Kickstart 10 takes place in October. Doors open from 9am and close at 8pm (or sooner if everyone decides to wind down a bit early and go to the pub, as usually happens). We are looking forward to yet another brilliant day of Amiga fun as we celebrate the end of another fantastic Amiga year and get ready for a very special 2027 for the club.
What’s Happening?
This will be an all-day user group meet up. It’s a chance for us to do all things Amiga – fix them, play games, show how to use different pieces of software and hardware, use them, show them off, talk about them – whatever you want to do.
Gaming
We will be doing a high score games tournament – There will be a trophy for the winner.
Machine of the Meet
We’ll be giving a trophy to the most interesting, eye catching or compelling trash-to-treasure machine at the meet.
Talks
We are looking at trying to organise a talk or two. More as we get things confirmed.
The July BBQ is in the history books and what a fantastic day it was.
Pics and videos will follow in the next couple of days. For now, I just want to say thank you to everyone for attending and for participating. the BBQ meet is a major undertaking for the club, but it is so worth it.
The weather was perfect, and a great time was had by all. I’m pretty sure I can say that nobody went home hungry. I know that my car went home considerably lighter thanks to all the food and drink being used up – another measure of successful meet.
More to come, but for now I’m taking a much needed rest this morning with a coffee while I look back on the memories of what was truly our best BBQ meet ever!
We are nearly there, doors open tomorrow (Saturday 18th July 2026) at 9am.
A Reminder About Ticketing
All attendees must have their own ticket, regardless of age, no exceptions. Although your ticket might include a table that is big enough for two people, any additional guests coming with you to share the table will need their own non-table ticket per person. If attendees do arrive without their own ticket, if we have space they will be asked to pay for a non-table ticket. Please buy tickets in advance to avoid awkward situations on the day. Thanks. The couple of non-table spaces we have left will remain on sale until 5pm today. Then we need to close it off to get ready for tomorrow.
Please Read Your Email
All ticket holders have received the “Big Pre-Meet Email” Please make sure you read this as it includes a lot of important information to make sure you have the best day possible. Top of the list is an update on the parking situation for tomorrow in light of the on-going roadworks that have closed off our usual free car park directly opposite the hall.
Traders
Retro Lemon: Retro Lemon sells a wide range of Amiga and other 8 & 16-bit system expansions, upgrades and accessories. They are exclusive UK distributor for Lotharek.pl. Stop by their table in the Runnymede Room, or get in touch ahead of the meet if there’s anything specific you would like them to have in stock on the day.
Digital Retro Bay: Digital Retro Bay sells high quality retro computing items for the Amiga such as the extremely popular GoDrive floppy drive emulator and switcher, keyboard membranes, accelerators, USB controller adapters, custom joypads and 3D printed add-ons. They will be in the Runnymede Room. Get in touch with them ahead of the meet if there’s anything specific you would like them to have in stock on the day
Amiga Addict: The team from Amiga Addict will be joining us and will have issues of Amiga Addict, Pixel Addict and their special editions, as well as merch available for sale. Stop by their table in the Runnymede Room and say Hi.
Monster Joysticks: Our friends at Monster Joysticks will be joining us. Expect to see a wide range of their fantastic joysticks on display, available in a variety of formats and for a very wide array of systems (including a multi-button stick for the CD32, a huge upgrade over the original joypad it shipped with).
Come Hungry
Kickstart meets are always fully catered, so you don’t have to worry about having to find lunch, a drink or a snack. It ensures you can make the very most of the day. We will supply the following on Saturday:
Tea, Coffee, Milk, Sugar, Artificial Sweetener (there’s a hot water urn in the kitchen for instant boiling water for self-service drinks all day)
I’m really excited to announce we will have a selection of Kickstart merch available, the essential accessories for any Amiga enthusiast:
Mugs
Mouse Mats
Keyrings
Stickers
The Kickstart Merch Table will be set up near the main entrance. Everything is priced as low as possible and 100% of all funds go back into Kickstart to fund future events. We can take cash and cards.
Any Questions or Problems
If you have any questions, please ping us using the contact form above, or message us on our WhatsApp group or Facebook Group.
Tickets:On Sale Now – just a few non-table tickets left
A Kickstart tradition that dates back to 1997, we’ve had a BBQ at our home base in Ottershaw every year we’ve been doing in-person meetups. Unlike our regular meets that take place on a Sunday, we move this meet to a Saturday to make it easier for people to stay over for the night, have a drink etc. and we have some top-notch food lined up for the grill.
Kickstart 9 will still be a regular all-day Kickstart meet-up, with all the usual fun and games (we might finally get one of those gaming competitions going on the big projector screen, you never know). The BBQ will be serving up in the garden outside the Runnymede Room from lunchtime until everyone is full or we run out of food, whichever comes first. There will also be the usual high-score contest as well as Machine of the Meet and the Kickstart Cake!
We will also have some new branded merch on sale at the BBQ meet – the long awaited Kickstart mugs and Kickstart stickers, along with Kickstart keyrings. We’ll have a great bundle on offer for £10 with all three.
Looking forward to seeing everyone on the 18th. If you don’t already have a ticket, grab one now.
