This year’s Buxon Bytes ran from the 8th to the 11th of May, once again from the idyllic surroundings of Thirkelow, a lovely farmhouse tucked away in the hills just outside Buxton, surrounded by fields, sheep, more sheep, and the kind of quintessential English countryside that makes you briefly forget the rest of the world exists, and the trials and tribulations of everyday life.
The sheep became something of a running theme over the weekend, and even a theme for a demo or two. At one stage, a few of us thought they were outside the back door, but it was actually gwEm composing a last-minute intro sound effect for a demo. Thanks again, gwEm. Funny moment!
After the fun, joy and connection everyone felt at Buxton Bytes 2025, the idea for 2026 was simple. Let’s not change too much. Let’s not become too big, and definitely not too serious. No competitions, no pressure, and no attempt to turn it into something it was never meant to be.
Buxton Bytes is not really a demoparty in the traditional sense. It is more a gathering of friends and like-minded people doing what they love together, or even simply a weekend out of the chaos of life.
Maybe it is an extension of the old computer clubs from the 1990s. Maybe it is closer to those long hours spent in a friend’s bedroom, tinkering around on computers, watching demos and playing games. Sometimes that would lead to compiling your own releases or even coding something yourself. That usual, unique bond forms there, the kind most people would not understand, and the kind of bond that never really breaks.
This year’s attendees were Adam Gilmore, Modula, t|n, Damo, Exocet, NervE, Grazey, gwEm, Gaz, Tat, Samurai, Vlad, The Paranoid and me, Tronic.
Possibly the first time four members of Effect were in one place, at one time!
Everyone travelled a long way to be there, from different parts of the UK and Europe. Travelling anywhere takes effort these days, and the expense, never mind travelling to a small Atari gathering in the far reaches of the Peak District, so thank you to every single one of you who made the journey.
Unfortunately, GGN, Tom, 505 and Norm were not able to attend this year, they were missed. Their names came up often, usually followed by someone saying it was a real shame they were not there or wondering what such-and-such were up to these days. At one point, t|n played the podcast series featuring Tom and GGN, and others, so in a small way, they were at least present in spirit. Make sure you make it next year, guys!
This year, I put together a very rough timetable for the weekend, not because Buxton Bytes needed to become organised in any serious sense, but because it felt useful to have a few gentle anchors. This included the non-competitive demo show, where entries were shown to everyone; almost continuous demo streaming on the big television; the infamous Adam Gilmore BBQ; full English breakfasts; a relaxed outing to Buxton; and the welcome return of Psycho Hack, Grazey rifling through his original floppy disk boxes. More on that later!
Buxton Bytes only works because people are willing to show up and properly be part of it, to contribute, talk, laugh, listen, help out, and just enjoy being there together. Throughout the entire weekend, there were no issues, no dramas, and no sense of anyone sitting back while others did the work. People cooked, cleaned, tidied, carried things, helped where needed, shopped, and generally made the whole thing feel easy.
That kind of atmosphere does not happen by accident, and I was really grateful for it.
Friday, 8th May
People started arriving on Friday afternoon, slowly filling Thirkelow with travel bags, Atari computers, snacks, cables, crates, food, drink, and the usual excitement. Also spotted were some original Amstrad boxes! This meant only one thing. Gaz had arrived with his gear, and even his original paperwork, to finish his elusive vertical scroller game.
Will this year be the year? Alas not. I think I’ve watched Gaz work on this game since the first demo party we went to together. Lol.
For those who do not know, Gaz was the coder and pixel artist for Moving Target, a commercial game released on the Amstrad in 1989. One of the original bedroom coders, with the drive and determination you do not see in many teenagers! He also coded other games for the Amstrad. Check them out!
There is always a lovely moment at these gatherings when an empty place transforms into a party. One minute, it is just an open space with empty tables, an empty kitchen, and an empty fridge. Then a few people arrive, then a few more. Someone plugs something in, blips and blops of the YM are heard, someone opens a drink, tssssk, and someone starts talking about an obscure technical problem or a demo release.
Grazey shouting “winage”?
Buxton Bytes had started…!
Later on that day, pizzas were thrown into the oven, one almost literally, and dished out to everyone as they were ready. It was a simple solution, but one that worked really well. Quick, easy, low fuss, and exactly what was needed after people had been travelling and settling in. The usual snacks of crisps, sweets, and so on were doing the rounds as well.
