BEER & BALL FESTIVAL - MAY 11 - MAY 15... COMING SOON!

Handlebar's first annual Beer & Ball Festival is soon to be under way, kicking off the week on Monday, May 11th with the first of many pinball tournaments!

This afternoon, the pinball machines were being set up in preparation for the week's festivities and so I stopped by to put the machines through some rigorous training.

So, I was a bit wrong on the suspected line-up. F-14 Tomcat was replaced by Data East's Time Machine!

No complaints there, Time Machine is an awesome and underrated Data East table. Lots of cool time travel gimmicks like a chimebox that emulates the sounds of Electro-Mechanical pinball tables.

The line-up for the Beer & Ball Festival is pretty impressive. There's a total of 5 machines all from different eras, from Pin-Up representing the 70's Gottlieb Wedgeheads to 2003's The Simpsons Pinball Party. There is something for everyone but each night is going to be dedicated to a particular table. From what I was told, one table will be selected as the "tournament" table and each entry will cost $3. You have one game to rack up one helluva score with the highest score of the night taking home the prize. There will be five nights and five different pinball machines to throw down so try to make it out at least once!

If you don't want to play in the tournament, no worries! The other tables will be available to play. They're all in fine working order and dressed up quite nice. Time Machine and White Water are all done up in LEDs. White Water also had some cosmetic work done, the backglass replaced as well as the topper plastic cover.

So, here are the full details! Beer & Ball Festival at Handlebar, 159 Augusta Avenue in Kensington Market, Monday, May 11 through to Friday, May 15th. Tournament starts at 7 PM, music is at 9 PM. $3 per entry to the tournament with a different tournament table selected each night. All other machines will be available to play (but you gotta pay) every night. The line-up is Jungle Lord, White Water, The Simpsons Pinball Party, Time Machine, and Pin-Up! Hope to see you out there!