The next important date in the typical RISC OS year is almost upon us, with the Wradfold Show – that’s the official RISCOSitory name for the Wakefield Show when it takes place in Bradford – now just a smidgen under three weeks away.
If you want to attend the show and see what’s what, the date that should already be in your calendars is 22nd April, and your destination is:
The Cedar Court Hotel, Bradford,
Mayo Avenue,
Rooley Lane,
BRADFORD,
BD5 8HW.
So, speaking of seeing what’s what, what exactly is what? What can you expect to see when you set foot into the show room?
There are currently twenty one exhibitors set to appear, with a list on the show website, along with a floor plan – though this, it should be noted, is provisional; it might need to change if anyone else wants to take a stand (and if that might be you, you need to contact the organisers pronto!
Many of the exhibitors are show regulars (both to this show and in general), but there new exhibitors as well, such as Thomas Milius, who will be demonstrating his growing range of free and commercial titles on the Stader Softwareentwicklung GmbH stand – though he won’t be able to sell anything due to visa restrictions.
Another new exhibitor to Wradfold – and new-ish to RISC OS shows in general – is Educraft, who very sneakily appeared at London 2021 and pretended to be a random buyer of an Acorn Electron. Well, okay, they didn’t pretend to be that – it was just my assumption on the day. With a goal of inspiring children into creativity with computer technology, if you happen to have any with you on the 22nd, this would be a good stand to visit.
But don’t forget to visit other stands, as well – kids like computer games, you know, and there will be games to play (and buy) on the AMCOG stand, with a new title – A-Maze-ing – being shown off, and on the Soft Rock Software stand, with a work-in-progress sequel to 1990s classic Drop Rock being demonstrated. There are also a number of retro exhibitors – such as Chris Sawer, Daniel Jameson, and Retro Hardware – so there will almost certainly be a selection of classic 8-bit games to play.
If you want more serious software, you’ll find all sorts from mapping application RiscOSM, database Impact, and more on the Sine Nomine stand, diary management application Organizer on the North One Communications stand, and a wide selection from people like Steve Fryatt and companies like R-Comp and Elesar.
Both of the latter provide both software and hardware – so if what you want is a HAT for your Raspberry Pi, a Titanium motherboard, you might want to visit Elesar, but if a Pinebook or a 4té is more up your street, pop along and see R-Comp. However, don’t forget to make haste in the direction of RISCOSbits if you want to find out about FAST, a slightly tautological backronym for ‘Fast Access Storage Technology’ – and also if you just want to amuse yourself at some very silly product names.
There are a few times throughout the day when the main show might get a little quieter – that’ll be because some of the exhibitors will also take time out from the day to give talks in the show theatre. The details of these can also be found on the show website, but include the usual suspects such as RISC OS Open Ltd and RISC OS Developments, giving the low down on the latest developments with the operating system itself, and things being developed for everyone’s benefit.
The event’s organisers are rightly proud of the amount that has been raised over the years from the show’s charity stand, which is in excess of £27,000, and – of course – this year will provide another opportunity to add to that. Don’t forget to pay the stand a visit to see what useful hardware, software, and books have been donated by others, and to give these items a new home in exchange for a small consideration. And if you have something to donate, that’s good as well.
Those organisers – the Wakefield RISC OS Computer Club (WROCC) will be on the first stand you’ll pass as you enter the show – and you might want to stop, say ‘hello’, and buy a ticket or ten two (the limit per person) for their prize draw. These will cost a mere quid each, and you stand to win one of five prizes, which range from vouchers to be redeemed with any exhibitor at the show, hardware, and software.
And there will also be cake available on the WROCC stand, because the club will be &28 years old in April. Yeah, okay, if I go for decimal rather than hexadecimal, it’s their big four oh.
The doors will be open to the public from 10:30am until 4:30pm, with entry costing just £2.00 per person (free for small people under twelve, if accompanied by an adult) – so see you all there!