The evening arrived, and Grazey took us down memory lane from his swapping days. He picked out random disks from his disk box collection to see what treasures, horrors, unfinished experiments, forgotten intros, dodgy boot sectors, or strange old curiosities might appear. Nobody really knew what would load, or even if it would, but that is half the fun. A few “Insert Disk A” messages appeared, although we never managed to find Disk A. Ha.
We soon realised the stock 520STFM was not up for the job, especially with its dodgy keyboard, where several keys did not work. So it was swapped for the don: an Atari 4096STE with a fully working keyboard.
Several hours passed, with many of us watching the disk box show, while others worked on releases or their own projects. It was all very relaxed, with some memories triggered by watching old demos by Synergy, The Lost Boys, TCB, through to some typical UK compilation releases from Ripped Off, Impact, and so on.
Later that evening, the very sophisticated Exocet served superbly selected wine and local cheeses, with some fresh bread, for everyone. Some amazing flavours, and a real experience.
After we rifled through Grazey’s disk boxes, it was time for bed. Adam decamped to his super motorhome, while the rest of us peeled off to bed, one by one, full of Atari goodness.
Saturday, 9th May
Saturday had the kind of pace that makes Buxton Bytes what it is. No rush, no timetable being forced on everyone, and no sense that anything had to happen at a particular moment. Certainly no stress.
Adam and Modula were in the kitchen preparing a lovely full English breakfast with signature black pudding. I have to thank Adam for his generosity with the food and his efforts in the kitchen.
Never have I seen so many eggs being cooked at once, and to such perfection! We all sat down and enjoyed the breakfast banquet. I said a few words in thanks to everyone, and another day of retro-fun was underway!
After breakfast, everyone seemed to settle into their own Atari zones.
Vlad was beavering away in STOS, working on a disk menu for his two releases for the demo show. Grazey was ripping music, Gaz was coding his elusive game, Modula was grappling with GFA and memory management, Damo was scratching his head over an entry for the Ripped Assets category, and NervE was working on the Effect trackmo sample demo release. Adam was set up with his keyboard and mini-studio, very much in his element.
There was general tinkering away by everyone, and I started testing the entries and getting organised for the demo show later that evening. I didn’t want to mess it up and wanted to make sure everyone’s releases were shown in the way they were intended. After all their hard work, this is the very least you can do!
Vlad very kindly brought up some authentic Cornish Pasties from his local town, which we enjoyed throughout the weekend.
Later that afternoon, there was the promised pub and supermarket outing. A relaxed Saturday afternoon in a lively British pub, with people you often only see once in a while. There was an organised sponsored walk taking place that ended in the pub we were at, so we watched all the weary walkers arrive and get rehydrated, normally with wine and lager! Welcome to England. 😀
Here we met gwEm after his flight, marking the Buxton Bytes collective for 2026 was now complete!
After the first pub, in true British style, we went on to another pub... recommended by a guy in CEX. Long story short, I forgot my keyboard dongle and had to buy a keyboard. Modula found one for me in CEX for £2. A bargain!
The recommended second pub wasn’t as good as the first, but it is always the company that counts. It doesn’t really matter where you are. We had a few drinks, and Grazey suggested ordering some shots. Or was it my idea, Grazey? Great minds! Ha!
Exocet put £5, kindly donated by t|n, into a rather colourful, alluring fruit machine, and we lost it within 54 seconds. Sorry, Exocet!
A few drinks at the pub were enjoyed using the very kind contribution from the group who could not attend but had already paid the deposit. The remainder was used on the pizza and cheeses the night before. Thank you, and cheers for that!
We headed to the supermarket, Waitrose no less, and everyone stocked up with provisions and so forth. This seemed to take quite some time, and I am told it was because half the people shopping were a little worse for wear. Ha! Finally, we climbed back into the cars, a little reminiscent of the “how many people can you fit in a car” competition, and headed back to the venue.
Vlad, Damo and I headed to the games building for a few games of table tennis. It was good fun, we even got a bit out of breath!
The mystery of the pool cues lying abandoned on the floor continued to play on my mind. The memory of playing Tom briefly at pool the year before... There must be a pool table somewhere!
