Pinball Expo 2026 — Schaumburg (Chicago), October 14-17, 2026

Upcoming Pinball Events: Expos, Shows, and Tournaments (North America, Europe)

Upcoming Pinball Events: Expos, Shows, and Tournaments (North America, Europe)

A pinball machine is meant to be played standing up, with other people, in the noise. That's why shows and tournaments remain the beating heart of this hobby: it's where you try a machine before buying it, find the unobtainable part, and run into the person who has fixed exactly the fault that's been keeping you up at night.

Here is a calendar of upcoming pinball events in North America and Europe. All dates below were verified on July 13, 2026 on each event's official website, on the Pinside calendar, or through the IFPA. When a 2027 date had not yet been announced, we say so plainly rather than making one up: "dates not confirmed at this time." We also explain, at the end of the article, how to keep this calendar up to date yourself.

North America — United States

The American scene is the densest in the world: dozens of regional shows, a structured competitive circuit (the Stern Pro Circuit, IFPA-sanctioned tournaments), and historic expos that attract visitors from Europe.

Event Location Dates Status as of 07/13/2026
Pinburgh (+ WIPT, Bash at the Burgh) Rezzanine Esports, Bridgeville, Pennsylvania July 22–26, 2026 Confirmed (official website)
The BEAST Pocketeer Billiards, Buffalo, New York July 30 – August 2, 2026 Confirmed (Stern Pro Circuit)
Southern-Fried Gaming Expo Cobb Galleria Centre, Atlanta, Georgia July 31 – August 2, 2026 Confirmed (Pinside)
CLE•PIN — Cleveland Pinball & Arcade Show Holiday Inn Cleveland South, Independence, Ohio August 27–30, 2026 Confirmed (Pinside)
NW Pinball Championships Lynnwood, Washington August 28–30, 2026 Confirmed (official website)
Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown Denver area, Colorado September 11–13, 2026 Confirmed (Pinside)
White Rose Gameroom Show ("the York Show") York Fairgrounds & Expo Center, York, Pennsylvania October 9–10, 2026 Confirmed (Pinside)
Pin-A-Go-Go Dixon Fairgrounds, Dixon, California October 9–11, 2026 Confirmed (Pinside)
Pinball Expo (the historic Chicago show) Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel, 1551 N. Thoreau Drive, Schaumburg, Illinois October 14–17, 2026 Confirmed (official website)
24 Hour Final Battle The Sanctum, Meriden, Connecticut November 7–8, 2026 Confirmed (Stern Pro Circuit)
Houston Arcade & Pinball Expo Houston Marriott Westchase, Houston, Texas November 13–15, 2026 Confirmed (Pinside)
Pincinnati Holiday Inn Eastgate, Cincinnati, Ohio December 4–6, 2026 Confirmed (Pinside)
Texas Pinball Festival Frisco, Texas March 19–21, 2027 Announced (verify on texaspinball.com)
Pintastic New England Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel, Marlborough, Massachusetts April 8–11, 2027 Confirmed (Pinside)
Pinball at the Zoo Kalamazoo County Expo Center, Kalamazoo, Michigan 2026 edition held in April 2027 dates not confirmed at this time
Northwest Pinball & Arcade Show Greater Tacoma Convention Center, Tacoma, Washington 2026 edition held in June 2027 dates not confirmed at this time
Louisville Arcade Expo Triple Crown Pavilion, Jeffersontown, Kentucky 2026 edition held in March 2027 dates not confirmed at this time

Pinball Expo, the must-attend event

If you can only go to one, make it this one. Founded in 1985 by Rob Berk, Pinball Expo is the oldest show in the world dedicated to pinball, and it's held in Chicago — the city where the machines were manufactured. The 2026 edition, October 14–17, features over 500 machines on free play, factory tours (Jersey Jack Pinball and Stern Pinball), more than 40 hours of technical seminars, an autograph session with designers and artists, and an IFPA-sanctioned tournament.

A small personal note: Pinballs Store is on the official exhibitor list for Pinball Expo 2026. If you're attending, come see us — it's a chance to see our FPGA boards running in real machines rather than in photos.

What about the "Appalachian Pinball Expo"?

We have to be honest here, because this is exactly the kind of trap many "calendar" articles fall into. We found no trace of a show called "Appalachian Pinball Expo" or "Appalachia Pinball Expo", not on the Pinside calendar, not on the IFPA calendar, and not through US event sites.

What does exist is the Appalachian Pinball Museum, in Hendersonville, North Carolina: a permanent museum-arcade housed in the former ballroom of a 1929 hotel, with about 65 playable pinball machines (including a Gottlieb Marjorie from 1947, predating flipper pinball machines) and a video game room. It's a wonderful place — but it's a museum open year-round, not a show with specific dates. Rather than inventing an event, we'd rather point you to the right place.

