Oamaru’s Steampunk NZ Festival is back this King’s Birthday weekend from 2 – 6 June, and ready to take you to a world where Victorian fashion is the norm, the latest innovations are steam-powered machinery and there’s quirky events you’ve never heard of.
Cancelled in 2022 due to Covid 19, the Festival, which centres around Oamaru’s Victorian Precinct, is back and more entertaining and fascinating than ever, with a large range of free and ticketed novelty events.
If you’re wondering what quirky events means, let us explain. There’s airship racing at the Festival dinner, tea duelling, teapot racing and prizes for the best Steampunk gadget creation that can safely transport ‘oneself about in space and time’.
The Steampunk Market is worth a look and the remote control contraptions negotiating the teapot racing obstacle course will have you mesmerised. Another festival crowd pleaser, tea duelling, has contestants competing for the longest intact biscuit.
Enthusiastic hosts dressed up in Steampunk garb of top hats, corsets, leather, steel, and clocks and dials provide a warm southern welcome. Wander through the shops and around the Precinct and be fascinated by the creativity and the jovial festival vibe.
There’s something for all ages including workshops for children, and big children, to help create your own Steampunk adornments for your costume. Even those self-conscious about wearing Victorian attire soon feel right at home roaming among the crowds of other ‘Victorian imaginers’.
Along with industrial machinery and spin-off creations, you’ll see bonnie colourful ruffled dresses, teamed with gloves and race-day hats, feathers, velvets, taffeta and furs.
Entertainment includes the Retrospective Futuristic theatre show, the Steampunk Showcase costume pageant, and a Variety Show promising Victorian vulgarity, before the finale Explorers Return Banquet and Ball.
As you are transported from the sphere of Steampunk explore the world of the Waitaki District and its many delights. With beautiful landscapes from the Pacific Ocean up to Mount Cook and the Southern Alps, nature and wildlife, delicious food and beverage featuring local produce, and captivating culture and heritage stories.
Get away from the city buzz and take yourself into the fascinating creative world of Steampunk and enjoy the relaxing and tranquil beauty of the Waitaki District this King’s Birthday long weekend.
For more information, go to www.steampunk.org.nz.C
