{"id":40253,"date":"2026-05-23T23:22:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T22:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/?p=40253"},"modified":"2026-05-24T11:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T10:33:11","slug":"austrian-pinball-festival-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/2026\/05\/23\/austrian-pinball-festival-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"AUSTRIAN PINBALL FESTIVAL 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 2025, RS-Pinball<\/a> head, Stefan Riedler, headed up the team organising the 2025 European Pinball Championship. It was held at the REVA Halle Eissport in the town of V\u00f6cklabruck in the centre of the country. We were there and you can read our report here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EPC was such a success with so much support, nobody wanted it to just be a one-off event. Thus, the idea developed to recreate the EPC, albeit on a slightly smaller scale, and turn it into an annual show. The Austrian Pinball Festival<\/a> was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The REVA Halle Eissport is an ice skating rink from October to February in which guise it hosts public ice skating, curling and ice hockey matches. Then, from the end of February, the ice is melted, the water drained, a floor laid, and the venue becomes a 1,800m2<\/sup> exhibition and entertainment hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of March, the huge banner for the Austrian Pinball Festival (or APF) was hung over the entrance, six weeks before the doors opened on Wednesday 13th May.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The REVA Halle Eissport – home of the Austrian Pinball Festival<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The APF is a five-day show starting with the Warm-Up Tournament on Wednesday afternoon – the first of eight tournaments held during the APF – and concluding late Sunday night with the finals of the High Score Tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before we get to the competitive side, let’s take a look around the venue and the layout of the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE VENUE<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attractions start before we even get through the doors. On the right is RS-Pinball’s<\/a> latest promotional vehicle, a mobile mini-arcade.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"RS-Pinball's<\/a>
RS-Pinball’s pinball and video mobile mini-arcade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The mobile mini-arcade can be taken to all kinds of gaming and collector shows, driven onto the show floor and opened up without the need to set up a stand. The mix of machines can vary, but for the APF it featured four pinballs, a multi-game video game and an Ice Cold Beer-style skill game. The pinballs were Pok\u00e9mon, Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye, Queen and Halloween.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the left side was the catering team and food truck. The main catering team were present with their gazebo most days, while a larger rotisserie food truck was also in attendance at the busiest times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main team provided burgers, fried chicken, fries and salads, with schnitzel rolls also being available to purchase inside at the bar.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The catering team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The menu of food available outside<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Schnitzel<\/a>
Schnitzel burgers were available both outside and at the bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Should attendees require an alternative and more varied selection of food, a large Maximarkt supermarket<\/a> was a short walk away across the car park. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Maximarkt<\/a>
Maximarkt is the red building on the other side of the car park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We used the Maximarkt several times during our stay to buy fruit, juices, wraps and sushi for some of our meals, and knew from last year’s EPC visit that the store would be closed all day on Sunday, so planned to buy extra on Saturday. What we hadn’t realised though was that the Thursday of the show was a public holiday in Austria (as well as several other countries), meaning the store was closed that day too. Lesson learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Front Area<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast to last year’s EPC event, the weather for the APF was cool and wet for most of the show. Things improved markedly by Sunday, but the low temperatures and cloudy skies helped maintain a pleasant atmosphere inside the REVA Halle Eissport.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Inside<\/a>
Inside the REVA Halle Eissport<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On the right as you enter the hall, the registration desk is where pre-paid guests could collect their badges and wristbands, while un-registered visitors could buy single or multi-day entries.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The registration desk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Entry to the APF free play area cost \u20ac25 per day, \u20ac45 for Saturday and Sunday or \u20ac75 for all five days. A family day ticket for two adults and two children was also available at \u20ac60. Packages with tournament entries could also be purchased, along with single tournament entries for those events not already fully subscribed.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Prices<\/a>
Prices for entry to the show and the tournaments<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The registration desk also sold a large selection of merchandise, from promotional T-shirts to toppers, translites, playfields and other pinball mods.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Show<\/a>
Show T-shirts in various sizes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"More<\/a>
More branded pinball shirts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"More<\/a>
More shirts and translites<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Assorted<\/a>
Assorted playfields<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Models,<\/a>
Models, mods and merch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On the opposite side of the entrance – on the left as you enter – was the bar and food service counter.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Multiple large refrigerators held assorted beers, wines, soft drinks and water. Bean-to-cup hot coffee was also available. Payment was made using an A5-sized card which cost \u20ac20 and featured multiple boxes which were crossed off as drinks were purchased. The exact number of boxes crossed off each time depended on the type of the drink purchased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schnitzel burgers could be purchased at the bar, as could hot pizzas. These were listed on a menu and then cooked to order in a bank of pizza ovens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because food and drinks were not permitted in the free play or tournament areas, multiple tables and benches were set up next to the bar where they could be consumed. Tags were available on which you could write a name or initials and then hang it on you unfinished drink bottle for later use.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The seating area in front of the bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

