Magfest stands for music and gaming fest.  It is held at a huge hotel in the National Harbor which is just across the bridge as you cross the bridge from Virginia into Maryland just past DC.  The music part of the feet is chiptunes, music from games and bands that play music from games.  There are usually performances by musicians who compose videogame music.  There are also screenings of videogame related movies as well as panels by players and designers.  Many people attend in cosplay costumes and there are cosplay contests.  

The main attraction for me is the main hall which has 80 or 90 arcade machines (maybe more) and 10 or 15 pinball machines which are all set to free play.  There are also dozens of console games and tvs set up for console gaming.  There is a LAN section where people bring computers to set up LAN games.  There are also table games and spaces to play games with figures like Warhammer.

The other side of the main hall has a vendor area where people sell games, comic books, t-shirts and lots of other cool things.

i already have reservations to attend for the third year in a row.  It is a fun chance to play lots of pinball and video games and spend time witb a bunch of people who love videogames and pinball.