Then it dawned on me. The pool table was the table tennis table. Removing the table tennis top soon revealed the green velvet (maybe not) of the pool table I remembered so well. We had a few games of pool and retired back to the main building, ready for a sit-down.
Later that evening, after snacks, there was the Grazey’s disk box, part 2 event, with plenty of chit-chat, technical discussion, creative discussion, and the sort of conversations that happily evolve from Atari details to complete nonsense and back again. That balance is probably the whole point. Serious ideas, unserious delivery, and enough time for conversations to go wherever they need to go.
After dinner, more pizza, sausages, and leftovers, Exocet served some more carefully selected wine and local cheeses.
As the evening progressed, everyone gradually peeled off and headed to bed. The bedrooms, like the rest of the property, were spacious, clean and comfortable, with magnificent views across the hills and surrounding countryside.
Another magnificent day with some truly lovely people.
Sunday, 10th May
We started the day with another fabulous full English breakfast prepared by Adam and Modula. Such a great start to the day, great food, and superb company. I have to admit, after staying up until 4:30 am chatting with NervE the night before, putting the world to rights and drinking wine, Jaeger, and rum, I was struggling a little that morning!
I’ve actually known NervE since I was about 14 (I’m now 49), when we used to chat over mIRC. “Smoke Whale”, my good friend. We’ve only met twice, but I feel like I’ve known him my whole life.
Sunday evening was barbecue time, and the BBQ once again became one of the main events of the weekend, as it should! Food, smoke, laughter, and that warm feeling of everyone being properly together.
The perfect location, great people, and views of the Peak District continued to wow. A very moving evening.
During the afternoon, we went for a short walk up the dales, taking the opportunity to take photos, get some exercise, and recreate another exceptional photo opportunity with the Buxton Bytes 2026 collective. We came across some plant machinery, diggers and so on, as well as plenty of sheep excrement! Quite random!
The demo show followed later that evening, and there were plenty of releases to watch and enjoy. That is an important distinction for Buxton Bytes. Nobody is there to win anything, or to be judged, or to sit nervously waiting for points. People share things because they want to, because they have made something, because it is fun, and because everyone in the room understands the effort that goes into even the smallest production.
Earlier in the day, there had been more testing of the demo show entries, as new versions and even new entries arrived. There were also the usual bits of admin needed to make sure everything would run properly later that evening. Samurai and Grazey wanted to stream the demo show live, so we got prepared for that too. I put on my big boy pants, psyched myself up, and hoped nothing too terrible would go wrong.
Most of the entries worked well on the demo show STE, except for one. t|n and I spent some time trying to fix the issue and did manage to improve things, but it still refused to run on real hardware as intended. In the end, I prepared a video grab of the entry so it could still be shown as part of the demo show. It was important to me that everyone was included, without exception. I enjoyed this time with t|n, and although I larked about a lot, I really did take it quite seriously.
The demo show itself was streamed to Twitch, which was a lovely way to share a bit of Buxton Bytes with people who could not be there in person. We started with the sample demos, then moved on to the other categories: Ripped Assets and Interesting Scrollers. The Effect sample demo entry, Name That Tune, was a music quiz and, if I recall correctly, Modula was the winner, with Grazey a close second. You’re losing your touch, Grazey! Time for a PHF AGM, I think! 😀
We had a great, great time watching the entries. There were lots of laughs, claps, sing-alongs, and cheers as each entry was shown, and everyone was properly engaged with it. It is still amazing to me how these machines continue to bring out so much creativity, humour and effort after all these years.
My work there was done. Apart from showing a ripped assets entry in the sample category, my first demo show seemed to go well. Thank you all for the encouragement. I could now relax again!
But wait, there was more!
An email arrived from Slippy of Vectronix with an Easter egg entry for the demo show. His email featured a riddle we had to solve to activate a special DJ mode in his new YM2149 Web Player: https://ym2149-rs.org/player/
We had fun trying to figure out the riddle and activate the special mode. t|n worked it out in speedy time!
There were plenty of laughs, and even some lovely surprises. The relaxed non-compo format really suits Buxton Bytes. It keeps the focus on enjoyment, encouragement, and shared appreciation, rather than on rankings, deadlines, or stress!
We more than likely had more cheese that night, but by this point, my memory is rather fuzzy.
