Before deciding on my final prototype, there were 3 prior versions.
I used grey scaled colour pallet in order to be able to better differentiate each individual block and therefore know what tones I can replace the grey with (when it comes to making the final prototype) in order to create a naturally flowing page with minimal contrasts that distract you from what the webpage is trying to show you.
I have taken inspiration from other websites hosting gaming festivals, especially Odyssey (available at https://odysseygamingfestival.co.uk/) and Gamescom (available at https://www.gamescom.global/en) of their layouts and a primarily darker colour pallet which makes it more accessible for people with dyslexia and/or light sensitivity which makes it harder to read text on light backgrounds.
The most successful design, which fits what I envision for my website based on the user research, was design 2. There is a lot to fix before turning it into an official prototype but the bigger spaces in-between different blocks allows a less cramped and overwhelming composition which creates a good amount of negative space. The prominence of negative space is vital since it allows the user room to breathe when they are in between processing information, and is therefore easier to concentrate on and comprehend, this will especially be more beneficial to older audiences or neurodivergent audiences.
The second design also follows a very accurate hierarchy for my website, advertising the event at the very top whilst leading the reader towards consideration with the description followed directly by a list of featured games, hoping to hook the user in by stating early on that a possible favourite game of theirs will be featured at the event.