Upcoming pinball events: shows, expos and tournaments (North America, Europe)
Upcoming pinball events: shows, expos and tournaments (North America, Europe)
Pinball is played standing up, shoulder to shoulder, in the noise. That is why shows and tournaments remain the beating heart of the hobby: it is where you try a machine before buying it, where you find the part nobody stocks, where you meet the person who has already fixed the exact fault that keeps you awake at night.
Here is a calendar of upcoming pinball events in North America and Europe. Every date below was verified on 13 July 2026 on the event's own official site, on the Pinside calendar, or with the IFPA. When a 2027 date had not yet been announced, we say so plainly rather than invent one: "dates not confirmed at this time". At the end of the article we also explain 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-certified tournaments) and historic expos that draw visitors from Europe.
| Event | Venue | Dates | Status on 13/07/2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinburgh (+ WIPT, Bash at the Burgh) | Rezzanine Esports, Bridgeville, Pennsylvania | 22–26 July 2026 | Confirmed (official site) |
| The BEAST | Pocketeer Billiards, Buffalo, New York | 30 July – 2 August 2026 | Confirmed (Stern Pro Circuit) |
| Southern-Fried Gaming Expo | Cobb Galleria Centre, Atlanta, Georgia | 31 July – 2 August 2026 | Confirmed (Pinside) |
| CLE•PIN — Cleveland Pinball & Arcade Show | Holiday Inn Cleveland South, Independence, Ohio | 27–30 August 2026 | Confirmed (Pinside) |
| NW Pinball Championships | Lynnwood, Washington State | 28–30 August 2026 | Confirmed (official site) |
| Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown | Denver area, Colorado | 11–13 September 2026 | Confirmed (Pinside) |
| White Rose Gameroom Show ("the York Show") | York Fairgrounds & Expo Center, York, Pennsylvania | 9–10 October 2026 | Confirmed (Pinside) |
| Pin-A-Go-Go | Dixon Fairgrounds, Dixon, California | 9–11 October 2026 | Confirmed (Pinside) |
| Pinball Expo (the historic Chicago-area show) | Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel, 1551 N. Thoreau Drive, Schaumburg, Illinois | 14–17 October 2026 | Confirmed (official site) |
| 24 Hour Final Battle | The Sanctum, Meriden, Connecticut | 7–8 November 2026 | Confirmed (Stern Pro Circuit) |
| Houston Arcade & Pinball Expo | Houston Marriott Westchase, Houston, Texas | 13–15 November 2026 | Confirmed (Pinside) |
| Pincinnati | Holiday Inn Eastgate, Cincinnati, Ohio | 4–6 December 2026 | Confirmed (Pinside) |
| Texas Pinball Festival | Frisco, Texas | 19–21 March 2027 | Announced (re-check on texaspinball.com) |
| Pintastic New England | Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel, Marlborough, Massachusetts | 8–11 April 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 State | 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 one not to miss
If you only do one, do this one. Founded in 1985 by Rob Berk, Pinball Expo is the longest-running pinball show in the world, and it takes place in Chicago — the city where the machines were built. The 2026 edition, 14–17 October, offers more than 500 machines on free play, factory tours (Jersey Jack Pinball and Stern Pinball), over 40 hours of technical seminars, an autograph session with designers and artists, and an IFPA-certified tournament.
A small personal note: Pinballs Store is on the official vendor list for Pinball Expo 2026. If you are going, come and say hello — it is 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 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's, not on any US event listing.
What does exist is the Appalachian Pinball Museum in Hendersonville, North Carolina: a permanent museum-arcade housed in the ballroom of a 1929 hotel, with around 65 playable pinball machines (including a 1947 Gottlieb Marjorie, which predates flippers on the playfield) and a separate video arcade. It is a wonderful place — but it is a year-round museum, not a show with dates. Rather than invent an event, we would rather point you to the right place.
North America — Canada
The Canadian scene is tighter: two major shows, one in the West, one in Ontario. Contrary to what you sometimes read, there is no "Pinball Expo Toronto" as far as we can tell, and no national show called "Canadian Pinball Championships" either: as elsewhere, the national title is decided through the IFPA's country championship series, not at a dedicated show.
| Event | Venue | Latest edition | Status on 13/07/2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| YEGPIN Pinball & Arcade Expo (Canada's biggest pinball show) | Millennium Place, Sherwood Park, Alberta | 14–17 May 2026 | 2027 dates not confirmed at this time — see yegpin.com |
| Ontario PinFest (the only pinball show in Ontario) | 2220 Fairgrounds Rd., Stayner, Ontario | 30–31 May 2026 | 2027 dates not confirmed at this time |
YEGPIN hosts five tournaments across four days, including the YEGPIN Match Play Championship (a Stern Pro Circuit stop) and one of the largest women's pinball tournaments in the world. If you are in Eastern Canada, note also that Pintastic New England (Marlborough, Massachusetts, 8–11 April 2027) explicitly presents itself as the show for the Northeastern US and Eastern Canada.
