Interested to learn what NIME is about but can’t attend the conference? Looking for a low-key way to meet other people interested in new musical instruments?

On Saturday 27 June, 12-5pm (the day after the NIME conference finishes) the Augmented Instruments Lab will host a NIME Open Day at Imperial College London. This will be a day of informal demos, performances and socialising. Attendees are welcome to bring their own demos to show, subject to available space and safety considerations.

Attendance at the NIME Open Day is free and open to all, whether or not they have registered for the main NIME conference. Spaces are limited, so all attendees will need to register separately for the Open Day, whether or not they are already attending the rest of NIME, using the following link: NIME 2026 Open Day sign-up.

The Open Day is a drop-in event. Registered attendees are welcome to attend for part or all of the 12-5pm time. During that time, we expect to have roughly two phases of demos (12-2pm and 3-5pm) and an “open jack” event where small groups of participants can play together. The day will also feature work from the Augmented Instruments Lab, including a performance on the magnetic resonator piano, and demos of the department’s Turret Lab, an acoustically isolated space with a 3D loudspeaker array for conducting research on spatial audio perception.

The location for the NIME Open Day is the Dyson School of Design Engineering at Imperial (25 Exhibition Road, London SW7 2DB). The easiest access on public transport is by tube to South Kensington station. South Kensington is also the home of many of London’s famous museums (Science Museum, Natural History Museum, V&A), the Royal Albert Hall, Hyde Park and many other attractions. We are starting the Open Day in the afternoon to enable out-of-town visitors to spend the morning at these attractions. The museums are free but pre-booking is usually required to reserve a space.

Registration is free but mandatory for attending the Open Day. In the event of more interest than space in the building, registration will be first-come, first-served. Anyone who registers is welcome to attend, but we may not be able to accept all demo proposals. Please see the sign-up form for the safety and logistical requirements for all demos. We will notify attendees by 1 June on whether their demo can be presented.

Please contact the Open Day chairs, Brittney Allen and Adam Schmidt, on openday@nime2026.org with any queries.

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