Vintage computing festival planned for Bletchley Park

Sophie Wilson, one of the leading innovators of British microchip and computing technology will be a special guest at Britain’s first Vintage Computer Festival.

One of the co-designers of the BBC micro and developer of the Risc/ARM processor, the chip at the heart of more than 90 per cent of mobile phones, Sophie Wilson will talk about her time and experiences at Acorn; when British brains led the world in the microcomputer revolution.

The festival, which will be held at The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park on 19-20 June 2010, will also host various exhibits including Acorn World, and a number of displays from private collections, including the BBC Domesday system.

Simon Hewitt, VCF programme co-ordinator at the Museum of Computing, said: “We are thrilled to have Sophie Wilson as a key speaker at this first British Vintage Computing Festival.

Anyone whose first computing experience was on a BBC B, and anyone who uses a mobile phone will be familiar with her work. This is a rare opportunity to hear her speak.”

Retro-gamers will be in their element at the Retro Computer Museum with a display of hands-on systems, consoles and a special gaming competition.

Other exhibitors include Amiga and Atari user groups, the Spectranet project, the Sundown Demoparty team, and the Milton Keynes Amateur Radio Society.

The organisers are also inviting people from all over Europe who have private collections of vintage computer systems to come and exhibit at the festival and get free admission.

Other confirmed speakers include Christine Finn, print and broadcast journalist, and author of ‘Artifacts: an archaeologist's year in Silicon Valley’, ZX Spectrum expert and former games developer Chris Smith, and Karl Pantling-James from the Retro Computer Museum.

The National Museum of Computing’s own system restoration experts including Tony Sale, leader of the Colossus rebuild project, and Tony Frazer, project manager of the Harwell/WITCH computer restoration, will also be in the line-up.

Tickets will be going on sale in April and cost £10. The museum will release further news over the coming weeks as more speakers and exhibitions are confirmed.