Archive of Retro Computing Exhibition 2026
Event date
- 5 August 2026 - 11 August 2026
Kingston University's School of Computing is running its annual Archive of Retro Computing (ARC) Exhibition in Town House from Wednesday 5 August to Tuesday 11 August. The exhibition is open to the public and entry is free. It's an opportunity to drop in and see some classic machines and games in the history of home computing.
About this exhibition
After last year's success, ARC@KU is throwing open the doors to the public once again. This time we've raided the archive for even more of the machines that started it all.
From Wednesday 5 to Tuesday 11 August, Kingston University's Town House will once again come alive with the bleeps, bops and bloops of the classic era of home computing and gaming - and everyone's invited.
We've widened our net back into the past with machines like the Fairchild Channel F, the first ever machine to use cartridges – before even Atari! And we've pushed further into the future – or rather, the slightly later past – with machines from the early 3D era, including the original PlayStation, Xbox, Sega Saturn, Dreamcast and N64.
Just like last year, we'll have all the icons, all the also-rans, the legends and the gloriously doomed, all switched on and at your mercy!
Play classic games
So come and play the classic games, bash out a line of BASIC like it's 1982, or settle the decades-old playground argument about whether the Spectrum or C64 was the true way, truth and the light. Or was it the Megadrive v SNES? Or the PlayStation v Xbox? Whether you grew up with these things or weren't yet a glint in Clive Sinclair's eye, there's something here for everyone.
Open to all
Entry is free, there's no need to book, all ages are welcome. Opening hours are 10am to 6pm on weekdays, 11am to 4pm on weekends.
