Festival Pop

The Festival Pop is a rare and intriguing electro-mechanical pinball machine from Marsa, a lesser-known manufacturer from Spain, built around a theme of happiness, music, nightlife, and singing. Its exact production year remains a mystery, but its unique features make it a fascinating addition to any serious collector's cabinet. Its backglass art and playfield design, with rollover-button sequencing, resemble Williams' 1972 'Super Star.'

Gameplay on the Festival Pop offers an exciting experience, with two flippers, four pop bumpers, and two slingshots providing numerous opportunities for players to earn points and control the ball's trajectory. The machine's standout feature is its unusual dual outlane arrangement: the inside lane on each side has a mini-post below it that lets players try to nudge a draining ball so it bounces off the post, across a gap, and onto a rail feeding back to the flipper. This creative design element adds an extra layer of challenge and strategy to gameplay.

The machine's wedge head backbox is a common but fitting feature for an EM pinball of its era, and the lower apron includes recessed areas for an instructions card and score card. Unfortunately, little is known about the designer or production history of this machine, but for collectors and enthusiasts, its rarity and inventive outlane mechanism make it an intriguing find.