Vintage Computer Festival Italia

A living computer museum in Nettuno

The Vintage Computer Festival Italia is not just a display of objects behind glass; it is a living, temporary museum where every machine on exhibit is powered on, fully functional, and—most importantly—available for the public to use. Located in the town of Nettuno, on the coast of the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Lazio region, the "Emanuela Loi" Technical Institute on Via Emanuela Loi 6 provides over 800 square meters of exhibition space to showcase thirty years of digital evolution.

From Rome to the Lazio coast

Born and raised in Rome, where it was held for several years at the former Cartiera Latina on the Appia Antica, the festival is organized by the Vintage Computer Club Italia, an association that brings together collectors, restorers, and retrocomputing enthusiasts. The move to Nettuno, supported by the local municipality and associations, has provided the event with more space and a stronger educational focus, thanks to its collaboration with the local school system.

The machines that made history

The exhibition path features the key pieces that tell the story of the birth of personal computing: from early calculators to the home computers that entered Italian households in the 1980s. Highlights include:

• Apple I, one of the very first personal computers in history;
• Olivetti Programma 101, the Italian desktop calculator that anticipated the concept of the personal computer in 1965;
• IMSAI 8080, famous for its appearance in the movie WarGames;
• Altair 8800, the kit computer that launched the software industry;
• beloved home computers: Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, ZX Spectrum;
• vintage operating systems, consoles, rare peripherals, and accessories rarely seen elsewhere.

Beyond the exhibit: mini-conferences

Alongside the exhibition, the program includes a series of mini-conferences led by recognized experts and communicators, designed for a general audience. Topics include the history of computing, hacker culture and its countercultural roots, the rivalry between the Italian tech industry and international giants, network security, and the fragility of the digital world we live in. These are short, jargon-free sessions that help explain why certain choices made fifty years ago continue to shape the tools we use today.

Who is it for?

The festival appeals to collectors and retrocomputing enthusiasts as well as families and students. For younger visitors, it is a chance to get hands-on with machines they have only heard about; for those who lived through those years, it is a trip down memory lane, complete with the sound of floppy disks and green phosphor screens. The interactive format—allowing visitors to type on keyboards, load programs, and try out vintage video games—makes it suitable for children as well.

A technological heritage to preserve

Behind the initiative lies a clear cultural goal: to preserve and pass on the technological heritage that made the digital age possible. The machines on display, mostly restored by volunteers, are historical documents just as much as a book or a photograph, and they risk disappearing if not cared for. In this, the Vintage Computer Festival Italia joins the international network of Vintage Computer Festivals found across Europe and the United States.

Nettuno beyond the festival

A visit is the perfect opportunity to discover Nettuno, a seaside town on the Lazio coast about an hour from Rome, featuring its Medieval Village, the Forte Sangallo, and the Sanctuary of Santa Maria Goretti. Along with nearby Anzio, the city is a popular destination for Roman seaside tourism, particularly pleasant in spring when the beaches are not yet crowded.