Reluctantly, it was time for bed.
Monday, 11th May
Monday came around too quickly, as it always does.
A few people had to leave early. Grazey and Gaz had a rendezvous with a coach to get them to Millwall, London, for a football match, which was brave. gwEm also had to get to the airport for his flight back.
I woke up a little late that day and came downstairs with a mixture of feelings. Everyone was still in good spirits, but it was obvious that the weekend was coming to an end. We had breakfast, started tidying up, and, slowly, the house began to turn back from Buxton Bytes into Thirkelow again.
Tables and chairs were stacked, power cords returned, the kitchen and breakfast area cleaned, and rubbish emptied.
The WiFi was scheduled for a switch-off. The streaming demos playlist froze. The time was nigh.
There was a final tidy-up, a check that everyone had remembered all their things, the usual divvying up of surplus food and drink, and then the slow goodbyes.
Bags went into cars, people hugged, and eventually we all said our goodbyes.
One last wave to Ester, our lovely host, and we were off. Buxton Bytes was over for another year.
The Paranoid adds…
"What could be better than a weekend full of Atari? Probably spending a weekend with other, very laid-back and friendly Atari-people? Or maybe spending a weekend in a cottage in the middle of a national park? The beautiful British countryside just south-east of Manchester? British breakfast? Or spending a relaxed Saturday afternoon with friends you only meet so rarely in a lively British pub? Maybe a barbecue on a relaxed Sunday evening? Or probably having a themed Atari ST demo show with surprisingly many entries?
If you dare imagine having all of this in a single go, you get an impression of what Buxton Bytes 2026 was like, the most amazing Atari party I've been at. Once again, thanks to the organisers, thanks to the people having been there, thanks to everyone who contributed to the non-competitive compos.”
t|n goes on to say…
"The sheep are too darn loud" - that's a sentence you don't often hear about any demoscene meeting. The 2026 edition of Buxton Bytes was - if even possible - even more relaxed than last year's - so much, that the aforementioned sheep had to remind us from time to time that there were work to be done, conversations to be had and general Fuji-shaped things to be shaped.
Although the population in 2026 changed a bit compared to last year due to several unfortunate timing problems, that also meant that this time the likes of Damo, Nerve, Vlad, Samurai and The Paranoid could join us.
Which also meant having, like, 99% of the active Atari-ST YM-tracker authors in one room (those being Damo, gwEm and Tat - with the remaining 1% being a spark in the eye of any future YM-tracker author), which made us really cautious when planning the hike trail; losing one or even all of them in some ravine would really have proven disastrous - we all probably would have to resort to MOD music then *shudder*.
All the deep technical/creative discussions paired with a lot of goofing around plus the family-like get-togethers at breakfasts/BBQs proved once again this being a concept worth exploring.
And apart from it generally being awesome to meet all of the attendees again in such a relaxed environment (or even for the first time, hi Vlad!) I personally was glad to finally being able to live out my Paradox fandom by meeting The Paranoid again (after a mere 30 years). Also a big thank you to all the participants in the demo show - we really had a blast seeing your productions! Another highlight was the really nice idea of "someone" (I have no idea if he wants to be named here) to think of us and send us a riddle for the demoshow, that needed solving to finally find a very nice surprise…
One might call Buxton Bytes a "workshop", a "friends meeting", a "hideout", a "nerdfest", "Adam's breakfast feast & BBQ" or even just a chill gathering - I just call it another step in the right direction; we really have to thank Tom (who could not join us sadly) a lot to re-introduce (or even invent?) this kind of demoscene retreat with Buxton Bytes 2025 in the first place.
Another thing that stood out as one of the corner stones, again, was the conscious decision to not have any classic competitions - instead there is a /demo show/. Why is that important and is there even a difference, you ask? It's a pretty important distinction in my book; competitions always have some kind of pressure built-in, a pressure that hits the organisers and the participants alike, especially in a group setting; it ought to be "perfect", it ought to be "state of the art" or else its deemed a "compo filler". To me, the demo show feels more akin to a guest screens in a megademo, remember those? However, again many thanks to all the participants, you people really brought that relaxed atmosphere home, right there.
And while this idea does not scale in itself (it being bigger would surely destroy it's core identity) it /is/ something other people can replicate with other groups and other venues. I for my part am looking forward to this.
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