Arc Attack performing at Cogs & Corsets in Illinois. Photo: Curt Knapp
This weekend’s steampunk calendar includes events in Galveston, Texas; Dimboola, Australia; Sheffield, U.K.; and South East Wales.
Steampunks in Galveston
Arc Attack and Frenchy and the Punk are among the musical guests slated for the Galveston Steampunk Festival, which takes place April 11-13 at multiple locations in Galveston, Texas. This will be the third year for the festival.
The main event is slated for Saturday, April 12, from noon to 9 p.m., at Moody Gardens. The venue is a non-profit tourist attraction that features a museum, aquarium, and rainforest, each housed in a large pyramid.
The festival program includes a car show, circus acts, comedy, a costume contest, teapot racing, and more. Frenchy and the Punk will present two performances, at 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Arc Attack will close the day’s festivities with a performance featuring its musical Tesla coils.
Day passes cost $35 for adults and $15 for kids if purchased in advance.
On Sunday, the festival will move to the League Kempner Mansion with activities that include a mansion tour, airship racing, tea dueling, and Victorian lawn games. Passes cost $25.
The festival will open on Friday night with a steampunk pub crawl, but that event is sold out.
Add-ons include the following:
• The High Tea Experience ($80) on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
• The Discovery Pyramid pass ($25), which provides Saturday evening access to the Discovery Pyramid museum. Current exhibitions include the “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Interactive Adventure” which simulates an undersea voyage in a steampunk submarine, and “The Art of Music Experience,” which features large-scale displays of album cover art.
• The Full Moon Strand and Railyard Ghost Tour ($60), Saturday beginning at 10 p.m.
• The Victorian Neighborhood Walking Tour ($60), Sunday, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
• Driving tours of local attractions in Model-T replicas, Sunday beginning at noon. These cost $170 for parties of five and $210 for parties of eight.
This is the third year for the festival, but the first to be held at Moody Gardens. The first two were held at the Galveston Railroad Museum. Learn more on the festival website.
Steampunking in Australia
The Wimmera Steampunk Festival will return April 9-13 to Dimboola, a historic railway town in Victoria, Australia, about 334km northwest of Melbourne. This year’s theme is “The Carnival of Peculiarities.”
The main event happens on Saturday, April 12, with a daytime market followed by a costumed street party beginning at 5 p.m. The street party will feature multiple stages of entertainment along with a lantern procession, costume contest, art installations, and more.
Other activities throughout the week include a steam tractor display, art exhibitions, and performances of Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Learn more on the festival website.
U.K. Events
The National Emergency Services Museum in Sheffield will present Steamers and Scallywags on April 12 and 13, with performances by Captain of the Lost Waves and The Cogkneys on Saturday and Madam Misfit and Kitten Von Mew on Sunday. The event will also feature traders and tea dueling.
The venue is a museum that occupies a Victorian-era police, fire and ambulance station. See the website for more info.
The Drill Hall in Chepstow, South East Wales will host Return To The Wye, on Saturday, April 12 with daytime and evening activities. The daytime programme, running from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., includes a steampunk market, teapot racing, and music by Jessica Law and the Outlaws.
The evening soirée, beginning at 7 p.m., features entertainment by Major Blunder, Lady Violet Hugh, and headline act Rogora Khart.
Tickets cost £3 for daytime admission or £20 for the full day’s festivities. See the Facebook page for more info.
More U.S. Events
Fallout, a nightclub in Richmond, Virginia, will present the Time Travelers Gala, an immersive gathering for fans of steampunk and related interests such as Doctor Who, Stargate, and Star Trek. This is a 21+ event.
Activities include dancing to DJs and a costume contest. Hours are 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Admission costs $20, or $15 for Fallout members. Tickets are available via Ticket Fairy.
Ocean City Renaissance, a nautically themed fantasy and pirate convention, returns to Ocean City, Maryland, with a program that includes music, aerialists, workshops, a fashion show, and more. A Halo Called Fred will perform on Saturday. Proceeds benefit ocean conservation and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
It takes place April 11-13 at the Carousel Oceanfront Hotel. Learn more on the website.
221B Con, a fan convention “for all things Sherlock Holmes,” will take place April 11-13 at the Atlanta Airport Marriott in Atlanta. The program encompasses the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories plus adaptations in other media and related interests. For example, this year’s convention will include panels about the works of Anne Rice and the TV series Agatha All Along.
The founders announced last year that this will be the final 221B convention, but in a recent fan podcast, volunteer Johanna Draper Carlson revealed that it may continue in some form. The organizers will discuss the convention’s future during a panel on Friday evening.
Learn more on the website.