North America — Canada

The Canadian scene is more compact: two major shows, one in the West, the other in Ontario. Contrary to what is sometimes reported, there is no "Pinball Expo Toronto" to our knowledge, and no national show called "Canadian Pinball Championships" either: the Canadian national title is decided, as elsewhere, through the IFPA's country championship series, not at a dedicated show.

Event Location Latest Edition Status as of 07/13/2026
YEGPIN Pinball & Arcade Expo (Canada's largest pinball show) Millennium Place, Sherwood Park, Alberta May 14–17, 2026 2027 dates not confirmed at this time — see yegpin.com
Ontario PinFest (Ontario's only pinball show) 2220 Fairgrounds Rd., Stayner, Ontario May 30–31, 2026 2027 dates not confirmed at this time

YEGPIN hosts five tournaments over four days, including the YEGPIN Match Play Championship (a Stern Pro Circuit stop) and one of the largest women's tournaments in the world. If you're in Eastern Canada, also note that Pintastic New England (Marlborough, Massachusetts, April 8–11, 2027) explicitly positions itself as the show for the Northeastern US and Eastern Canada.

Europe

Europe doesn't have the American density, but it has solid fixtures — and fall 2026 is particularly packed.

Event Country / Location Dates Status as of 07/13/2026
UKPinfest United Kingdom — Mercure Daventry Court Hotel, Daventry August 28–30, 2026 Confirmed (official website)
UK Open 26 / European Pinball Championship 26 United Kingdom — Wandsworth Civic Suite, London September 24–28, 2026 Confirmed (official website)
PLAY Expo Blackpool (retro gaming, strong pinball presence) United Kingdom — Norbreck Castle Exhibition Centre, Blackpool October 3–4, 2026 Confirmed (official website)
Dutch Pinball Open — DPO Expo (27th edition) Netherlands — NH Veldhoven, Locht 117, Veldhoven November 13–15, 2026 Confirmed (Nederlandse Flipper Vereniging)
German Pinball Expo (organized by the German Pinball Association) Germany — LENKWERK, Am Stadtholz 24-26, Bielefeld 2026 edition held April 10–12 2027 dates not confirmed at this time — see flipperverein.de
Italy — IFPA Italia / Italian Championship Series Tournaments spread throughout the year, national final in January/February Ongoing calendar See ifpaitalia.com
Spain — Spanish Championship Series (IFPA) Leagues in Madrid, Barcelona, and elsewhere Ongoing calendar See ifpapinball.com/espcs

Two European events to mark on your calendar

The Dutch Pinball Open (Veldhoven, November 13–15, 2026) is arguably the largest pinball show in continental Europe: over 250 machines, most on free play, the rest reserved for tournaments. New for 2026: opening on Friday at 1 PM, but only for VIP weekend pass holders (no walk-in sales that day).

The UK Open 26, which this year also hosts the European Pinball Championship (London, September 24–28, 2026), is the marquee competitive European event of the fall, with Classics, Ladies, Juniors divisions and a "Europe vs UK Battle." It is live-streamed on Twitch.

The French scene

France has a very active community-driven scene, but no single "big national show": instead, there are dozens of local shows, often organized by volunteers, with admission of just a few euros. The calendar shifts a lot — shows get postponed, others get canceled — so always check with the organizer before hitting the road.

Event Location Announced Dates Status as of 07/13/2026
Bourgogne Game Show (BGS) Espace Tabourot des Accords, Saint-Apollinaire (21), near Dijon October 10–11, 2026 Announced by organizers — to be confirmed
Salon du flipper de Vred (3rd edition) Vred (59), Nord November 7, 2026 Announced — to be confirmed
Festival Flipper Sud-Ouest Pontacq (64), Pyrenees-Atlantiques 2026 edition held in June 2027 dates not confirmed at this time
Flip-Expo (18th edition) Salle Reggiani & Gymnase Leo Lagrange, Le Treport (76) 2026 edition held April 18–19 2027 dates not confirmed at this time
Ile de Flip (1st edition) La Parenthese, Beauchamp (95), Val-d'Oise Edition held July 4–5, 2026 Continuation not confirmed at this time
Festival Retroplay Le Gavre (44) Postponed to 2027 (announced "around April") Dates not confirmed at this time

A useful clarification: we were unable to verify the existence of an event called "Flipp'Halle", often cited second-hand. If it exists, it does not appear on French community calendars or on the IFPA. We therefore do not list it.