At the far end of the seating area was the main stage with a large, bright LED screen. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The main stage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The stage was where announcements and trophy presentations were made, where the live stream of some tournaments was shown, and also where the seminars by the APF’s special guests took place.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The main stage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

When the show was held, Pok\u00e9mon was Stern Pinball’s current title. So, not only was one of each version of the game set up for guests to play, but a large inflatable Pikachu oversaw fair play.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The LE, Premium and Pro Pok\u00e9mon machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Pikachu<\/a>
Pikachu kept an eye on the trio of Pok\u00e9mon machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

With the registration desk, bar and seating areas at the front of the hall, the middle section contained all the free play machines and vendor stands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Free Play Area<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The central area of the hall consisted of four corridors, each with a row of free play machines, vendor stands or homebrew games on either side. We’ll look at each row from left to right, but because we were at the show for all five days certain machines may not have been set up fully, weren’t switched on yet, or might have been out of action when we took our photographs.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The start of the left-most row of free play games<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The start of the Jersey Jack Pinball section<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"More<\/a>
More JJP machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Two<\/a>
Two Turner Pinball titles plus two from Haggis Pinball<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

At the end of the first row, Vincent Mods<\/a> had a nice display of their toppers and other themed mods.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Vincent<\/a>
Vincent Mods’ stand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Game-specific<\/a>
Game-specific toppers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The second row of machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The second row of machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Three<\/a>
Three P3<\/sup> machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Getting<\/a>
Getting into the Stern section<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The end of the row as we come back to the bank of three Pok\u00e9mon machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"More<\/a>
More Stern machines in row three<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"More<\/a>
More Stern machines – including two home models – in row three<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Pinball<\/a>
Pinball Brothers titles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Some<\/a>
Some lesser-seen titles from Homepin, Pedretti, Pinball Adventures and even Stern<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Row<\/a>
Row four features Spooky Pinball games, starting with their latest, Beetlejuice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Beetlejuice<\/a>
Beetlejuice himself put in an appearance later during the show<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The full line-up of Spooky Pinball titles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Both<\/a>
Both Halloween and Ultraman continue the line of Spooky games<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Two<\/a>
Two lesser-seen Spooky games<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Back<\/a>
Back on more familiar ground for the rest of the row<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Row five brings us to the start of the homebrew games. Some of these we saw in last year’s report, but even then in many cases there has been continued development to improve the quality of gameplay.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"This<\/a>
This Black Knight 3000 adds a display and new rules to the Steve Ritchie classic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"More<\/a>
More homebrews – a mix of original designs and rethemes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Tales<\/a>
Tales of the HTL Kapfenberg is an A-level school project by Sandro Ablasser and Dominik Pliso<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The game uses a steel playfield and uses the shape of their town to represent a brain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Like the Gas Attack<\/em> game from the Grossology exhibition<\/a>, Buddy<\/em> uses pinball as a biological teaching tool.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The Buddy game used pinball to explain the digestive system<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"This<\/a>
This Muppet Show homebrew looked rather like a modified Gay 90’s game<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Barrels<\/a>
Barrels of Fun titles – with and without toppers – in the fifth row<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Moving over to row six, Hexa Pinball had a stand showing their latest The Three Musketeers<\/em> prototype alongside two of their previous Space Hunt<\/em> games.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The Hexa Pinball stand with their new The Three Musketeers game<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Karin<\/a>
Karin Kolbe’s stand had lots of essential pinball spares as well as quite a few ways to smarten-up your games’ appearance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Then<\/a>
Then we come to more homebrews with customised, rethemed and totally new game designs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Wolfgang<\/a>
Wolfgang Grauvogl’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show conversion game returned with full rules and AV assets<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"This<\/a>
This Flash was demonstrating the capabilities of the Pinball Power Up Controller (PPUC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Pinball Power Up Controller<\/a> (PPUC) is an open source project to replace the hardware control system on Williams and Data East\/Sega\/Stern games right up to the SAM system, allowing you to write your own game rules and create your own DMD graphics. You can download the board designs from GitHub and have them made yourself, although talks are taking place for vendors to also sell ready-made systems.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"This<\/a>
This Time Warp was also demonstrating the PPUC system<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Under<\/a>
Under the Time Warp playfield with the PPUC boards<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Then we come to three custom designs by Stefan Mader.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Deep<\/a>
Deep Blue Rage is an unusual custom design by Stefan Mader<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Tree<\/a>
Tree House Club is another of Stefan’s creations, following the Pinball Circus concept of getting the ball up the ramps to reach the Tree House<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Stefan’s third game was a coffee table machine called Spectra 6 which used the same black and white colour scheme as Centaur. All the playfield sculpts are 3D printed and then joined together into continuous models.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Stefan<\/a>
Stefan Mader’s Spectra 6 coffee table pinball<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

