Formally announced last month, the organisers of the annual Wakefield Show have sent out an update about this year’s event with a little more information about what visitors can expect.
As everyone should already know, the show is set to take place on 18th April, 2020, at its customary venue, the Cedar Court Hotel, Wakefield – the very same venue at which the first Wakefield Show was held on 19th May, 1996 (before moving to Thornes Park Athletics Stadium the following year for a two day event).
That means that it is twenty four years since that first show, making this year’s the 25th show – and the organisers, members of the Wakefield RISC OS Computer Club (WROCC), are marking that milestone at this year’s event.
For one thing there are the entrance fees. For a number of years, it has cost visitors a crisp fiver to get in and see what’s what, but this year if you hand over a fiver you’ll get some money back; the entry fee is just £2.00.
There is a growing list of exhibitors on the show website, which includes a broad mix of both RISC OS hardware and software developers, and people from retro and 8-bit scenes – and, of course, there is the charity stand which has raised over £25,000 to date for the Wakefield Hospice; this might be a good way of spending that £3.00 you’ll have saved getting in!
The show has gained a new regular feature in recent years – a prize draw (tickets available from the WROCC stand) – and as another way of celebrating the 25th show, this year there will be an additional ‘silver’ prize. More details on this will come nearer to the day.
The show website now shows the planned theatre programme, though this may be subject to change, with talks from RISC OS Developments, RISC OS Open, Sine Nomine, R-Comp, and CJE Micro’s.
There is, however, one thing which could impact the show: The novel coronavirus outbreak which is currently dominating the news. The organisers have noted that “we are monitoring the situation regarding the current coronavirus outbreak. In the light of the most recent government advice, it is still our intention to go ahead with the show as planned. However, please continue to check this site for any updates.”