Europe
Europe does not have America's density, but it has solid fixtures — and autumn 2026 is particularly busy.
| Event | Country / Venue | Dates | Status on 13/07/2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| UKPinfest | United Kingdom — Mercure Daventry Court Hotel, Daventry | 28–30 August 2026 | Confirmed (official site) |
| UK Open 26 / European Pinball Championship 26 | United Kingdom — Wandsworth Civic Suite, London | 24–28 September 2026 | Confirmed (official site) |
| PLAY Expo Blackpool (retro gaming, strong pinball presence) | United Kingdom — Norbreck Castle Exhibition Centre, Blackpool | 3–4 October 2026 | Confirmed (official site) |
| Dutch Pinball Open — DPO Expo (27th edition) | Netherlands — NH Veldhoven, Locht 117, Veldhoven | 13–15 November 2026 | Confirmed (Nederlandse Flipper Vereniging) |
| German Pinball Expo (run by the German Pinball Association) | Germany — LENKWERK, Am Stadtholz 24-26, Bielefeld | 2026 edition held 10–12 April | 2027 dates not confirmed at this time — see flipperverein.de |
| Italy — IFPA Italia / Italian Championship Series | Tournaments year-round, national final in January/February | Rolling calendar | See ifpaitalia.com |
| Spain — Spanish Championship Series (IFPA) | Leagues in Madrid, Barcelona and elsewhere | Rolling calendar | See ifpapinball.com/espcs |
Two European dates to block out
The Dutch Pinball Open (Veldhoven, 13–15 November 2026) is probably the biggest pinball show in continental Europe: over 250 machines, most on free play, the rest reserved for tournaments. New for 2026: doors open on the Friday at 1 pm, but only for VIP weekend pass holders (no tickets sold at the door that day).
The UK Open 26, which this year also hosts the European Pinball Championship (London, 24–28 September 2026), is the European competitive event of the autumn, with Classics, Ladies and Juniors divisions and a "Europe vs UK Battle". It is streamed live on Twitch.
The French scene
France has a very lively grassroots scene, but no single "national show": instead there are dozens of local events, usually run by volunteers, with entry fees of a few euros. The calendar moves a lot — shows get postponed, others cancelled — so always check with the organiser before setting off.
| Event | Venue | Announced dates | Status on 13/07/2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bourgogne Game Show (BGS) | Espace Tabourot des Accords, Saint-Apollinaire (21), near Dijon | 10–11 October 2026 | Announced by the organisers — to be confirmed |
| Salon du flipper de Vred (3rd edition) | Vred (59), northern France | 7 November 2026 | Announced — to be confirmed |
| Festival Flipper Sud-Ouest | Pontacq (64), Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 2026 edition held in June | 2027 dates not confirmed at this time |
| Flip-Expo (18th edition) | Salle Reggiani & gymnase Léo Lagrange, Le Tréport (76) | 2026 edition held 18–19 April | 2027 dates not confirmed at this time |
| Île de Flip (1st edition) | La Parenthèse, Beauchamp (95), Val-d'Oise | Held 4–5 July 2026 | A second edition is not confirmed at this time |
| Festival Retroplay | Le Gâvre (44) | Postponed to 2027 (announced for "sometime in April") | Dates not confirmed at this time |
One useful note: we were unable to verify the existence of an event called "Flipp'Halle", which is often cited second-hand. If it exists, it appears neither on the French club calendars nor with the IFPA. We therefore do not list it.
Pinball-adjacent events
Some shows are not dedicated to pinball but give it real space — and they are often easier to visit with the family:
- PLAY Expo Blackpool (UK, 3–4 October 2026): the longest-running British retro gaming show, now in its 16th year, with a pinball and arcade area on free play.
- Southern-Fried Gaming Expo (Atlanta, 31 July – 2 August 2026): more than 400 arcade cabinets and pinball machines, retro consoles, a tabletop library — an "all gaming" show where pinball holds centre stage.
- Midwest Gaming Classic (Milwaukee) and California Extreme (Santa Clara): two institutions of American coin-op. Their 2026 editions have either passed or are still to be confirmed; check their official sites.
- In France, most regional retro gaming shows (Bourgogne Game Show above all) mix arcade cabinets, table football and pinball.
