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A chance to get dressed up and have some have fun.
Steampunk— from north to south and back again
Margaret Earle
“What is Steampunk?” asked the woman I was chatting with on the verge of State Highway 1 south of Ashburton. We’d been waiting in a queue at roadworks for nearly an hour and so had got out of our cars to stretch our legs.
While I was trying to think of a suitable answer, my partner Graham succinctly said, “It’s a chance to get dressed up and have some have fun”.
A more precise description is “Steampunk is a quirky and fun genre of science fiction. It is often set in an alternate, futuristic version of 19th century Victorian England steam powered devices — the ‘world gone mad’ as Victorian people may have imagined.”
Two New Zealand towns hold annual Steampunk festivals. Oamaru is known as the ‘Steampunk Capital of the World’ and has been the hub of Steampunk activities for about 15 years. This includes a festival over King’s Birthday weekend. The town of Thames in the Coromandel has also embraced the Steampunk genre and holds its Steampunk festival in November.
Graham and I first went to Steampunk the Thames in 2018 when we saw it as a camping event on the All Points calendar. We put together really basic costumes, turned up and had a fun time. We have been to the Thames festival several times since and each year have added new things into our growing assortment of Steampunk costumes.
This year was the first time we had ventured south to Steampunk in Oamaru. The fact that it is held in the middle of winter tended to put us off. But this year we had a family event in Dunedin around the same time, so it seemed like the ideal time to put our virtual toes in icy water and work out how to make our Steampunk costumes warm enough for June in Oamaru.
We were lucky with the weather in Oamaru; it was very mild. However, the gusty wind on Saturday created several costume challenges. I gave up on my wig after less than a minute and spent much of the day clutching or chasing my hat — I hadn’t realised how aerodynamic it is.
The other Steampunkers in Oamaru were friendly and made us feel welcome. This year’s theme for the festival was ‘mechanical botanical’. There were some inspired costumes depicting this theme in ingenious ways. During the festival there were a range of paid evening events and also free activities, a market and a parade on the Saturday morning.
Going to a Steampunk weekend is fun even if you don’t dress up and join in. But dressing up makes it much more fun.
You can put together a very basic costume — a hat you’ve bought from a second-hand shop with a pair of steampunk goggles and some dress up clothes. You can then add to this for future events.
Going to a Steampunk weekend without a costume is a bit like going to the beach without your togs: You can have fun, but you don’t get to join in the swimming.
Steampunk the Thames
We are planning to head north in November for this year’s Steampunk the Thames. This is being held from Friday 8 to Sunday 10 November.
All Points Camping has arranged to use Thames Sea Scouts as a campsite for the weekend. This site is suitable for all forms of camping. There is grassy space for tents, room for camping vehicles, a toilet, shower and kitchen as well as hall space.
However, the camping area is not extensive, so it you want to join us at this event it is important that you RSVP in advance at rsvp: ckw.nz/steampunk-thames-rsvp about the event: ckw.nz/steampunk-thames ◼️
Images ©2024 Margaret Earle
9 Spring 2024
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