Big River Festival Returns with New Renfair Section, Expanded Wasteland

The Big River Steampunk Festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary as it returns over Labor Day weekend to Hannibal, Missouri. Billed as the largest outdoor steampunk fest in the U.S., it will feature music, comedy, magic, circus acts, theatrical performances, costume contests, tea dueling, workshops, and lots more. Last year’s festival broke attendance records with approximately 21,500 people in town for the event, according to the Hannibal Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Most activities are free, but the program also includes some premium ticketed events.

The festivities begin on Friday, but will kick into high gear on Saturday with a parade down Main Street followed by opening ceremonies with The ScallyWags. Steampunk Pope, Brother Barnabas Brass-Boilerplate, will offer a blessing.

New this year will be a Renfair area with music, drama, and demonstrations by the Society for Creative Anachronism. The festival will also feature an expanded Wasteland area inspired by Mad Max. Highlights in this section will include games, vendors, a costume contest, Nerf duels, a movie night on Friday, and a block party on Saturday.

Musician Darwin Prophet, who hails from the Dallas area, will be making her Big River debut. Other scheduled music acts include Midnight Wanderers, Thawind Mills, Giddy Up and Go Boys, Totally Lost, Spellsinger, and DJ Ozno.

The ScallyWags, a pirate comedy troupe, are perennial favorites at the festival. The entertainment lineup also includes magician Thom Bedlam, sideshow performers Irish Roadshow, and fire artist Steampunk Xena. In the Renfair area, Square Peg Group Troupe will present an adaptation of the William Shakespeare comedy Twelfth Night.

Many of the ticketed events, including a murder mystery dinner, ghost tour, burlesque show, and fashion show, are already sold out. As of Tuesday, tickets were still available for Saturday night’s Masquerade Ball River Cruise, featuring Thom Bedlam and Midnight Wanderers. Online ticket sales ended on Aug. 21. Tickets for events that are not sold out will be available onsite at the information booth.

The festival was launched in 2014 by Ken and Lisa Marks, founders of the Hannibal History Museum. In 2020, they moved to Delaware and sold the event to Tammy Riley, owner of a local restaurant.

Hannibal was the boyhood home of Mark Twain and has many attractions connected to the author, making it an ideal site for a steampunk gathering.

The full schedule for 2024 is now available on the website. You can find additional information on the festival’s Facebook page.