How to find (and verify) a pinball event
An article like this one ages. Here are the five sources we use ourselves, and that you can consult all year round:
- The IFPA calendar (ifpapinball.com/calendar): the global reference for certified tournaments. Every country has its own championship series (French Championship Series, Italian Championship Series, Spanish Championship Series…) and the IFPA lists the tournaments that count towards the WPPR world ranking.
- The Pinside events calendar (pinside.com/pinball/events): the best community listing for shows, with filters by country and by event size.
- Match Play Events (app.matchplay.events): the tool most organisers use to run their tournaments. You will often see registration open there before the public announcement.
- 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.
- The French club calendars: France Pinball Events, Place du Flipper, PinballBall and the long-standing forums (flipjuke, Gamoover) are where French shows are announced first — often months before the tourist offices pick them up.
One simple rule: if a date is not on the event's own official site, it is not confirmed. Grassroots shows move, get postponed, change halls. That is the price of volunteer passion.
Before you go: what if you bring a machine home?
Shows are also marketplaces. Plenty of people leave a Pinball Expo or a Dutch Pinball Open with a 1977–1989 machine in the boot — a Gottlieb System 80, a Williams System 3-7, a Bally/Stern. And plenty discover, once home, that the original CPU board has been eaten away by the battery, or that the period chips are simply unobtainable.
That is exactly the problem we tackle at Pinballs Store: FPGA replacement boards, Plug & Play, with no battery, which interpret the original ROMs inside an FPGA (this is not software emulation), with true Freeplay and the original coin mechanism still working. Our guides go system by system:
- The guide to the all-in-one board for Gottlieb System 80 — and the GottFA80_Plus Light at 349 €.
- The guide to Williams System 3-7 replacement boards — and the WillFA7 at 349 €.
- The guide to Bally/Stern replacement MPU boards.
All our boards come with a 6-month warranty (parts and labour) 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 biggest pinball show in the world?
Pinball Expo, in Schaumburg near Chicago, is the oldest (founded in 1985) and one of the largest: more than 500 machines, factory tours at Stern Pinball and Jersey Jack Pinball, and over 40 hours of seminars. The 2026 edition runs from 14 to 17 October 2026.
Is there a major pinball show in France?
There is no single national show in France. The French scene is built on dozens of local events run by clubs and associations (Bourgogne Game Show, Flip-Expo in Le Tréport, Festival Flipper Sud-Ouest in Pontacq, Île de Flip in Beauchamp…), with generally very affordable entry fees. Check the France Pinball Events and Place du Flipper calendars, or the flipjuke and Gamoover forums, for dates.
Does the "Appalachian Pinball Expo" really exist?
We found no trace of a show by that name — not on Pinside, not with the IFPA, not on US event listings. What does exist is the Appalachian Pinball Museum, a permanent museum-arcade in Hendersonville, North Carolina, with around 65 playable machines. It is not a show with dates.
What are the major European events in autumn 2026?
Three above all: UKPinfest in Daventry (28–30 August 2026), the UK Open / European Pinball Championship in London (24–28 September 2026), and the Dutch Pinball Open in Veldhoven, Netherlands (13–15 November 2026), which gathers more than 250 machines.
How do I know if a tournament counts towards the world ranking?
Check the IFPA (International Flipper Pinball Association) calendar at ifpapinball.com. IFPA-certified tournaments award WPPR points towards the world ranking and feed the national championship series (French, Italian, Spanish Championship Series, and so on).
Can you buy spare parts and boards at shows?
Yes. Most major shows have a vendor area selling parts, rubbers, displays, replacement boards and complete machines. Pinballs Store is in fact on the official vendor list for Pinball Expo 2026 in Schaumburg.
Sources & further reading
All the information above was verified on 13 July 2026. Later dates may change: always refer to the official site.
- Pinball Expo (Schaumburg, Illinois)
- Pinburgh (Bridgeville, Pennsylvania)
- Texas Pinball Festival
- Northwest Pinball & Arcade Show (Tacoma)
- Pinball at the Zoo (Kalamazoo)
- Louisville Arcade Expo
- Southern-Fried Gaming Expo (Atlanta)
- YEGPIN Pinball & Arcade Expo (Sherwood Park, Alberta)
- Ontario PinFest (Stayner, Ontario)
- UKPinfest (Daventry)
- UK Open / European Pinball Championship (London)
- PLAY Expo Blackpool
- Dutch Pinball Open 2026 (Nederlandse Flipper Vereniging)
- German Pinball Association / German Pinball Expo
- IFPA Italia
- IFPA tournament calendar
- Pinside events calendar
- Match Play Events
- France Pinball Events
- Place du Flipper — events
- Gamoover — French pinball shows 2026
A question about a machine you spotted at a show? Write to us at contact@pinballs.store — we answer, and we do not charge for advice.
