August 31, 2026
For a true-blooded demoscener, there are a handful of events scattered throughout the year that already have a fixed spot in the calendar. First and foremost the Revision in Saarbrücken, closely followed by Evoke as the second most important event of the scene – at least in the German-speaking world. This year marked Evoke’s 27th anniversary, and a few TRSI members had arranged a weekend get-together. Bits & bytes, pixels and patterns, tracks and samples were the dominant topics, and there was no holding back. Finally not talking about AI all the time – what a relief.
W.O.T.W., Madison and yours truly (AnyBody) set off from Berlin early Friday morning to worthily represent the federal capital in the Rhineland. Packed along: the confirmed hotel booking, the programmed sat-nav, plenty of good music for the drive … and, of course, entries for the competition.
As expected, we ditched all our everyday eating habits immediately and braced ourselves for a weekend of feasting at American pressure-cooker chains, which was duly put into practice at the very first stop. As a first test of patience, after a ten-minute wait we were told at KFC that W.O.T.W’s standard menu order would need another 15 minutes of preparation. So much for fast food.
Two charging stops later we reached one of our two destinations: first, our hotel. A quick unload, swap into our shirts, ready to party hard. We arrived about an hour after the doors opened at the Abenteuerhallen Kalk and went looking for a seat – only to be told that plenty of sceners had already smuggled themselves into the hall before the official opening and reserved spots. Lesson learned for 2027: arrive by noon at the latest. We squeezed in next to the guys from Very Important Pictures and weren’t really relying on a TRSI table anyway, since we mostly wanted to socialise and all our entries were already finished and ready to upload. The small nook suited us just fine, and I managed to fit in my camera gear, which was in constant rotation from that point on.
Friday kicked off relaxed. DJ sets and first reunions, the demoshow and the Copper Showdown set the mood for the drone light-show competition that followed. An early absolute highlight of the weekend (with Gaspode as the well-deserved 1st prize winner) and a great close to the first evening in Cologne. W.O.T.W and I headed off to the hotel around midnight in search of the energy refill button for the next day, while Madison had already let the handbrake off on the first night. His Saturday would turn out accordingly.
After a surprisingly positive early-morning scouting of the local fitness establishments and a hearty buffet breakfast spent shop-talking, it was just a short walk from the hotel to the venue. Saturday began with the relaxed sound of Darya on the outdoor stage, followed by the first competition – Tracked Music & One Screen ANSI/ASCII. W.O.T.W’s entry in the Tracked Music competition suffered a bit, like several others, from the not-quite-optimally set sound system, but still smoothly worked its way up to 4th place. Our master of screen art “H7” claimed 1st place in both One Screen categories at once. The sleeping gods came, saw and conquered.
Unfortunately we weren’t represented in as great numbers as hoped – personal matters kept one away, vacation kept another. Still, our new shirt was impossible to miss. And if it hadn’t been for the potato soup, I probably would have starved. The bar crew, on the other hand, was genuinely super relaxed, on the ball, and never once too tired or without a smile, no matter the hour. Big kisses to all the girls and guys there.
Since I, like Madison and W.O.T.W, kept getting pulled into conversations, I missed one or two competitions or seminars along the way. But you can’t dance at every wedding. What did stick with me, though, was Steffest with the killer animated image in the Pixel Graphics compo. Wow. Where did this Dane suddenly come from? As if he turned into a graphics virtuoso practically overnight. And he’s got his own Deluxe Paint running in the browser too? One surprise after another – or maybe I just noticed his glorious rise a bit late.
Looking closely between the cracks, there was a ton of brilliant stuff to discover: from a Lemmings clone on a Schneider CPC to a promising new tracker (Flytracker) with a few genuine first-ever features (more on that in a few weeks, once I’ve properly tested it), plus various self-built devices. Just as exciting were the stories the developers told, eyes sparkling, about their respective creations.
The evening ended the way you always hope it will: with a wave of “Aaaaaaah” moments in the demo compos and a big grin on my face, because there’s still so much creativity in this scene and so much love for detail in the productions. Even though I was probably the only one in our group who thought Erpholia’s 4K demo was outstanding and predicted it for 1st place right from the start, the other demos were no less compelling and entertaining. Judging by the sheer volume of applause and cheering, there was clearly no doubt about that.
What was entirely new to me was the fact that the timetable was actually kept – especially toward the end. So we really were relaxed and in bed by 1am, able to start Sunday fresh and get through the trip home without being completely sleep-deprived. After scrambled eggs, bacon and some tasty fruit, we headed back to the venue once more to maybe count the casualties, but it seemed plenty of people had had the same idea and were making the most of their hotel beds right up to checkout.
On the drive back, though, the odd nap break for Madison and W.O.T.W was a clear sign of a strong weekend. I, too, had to seriously dent a gas station’s Red Bull supply just to stay conscious. A few of us also seemed not to have agreed entirely with the breakfast offerings – so a forced pit stop to recharge was more than welcome. And if you can also top up your sugar reserves at the chocolate outlet on a Sunday, why not?
Bottom line: Cologne is, and remains, a destination worth the trip. The variety at Evoke is as vast as the city itself. Köln-Kalk may not be a picture-perfect suburb, but it does have the slickest McFit and so much positive energy that I could genuinely see myself coming back to the cathedral city more often. My first Evoke has got me hooked for more, and the creative push it gave me has enough momentum to see me through the deadline in October.
Thanks also to Mack and Tobi for the support, and to everyone I met again, got to know for the first time, and everyone pulling on the same demoscene thread.
AnyBody – out!
For even more photos visit https://www.kaydee.photos/evoke-2026/
