I had never been to the UK’s longest running retro game expo until 2019. Play Expo sets up in various UK locations throughout the year. Glasgow, Manchester, Margate and Blackpool are regular hosts. The latter is a seaside town I’ve visited a lot of times, so it was a good excuse to pop up the M6 and spend a weekend staring at garishly coloured pixels in a dimly lit hall.
Going over to exhibitions back in the day where games companies and gamers congregated, was a thing I indulged in a few times as a ZX Spectrum user. The last ever ZX Microfair in London, various games shows at Earls Court and even a few hours at GamesMaster Live in Birmingham’s NEC.