Pinfest 2013, organised by the Newcastle Pinball Association and sponsored by Highway Entertainment, recently hosted it's second annual show at the Caves Beachside Hotel on September 21-22. The event saw 1400 visitors over the two day festival and the event was a smash hit, with visitors coming out from all over Australia.
The event hosted a total of 52 machines which averaged a whopping 350 games each (approximately 18,200 games played over two days) over the weekend, the line up of pins included classic favourites such as The Addams Family, WWF Wrestlers, the Sopranos, Jurassic Park, as well as a more modern Stern line up, including the latest release Star Trek, The Avengers LE and Pro, and the super popular Metallica. Homepin also donated some machines for the weekend, including my personal favourite, The Empire Strikes Back which had a signed Darth Vader backglass!
On the Saturday night, a pinball competition was hosted. 52 players entered the competition including 8 of the top 10 players in Australia! The competition was for fun more than anything else, and gave the exhibitors a chance to have play and a chat.
Highway Entertainment represented the arcade sector at the event. The multi-game arcade cocktail tables which were placed around the show area, were a huge success with visitors who had fun playing all the classic games like Pacman, Galaga, Asteroids and Donkey Kong. Other machines which were showcased over the weekend included Pacman Battle Royale, Initial D6 and the ultimate favourite of the show Road Fighters 3D!
Pinfest 2013 is a charity event which donates its proceeds from entry admission and selling merchandise to the SIDS and Kids Foundation. Last year, the festival donated $6,500.00 to the charity, and this year they raised a massive $7,000.00! The money will go towards supporting research and bereaving families.
Thank you to everyone who supported the event, to everyone who came to the show and joined in the fun, and thank you to everyone for your generosity - you all helped in making Pinfest 2013 a success. See you next year for Pinfest 2014!
