When the fantasy worlds created in literature by H.G. Wells and Jules Verne collide with Victorian era gears, gadgets and goggles, you get Steampunk. Next weekend, Springfield is the center of the Steampunk universe.
Sabrina Smith, organizer of the Springfield Steampunk Festival, joined VPR to talk about the event.
What is Steampunk?
“It’s a futuristic Victorian age where technology is powered by steam or gears, rather than electricity. Part of the aesthetic is mixing the old with the new and re-purposing things and celebrating the industrial type of look but bringing it into the future.”
“It really is the ultimate in recycling. People enjoy taking industrial type things like gears and gadgets and making new art. It’s just melding the old with the new. “
On the festival in Springfield
“It will be at two venues; The Great Hall, which is one of the perfect places to have it, it [because] has a gear at the front of the building and gears are part of the iconography of Steampunk. Also at the Hartness House Inn, which is a Victorian-era mansion. What’s great about the Hartness House is it has an underground tunnel … it also has a telescope museum. The mansion itself is pure Victorian-era, the decorations inside [make it] a beautiful Victorian mansion.”
“Scott MacDonald is an expert in absinthe and he’ll be dispelling some of the myths and talking about the history [at the festival]. He has a collection of antique absinthe accouterments and we have absinthe tasting.”
“Also, the guru of Steampunk, Bruce Rosenbaum, will be talking and we’ll have a lot of musical performers that people will enjoy, too.”
Why Springfield?
“Springfield is an industrial town, of course, and one of the things that makes it perfect is we’re known for gear shaper, grinder factories and that’s such a big part of the iconography for Steampunk. We thought it would be the perfect backdrop for a Steampunk festival and we’d love to make Springfield the Steampunk festival of Vermont.
On how the festival got started
“A couple of us were interested in Steampunk and … one of our selectboard members, who is also a lawyer in town, George McNaughton, heard us talking about it and thought it was a perfect aesthetic for Springfield. He really started nudging us into having a festival. It started from nothing and it has built into something really big and we’re so excited about it.”
Who will attend the festival?
“I think it’s for everyone because it’s just going to be fun to come and see the people who are dressed up and are aficionados of Steampunk, and just for curiosity’s sake I think people will want to come. And then there will be a lot of good bands that people will recognize.”
The Springfield Steampunk Festival takes place September 11-13 in Springfield, Vermont.