If you’d like to learn more about their creation, the builds of Deep Blue Rage<\/em><\/a>, Tree House Club<\/em><\/a> and Spectra 6<\/em><\/a> are all documented on Pinside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over on row seven, two working and one upcoming conversion projects by Alessandro Cacciola of SteelShot Pinball<\/a> were on display. Lupin The 3rd<\/em> (based on Diner<\/em>) and Hokuto No Ken<\/em> (based on Rollergames<\/em>) were both at last year’s EPC, as was the work-in-progress Dirty Harry<\/em> conversion, They Call Me Trinity<\/em>, although the actual title of the game has changed in the past twelve months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Trinity,
Trinity, Hokuto No Ken and Lupin The 3rd by Alessandro Cacciola<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro’s SteelShot Pinball had a stand next to his games, selling multiple ways to bling up your games, from side rails to speaker panels, shooter rods and bottom aprons.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The SteelShot Pinball stand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Items<\/a>
Items on the SteelShot Pinball stand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Pinball Parts<\/a> also had a stand at the APF, selling some hard-to-find components as well as more familiar ones.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The Pinball Parts stand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The eighth row began with a showcase of the six American Pinball titles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Alice's<\/a>
Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland was also here to play, with the creator, Melvin Brouwer-Williams, also at the show<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Ivan<\/a>
Ivan Cicognani brought these four beautified restorations to showcase his Pinball Italy company’s work<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"An<\/a>
An invitation to examine the workmanship inside the game<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Finally in this row was a set of four games all coming from Germany. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first three are conversions – Miss World<\/em> (Bally’s KISS<\/em>), Wild Sch\u00fctz<\/em> (Bally’s Strikes & Spares<\/em>) and La Retata<\/em> (Williams’ High Speed<\/em>) – by Geiger, while the fourth, Sexy Girl<\/em>, is a semi-original design by Arkon but based on Bally’s Playboy<\/em> layout with a projector window added.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Four<\/a>
Four German-made games<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"At<\/a>
At the start of each day, the pinball cleaning crew were hard at work<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The free play area wasn’t entirely populated with pinballs though. Four amusement machines were set up at the front on the right to provide some silver ball alternatives.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The table football (foosball\/baby-foot\/etc.) was a popular diversion for kids and adults alike<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Later<\/a>
Later in the evening, the competition became quite fierce<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The dance machine was definitely for the younger guests<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"If<\/a>
If you’ve played Ice Cold Beer you’ll be familiar with these Lucky Bowl and Beer Fest games<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Tournaments Area<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The back of the hall featured three areas dedicated to tournaments. Their designation was indicated by signs hanging from the rafters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the left was the High Score Tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The High Score Tournament area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On the right side were four rows of machines for the main Austrian Pinball Masters tournament. Each row was dedicated to a specific group of players (Group 1 – Group 4) for the qualifying rounds.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Groups<\/a>
Groups 1 & 2’s area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The machines used for Group 1 (left) and Group 2 (right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Groups<\/a>
Groups 3 & 4’s area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The machines used for Group 3 (left) and Group 4 (right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Large touchscreen monitors at the entrances to each group’s area let players check their upcoming matches, record the outcomes and check their qualifying standings.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The monitors at the entrance to the tournament group machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Upcoming<\/a>
Upcoming matches and current standings on the Matchplay system<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

At the far end of the hall were the machines for the Classic Tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Some<\/a>
Some of the machines for the Classic Tournament<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"More<\/a>
More Classic Tournament machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Classic<\/a>
Classic Tournament machines with a streaming rig in place<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Christophe Berry streamed many of the later stages of several tournaments on his HaleMary12 Twitch channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The stream of the tournaments on the HaleMary12 Twitch channel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Christophe<\/a>
Christophe at his streaming desk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The more premium trophies for the tournament were made by Vid Kuklec<\/a> who also made similar awards for last year’s EPC.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Trophies<\/a>
Trophies for the numerous tournaments<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The bespoke trophies by Vid Kuklec<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

You can take a full look all around the first Austrian Pinball Festival in our exclusive Twenty-Four Minute Tour, all shot in ultra high-definition 4K.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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