Partizan Wargames Show, Newark

Partizan calls itself a wargaming and history show, and both words matter. It's a single day in May, built around tables of games put on by clubs, societies and groups of gamers, with traders and a tabletop sale filling the rest of the hall.

Since 1986

The organiser's blog tells the story of how it started. The first Partizan was held in 1986 in the sports hall of the Grove School in Newark, organised by Laurence Baldwin and Duncan Macfarlane. Duncan, who died in 2021, is remembered on the blog as the founder of the Partizan shows and one of the best known figures in British wargaming.

From those beginnings the show grew. The organiser's site says more than 60 shows have now been held, for many years at Kelham Hall and more recently at Newark Showground. The shows have since been run by Laurence Baldwin and Richard Tyndall.

A community interest company

Partizan is now run as a Community Interest Company, or CIC. That's a type of UK company set up to benefit the community rather than shareholders, and the organiser says the shows support the wargaming community and a number of veterans' and mental health charities. Its stated aim is to promote a better understanding of the history of human conflict through tabletop simulation and gaming. Walk the hall and you'll see that aim on almost every table.

Show figures and the lost year

The blog also hints at some of the show's traditions. In 2023 it announced that year's special Partizan figures, depicting General Władysław Sikorski and Irena Sendlerowa, made for the show by the same sculptor as always. And in 2020, when the May show had to be cancelled, the team ran Partizan in the Cloud online on the day the show should have taken place, with photos from past shows reaching back to Kelham Hall.

The same team runs a second show each autumn, The Other Partizan, in the same hall, so Partizan is really the first half of a pair.

Partizan 2027 date: Usually May, date to be announced. When we checked in October 2026, the organiser had not yet announced the 2027 date, opening times or prices. Once the organiser confirms the date, it goes into the box at the top of this page.

Recent dates point to mid-May. The most recent show was on Sunday 17 May 2026, and the 2020 show, which was cancelled, had also been planned for 17 May. That's a pattern rather than a promise, so please don't book a hotel on our say-so.

Opening times

Opening times for Partizan 2027: Not yet published. As a guide, the organiser's autumn show at the same hall ran from 10am to 4pm. It's a one-day show, so there's no second day to come back to if you miss something.

Club games are the reason most people come. Clubs, societies, groups of friends and individual gamers set up tables they've built and painted, then play through the day while visitors watch. You're free to stand and watch a few turns, ask what rules they're using and how they made that river. Nobody minds. That's half the point of putting on a game.

The games list

Before each show the organiser publishes a games list on its site, and the same page appears to be reused for each show. In October 2026 it was showing the autumn list rather than the May one, so we can't tell you what Partizan 2027 will have on yet. What we can say is how the organiser's recent list looked: about 73 games, the large majority historical, with a handful of fantasy and sci-fi tables and some alternate-history and pulp games.

It's a good place to spot rules you might want to try. Recent names on the list include Chain of Command, Lion Rampant, Wings of Glory and Konflict 47, with games put on in everything from small figures for big battles to larger figures for skirmishes. If you're more at home in fantasy or sci-fi, the history tables are full of ideas for terrain, basing and table layout that work just as well in your own worlds.

Traders and societies

The organiser also posts traders and societies lists before each show. Expect figure makers, terrain, paints and hobby supplies, books and rules. Societies are groups devoted to a period or to battlefield history, and they're a good place to ask the questions a rulebook won't answer. If there's something you want from a trader, it's worth asking whether they'll bring a pre-order for collection on the day.

Partizan is a paid show. The organiser sells advance tickets through its ticketing page on TicketSource, linked from the official site. At the organiser's October 2026 show, entry was £8 full price and £3 for concessions. When we checked in October 2026, the organiser had not yet announced the 2027 date, opening times or prices. Treat older prices as a guide rather than a quote.

The organiser's site doesn't say who qualifies for a concession, whether children have their own price, or whether you can pay on the door. If that matters for your group, check the ticketing page or contact the organiser before the day. Our ticket link opens the organiser's own page in a new tab, and we have no part in selling tickets.

Booking a sale table

The same ticketing page takes bookings for tables at the tabletop sale. If the spare figures in your loft could fund this year's project, a table is a friendly way to pass them on to gamers who'll paint them. Label prices clearly, bring change, and pack everything so it survives the trip there and back.

Partizan is held in the George Stephenson Exhibition Hall, one of the halls on the Newark and Nottinghamshire Showground. The organiser gives the address as Lincoln Road, Winthorpe, Newark, NG24 2NY. Put NG24 2NY into your satnav or map app and it will take you to the showground.

Regulars at Hammerhead in late February or The Other Partizan in October will know the way: it's the same hall.

Parking, trains and buses

The organiser's site doesn't publish parking, train or bus information for the show. We'd rather say that plainly than guess. If you're driving, check the latest arrangements with the organiser or the showground before you set off, especially if you need accessible parking or step-free access. If you're coming by train, work out the final leg from Newark to Winthorpe before the day rather than at the station.

Coming as a club? Sharing a car is often the easiest way to get a group there and back, with room in the boot for everyone's purchases.

Who it's for

Partizan's crowd is mainly historical wargamers, and the show's own aim is about history, so if you collect a period you'll be among friends. You don't need to know your pike from your musket, though. A wargames show is one of the easiest ways into the hobby: you can watch a game without reading a word of the rules, and the people running the tables like nothing more than explaining them.

That makes it a good first show for beginners, and a good day out for fantasy and sci-fi gamers curious about the historical side. If the games leave you wanting to play, our guide to finding or starting a local club is the natural next step. Families are welcome at most wargames shows of this kind, but the organiser's site doesn't list a children's price or age rules, so check before you book.