DeviantART will celebrate its 9th year of epic deviousness on Friday, August 7, 2009! Nine years and better than ever! 11 million deviants, over 87 million deviations and record breaking amounts of commentary from all across the site.

This year also saw the launch of Collections, new Profile Pages, Critiques, Portfolio, Journal Skins and we're seeing the first alpha GROUPS come together! (Hint: #hq, #sydneysyders & #fella.) We also set out on our first ever deviantART World Tour! How awesome is all of that!

Phew..it's been a big year!

We have planned an entire WEEK of birthday shenanigans! One day is not enough party time for deviants like us. For an entire week we will be hosting events around the site, so read below to decide how you plan to ring in our 9th year. (the truly devious will do them all :P)

Within the mighty village of dAmn a war is brewing—a war to appease the Great Fella God! You can help gain favor to you and your tribe by luring and trapping deviants into the great village of dAmn—if they stay and your trap is successful, rumor says that the Great Fella God will be mighty pleased!

Come play this wickedly fun chatroom game in #dATribes for your chance to win $100 deviantDOLLARS!

Contest closes 12:00 AM Pacific on August 7th.

Check out the journal of @dATribes for more details!

You'll go ABSOLUTELY NUTS playing Nutty Nines! Join us in the #NuttyNines chatroom on August 7th for some rounds of this fast-paced-thumbnail-posting frenzy of a game!

In each round, a random gallery category is given and players must search the gallery for a thumbnail that contains at least one "9" in the thumbcode and post it in the chatroom. The first player that does so will gain one point for every "9" that is in the thumbcode. The player with the most points at the end of the round wins!

Not only will you find your way around the Galleries, but you might also win a prize!

As part of the 9th birthday celebrations on August 7th, we will be having special chatrooms open for each department where deviants can "Meet & Greet" with deviantART staff and Volunteers!

This is an opportunity for you hang out and party with us, and who knows, you might find yourself involved in a crazy event or contest where you might win a prize!

These are the chatrooms that will be open on August 7th:

• #shop
• #communityRelations
• #communityOperations
• #deviousTech
• #CreativeStaff

Of course don't forget to hang out in #devart too – our main hub for the birthday celebrations!

A deviantART birthday wouldn't be anything without all the fun, hilarity, and contests that happen in the #devart chatroom all day on August 7th!

• Pub Quiz!
• Gallery Scavenger Hunt!
• Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament!
• Name Scramble!
• #devart Birthday Hunt!

All that and more!

No birthday celebrations would be complete without our traditional Caption Contest!

This is your opportunity to mock, ridicule and generally take great delight and amusement whilst poking fun at your beloved Admins.

How to play!
It's quite simple really, all you have to do is pop on over to =Caption-Contest and leave a comment which you think is a fitting caption for the image.

Try to come up with something funny, and remember – our usual etiquette policy still applies!

Contest closes 12:00 AM Pacific on August 7th.

Check out the journal of =Caption-Contest to find out when the game starts! (You'll be able to view the images beforehand, but you won't be able to leave a caption until the game starts.)

The Prizes!
You'll have to wait and see!!!

Head on over to the The 9th Birthday Caption Contest Gallery to see the images!

Have fun!

Nine years ago when deviantART first opened its doors to artists all over the world it was with the hope that it would prove to be a place where people could express themselves, to be creative and different and original.

This birthday celebration all of us here in CEA wish to invite artists to help us send a reminder of that original mission to the community and the world with the Dare to Deviate contest.

Contest entrants must combine the slogan Dare to Deviate into an original visual work as creatively and uniquely as possible.

Entries will be judged by how creatively the slogan is integrated into the artwork, on technical merit, and most importantly of all on originality and how well the work stands out as a unique individual from the crowd.

More information can be found in the Dare to Deviate news article.

You'll be invited to provide humorous explanations of or solutions to problems, events, or features around the site.

Example:
What is a troll? How to identify the troll in its natural habitat? How best to repel the troll? What are the pros and cons of feeding the common troll? Where can I purchase troll food on the internet, and do you know of any price comparisons I can use?

See this news article for details!

Community Relations has come together to bring you a birthday extravaganza!

First, we're organizing Fella's Birthday Party and you can help by participating in a variety of contests!

• Birthday Cake(Anime/Manga, Comics & Cartoons, Anthro & Artisan Crafts): July 23rd – August 8th
• Gifts & Presents(dA Related, Stock & Resources): July 23rd -August 6th
• Subtext(all galleries): July 27 – August 7th
• Number 9:July 29th – September 9th
• Festive Fella Sculpture(Sculpture): August 1st – September 25th
• Humorous Tributes(Literature): August 1 – August 31
• Love Potion #9(Digital Art & Vexel): August 1st – August 31st
• Famous Fella(Traditional Art): August 1st – September 30th
• Balloons(Photography): August 3rd- September 7th

Chatroom events we're hosting on August 7th, 2009:

• Trivia and Games in #deviantartfilm
• Trivia and Games in #pub
• And of course a whole days worth of fun and excitement in #communityRelations

Join us for Birthday Shenanigans and merriment (AND PRIZES!) as we celebrate 9 years of deviousness.

*More details about contests, scheduled events & times can be found in this journal

We haven't forgotten you forum junkies!

Be sure to keep an eye out on the Deviants, Deviation Thumbshare, and Complaints Forums on August 7th for some fantastic forum fun!

It's our 9th birthday and what better way to celebrate it than by making some art with Fella! Fella had such a great time with the Valentines Day Colouring Contest that he demanded we do it all over again for the birthday celebrations, as well as giving him an extra slice of cake!

DeviantART is proud to present the Birthday Bonanza Colouring Contest. With help from `betteo, one of our awesomest of the awesome deviants, we've put together an old school coloring contest where the winner gets to lay claim to some serious birthday swag!

More information can be found in the contest article (<- click that!)