🎉Dawn of the PC: VCF East 2026

📅 April 17-19, 2026
📍 Wall, New Jersey | InfoAge Science and History Museums

We’re thrilled to announce the theme for next year’s Vintage Computer Festival East 2026!

Dawn of the PC

In 2026, we’ll explore the pivotal era when computing took a bold step out of labs and into homes, classrooms, and small businesses. This theme celebrates the early days of personal computing—the period when powerful machines became accessible, affordable, and, most importantly, personal.

💡 What does “Dawn of the PC” mean?

It’s the story of how we got from the blinking lights of hobbyist kits to the sleek machines that reshaped everyday life. We’ll shine a spotlight on the computers, people, ideas, and companies that ignited a digital revolution .

From the Altair 8800, Apple I, and Commodore PET to the TRS-80, IBM PC, and Macintosh, this theme gives us room to showcase the innovation and competition that defined the era.

🖥️ Planning an exhibit? Here’s how to tie in:

We invite exhibitors, presenters, and tinkerers to interpret the theme broadly. Some ideas to spark your creativity:

• Early Personal Computers: Show off systems like the Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Osborne 1, or Amiga.
• Clones and Compatibles: Explore the world of IBM PC clones and the DOS era.
• Software Milestones: VisiCalc, dBASE, GEOS, early word processors, games, and operating systems.
• User Experience: Recreate how people first encountered computers at home, in school, or at work.
• Cultural Impact: Ads, packaging, magazines, and educational content from the PC’s formative years.
• Builds and Restorations: Custom-built 70s/80s computers or working reproductions of classic systems.

Whether your passion is hardware, software, design, or storytelling—there’s a place for your vision under this theme.

🎤 Want to Present or Host a Workshop?

We’re looking for talks and sessions that explore:

• The transition from minicomputers to personal computing
• The business and marketing of early PCs
• Key people and forgotten pioneers
• Preservation challenges and techniques
• Fun retrospectives on favorite platforms or programs

Join us as we celebrate the origins of the digital age and the brilliant machines that brought computing power into the hands of individuals.

🧠 Because before we were online… we were booting from floppy disks.

We have already begun planning to improve the show based on feedback from the surveys and conversations with different participants.

Signups for exhibits, vendors, talks and volunteers will be available starting in mid-August.

See you there!

Jeff Brace

VCF East Showrunner

VCF East was a great success with great speakers, exhibitors, classes, consignment and attendees!

Take a look at the coverage of the show on The Verge:

Thanks to all the volunteers who helped make this show happen. I couldn’t have done it without you!

Also check out other videos from VCF East: https://vcfed.org/vcf-east-2025-videos/

Jeff Brace

VCF East Showrunner