We just “Kent” stay away… FOCAL returns to the “Garden of England” after a great first visit in 2025

Date: 30th May 2026

Venue: Main Hall, Camden Centre, Market Square, Tunbridge Wells

Hosted by: Gabriel Thallon

Admission: Entry is £12.50, if paid by the end of February. From March onwards, the price is £14. Payment can be made by PayPal with this link: https://paypal.me/GThallon/12.50 . Please make sure you select the Friends and Family option. If you don’t have PayPal, please contact us at focalcountdown@gmail.com to arrange alternate payment options.

Doors open: 10:00

Gameplay: You’ll be playing 15 round games of Countdown in the “Bristol” (“classroom”) format, where everyone plays in pairs from the same selections projected on a big screen, and with each pair choosing their preferred selection during the numbers rounds … all will be explained on the day for anyone unfamiliar, and we’ll start with a practice round.

Refreshments: Kitchen is available with boiling water. Tea/coffee will be provided along with unconfirmed other refreshments. There is also a fridge and microwave but no other cooking facilities.

Finishes by: 17:30

Wheelchair accessible?: Yes

Parking onsite?: No, but there is parking available at Royal Victoria Place which is a sub-5 minute walk from the venue. Royal Victoria Place Car Park – Google Map. Rates are £7.00 for 24 hours if you park on Levels 8a and 9, or £10.40 if you park on levels 1-8. 

Rough timetable for the day:

Doors Open: 10am

Practice Round: 10:30-10:45

Round 1: 10:45-11:25

Round 2: 11:30-12:10

Round 3: 12:15-12:55

Lunch: 13:00-14:00

Round 4: 14:00-14:40

Round 5: 14:45-15:30

Round 6 (If enough time): 15:35-16:15

Grand Final: 16:30-17:00

Prizegiving: 17:00-17:30

Post-event group meal plans:

At present unconfirmed; this will be updated closer to the event. But Tunbridge Wells has (despite my perhaps frequent complaints ;) ) no shortage of options for a meal i.e. Pizza Express, Wetherspoons, Nandos etc. I will probably put up a poll on the Facebook event page to see what’s popular and book something closer to the time.

And there are a number of pubs/bars around the town for anyone who wants to, as well. There might be Friday/Sunday entertainment as well, depending on whether there is enough interest.

Public transport

CO: Tunbridge Wells in the heart of the town and the main train station (with at least half-hourly connections to London Bridge, Waterloo East Charing Cross) is only a 10 minute walk from the venue.

Local bus services also stop only a 5 minute walk from the venue for anyone using Arriva in Kent, Stagecoach from Hastings (1066) and Eastbourne (51), or the Regency Route No. 29 from Brighton and West Sussex as the major providers.

Any questions?

Feel free to get in touch with us at hello@focalcountdown.com

Attending or organising a FOCAL event is subject to the Code of Conduct.