The Professional & Amateur Pinball Association, aka PAPA, happens to be headquartered right here in Pittsburgh.  PAPA has a huge, 30,000 square feet, facility just outside of Pittsburgh, with more than 400 pinball machines and it is only open to the public a few times a year.

This week is PAPA 14 World Pinball Championships – pinball players from around the world are heading to Pittsburgh to compete for over $40,000 in prizes.

We have blogged about PAPA events before – but this is definitely worth another mention as the PAPA  event is free to attend and something that is pretty unique here in Pittsburgh.

The tournament is free to watch and it looks like anyone can enter to compete.  Complete competition details are available here. Online registration has ended but you can still sign up at the tournament.

Check out this nifty video from artist and CMU professor Douglas Cooper and CMU’s PigPen Theater in which the city of Pittsburgh becomes a pinball game.  (h/t pair Networks blog for the video)

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/15749259[/vimeo]

PAPA 14 World Pinball Championships
August 11-14, 2011
PAPA HQ, Scott Township – directions are available here.
Facebook Event – http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=121552544586672