"Pinball-adjacent" events

Some shows are not dedicated to pinball, but give it a real place — and they're often more family-friendly:

  • PLAY Expo Blackpool (United Kingdom, October 3–4, 2026): the oldest British retro gaming show, 16th edition, with a pinball and arcade free-play zone.
  • Southern-Fried Gaming Expo (Atlanta, July 31 – August 2, 2026): over 400 arcade cabinets and pinball machines, retro consoles, board games — an "all gaming" show where pinball holds a central place.
  • Midwest Gaming Classic (Milwaukee) and California Extreme (Santa Clara): two institutions of American coin-op gaming. Their 2026 editions have passed or are yet to be confirmed; check their official websites.
  • In France, most regional retro gaming shows (Bourgogne Game Show leading the way) mix arcade cabinets, foosball tables, and pinball machines.

How to find (and verify) a pinball event

An article like this one ages. Here are the five sources we use ourselves, which you can check all year long:

  1. The IFPA calendar (ifpapinball.com/calendar): the worldwide reference for sanctioned tournaments. Each country has its championship series (French Championship Series, Italian Championship Series, Spanish Championship Series...) and the IFPA lists the tournaments that count toward the WPPR ranking.
  2. The Pinside events calendar (pinside.com/pinball/events): the best community list for shows, with filters by country and event size.
  3. Match Play Events (app.matchplay.events): this is the tool most organizers use to manage their tournaments. You'll often see registrations open before the public announcement.
  4. National federations and associations: the Nederlandse Flipper Vereniging (nfvpinball.nl) in the Netherlands, the German Pinball Association (flipperverein.de) in Germany, IFPA Italia (ifpaitalia.com), IFPA France for the French circuit.
  5. French community calendars: France Pinball Events, Place du Flipper, PinballBall, and the historic forums (flipjuke, Gamoover) are where French shows are announced first — often several months before tourism offices pick them up.

A simple rule: if a date is not on the event's official website, it is not confirmed. Community-run shows move, get postponed, and change venues. That's the price of volunteer-driven passion.

Before you go: what if you brought a machine home?

Shows are also marketplaces. Many people leave a Pinball Expo or a Dutch Pinball Open with a machine from the 1977–1989 era in the trunk — a Gottlieb System 80, a Williams System 3-7, a Bally (1977-1985). And many discover, once home, that the original CPU board is eaten by battery corrosion or that the original ICs are nowhere to be found.

That's exactly the problem we address at Pinballs Store: FPGA replacement boards, Plug & Play, battery-free, that interpret the original ROMs in an FPGA (this is not software emulation), with true Freeplay and the original coin mechanism continuing to work. Our guides cover the topic system by system:

All our boards are covered by a 6-month warranty (parts and labor) against any failure not caused by misuse, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee. Technical support is free, in French, English, German, and Italian.

FAQ — Pinball Events

What is the largest pinball show in the world?

Pinball Expo, in Schaumburg near Chicago, is the oldest (founded in 1985) and one of the most important: over 500 machines, factory tours at Stern Pinball and Jersey Jack Pinball, and more than 40 hours of seminars. The 2026 edition runs October 14–17, 2026.

Is there a major pinball show in France?

There is no single national show in France. The French scene consists of dozens of local shows organized by associations (Bourgogne Game Show, Flip-Expo in Le Treport, Festival Flipper Sud-Ouest in Pontacq, Ile de Flip in Beauchamp...), with admission usually very affordable. Check the France Pinball Events, Place du Flipper calendars, or the flipjuke and Gamoover forums for dates.

Does the "Appalachian Pinball Expo" actually exist?

We found no trace of a show by that name, not on Pinside, not on the IFPA, and not on US event sites. What does exist is the Appalachian Pinball Museum, a permanent museum-arcade in Hendersonville (North Carolina), with about 65 playable pinball machines. It is not a show with specific dates.

What are the major European events in fall 2026?

Three mainly: UKPinfest in Daventry (August 28–30, 2026), the UK Open / European Pinball Championship in London (September 24–28, 2026), and the Dutch Pinball Open in Veldhoven, Netherlands (November 13–15, 2026), which gathers over 250 machines.

How do you know if a tournament counts toward the world ranking?

Check the IFPA (International Flipper Pinball Association) calendar at ifpapinball.com. IFPA-sanctioned tournaments earn WPPR points toward the world ranking, and feed into national championship series (French, Italian, Spanish Championship Series, etc.).

Can you buy parts and boards at pinball shows?

Yes, most major shows have an exhibitor area where you can find parts, rubbers, displays, replacement boards, and complete machines. Pinballs Store is on the official exhibitor list for Pinball Expo 2026 in Schaumburg.

Sources & further reading

All information above was verified on July 13, 2026. Later dates may change: always refer to the official website.

Got a question about a machine you spotted at a show? Write to us at contact@pinballs.store — we reply in English, and it's free.

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