LGBTQIA+ Pinball Tournament PinPride NYC Returns for Fifth Year

If you asked the city’s avid pinball players how they would describe the game’s community, the first word many of them would use is “welcome.” So, when two of those players, Erik Swedlund and Jess Warren, noticed there was space for a tournament for the LGBTQIA+ community, they jumped to start one themselves.

Now, PinPride NYC is returning on June 20 for its fifth year in the city. The tournament, which is at Barcade FiDi, is open to members and allies of the LGBTQIA+ community.

“PinPride is a great big party,” Swedlund said.

For many, pinball may be a blast from their childhood. For younger members of the pinball community, the analog game is a new, refreshing change from a digital upbringing. But, no matter how players came to pinball, it is undeniable that the game is having a moment in the city.

“There’s been a bit of a renaissance in the past few years,” Swedlund said. “Lots of people are discovering pinball and joining us, and we wanted to especially welcome new queer people.”

The doors for the event will open at 12 p.m., and the games will start at 1 p.m. The tournament is open to 100 players, but Swedlund says spectators are also welcome.

The tournament is sanctioned by the International Flipper Pinball Association and will be a matchplay format—where players compete in groupings and receive points based on their standing within the group.

There will be six rounds of this to qualify for the finals, which will be for the top 16 players. The top eight players will win a cash prize, and the top four will also receive trophies made by a local pinball player.

If this sounds confusing, Swedlund says not to worry. Though the tournament includes some of the city’s top scorers, Warren and Swedlund wanted to make the event beginner-friendly.

“It’s a very social event as you’re playing,” Swedlund said. “If you don’t know what you’re doing, everyone there is going to be more than happy to help you out.”

In addition, the event benefits two organizations, the Ali Forney Center and the Transgender Law Center. The Ali Forney Center is a homeless shelter that provides support and assistance to LGBTQ+ youth, and the Transgender Law Center is a civil rights organization that advocates for the rights of transgender and gender nonconforming people.

The two also began another annual LGBTQIA+ tournament in February of 2023, Valentine’s Gay. Over the past nine combined events, they have raised over $35,000 for the two organizations.

Half of the tournament entry money will be donated to the Ali Forney Center. The event will also include a silent auction, Translites for Trans Rights, benefiting the Transgender Law Center. Translites are the art in a pinball machine’s backbox — the square above the machine that displays the score.

One can expect both translites and other pinball-related items at the silent auction. Some of the top pinball machine manufacturers, including Stern Pinball, Jersey Jack Pinball, and Barrels of Fun, support the event and donate items like promotional banners and playfields for the auction.

Apart from the silent auction, there will be several items up for raffle giveaway, such as gift certificates from other local pinball venues. Everyone who comes will get one free ticket.

This will be the first year PinPride is taking place in Manhattan. Barcade FiDi opened last summer and has the city’s second-largest collection of pinball machines. Some of the location’s 25 machines include The Addams Family, Ghostbusters, Pokémon, and Dolly Parton.

The cost of entry is $10. For more details and information on how to register, find the event on Facebook or visit matchplay.live/pinpride2026.