,665149 Hours
22Zeldathon ChampionsJune 15, 2018June 21, 2018St. Jude Children's Research Hospital$160,013144 Hours
23Zeldathon ResponseDecember 27, 2018January 2, 2019Direct Relief$165,000145 Hours
24Zeldathon HealsJune 13, 2019June 20, 2019Help Hope Live$170,049164 Hours
25Zeldathon ForcesDecember 27, 2019January 3, 2020St. Jude Children's Research Hospital$173,700153 hours10 year anniversary

Piece of Heart

In addition to their primary marathons, in 2019 the Zeldathon Team announced Piece of Heart, a convention-based charity event featuring Zeldathon participants.
TitleStart DateEnd DateVenueCharityTotal RaisedDurationNotes
Piece of HeartMay 24, 2019May 26, 2019MomoCon 2019St. Jude Children's Research Hospital$16,05126 Hours

Parallel Worlds

At the end of Zeldathon Forces, the Zeldathon Team announced Zeldathon Parallel Worlds, an event focusing on non-Zelda titles. The team has said that this is its own line of events, rather than part of the main list of Zeldathon marathons. While originally planned to begin on June 4th 2020, it was announced in March 2020 that the event would be delayed to the summer of 2021 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
TitleStart DateEnd DateCharityTotal RaisedDurationNotes
Parallel WorldsSummer 2021--Originally planned for June 2020

Other Events

In the same March 2020 announcement as the delay of Parallel Worlds, it was revealed that an online-only event would be held in its place, scheduled to begin on June 5th, in support of Direct Relief. The event was later given the title of Side Quest. On June 3rd, it was announced that Side Quest would be delayed in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement following the George Floyd protests, with a new starting date of August 7th announced in July.
TitleStart DateEnd DateCharityTotal RaisedDurationNotes
Side Quest7 August 2020Direct Relief--Online-only Event