Watch City Steampunk Festival

Watch City Steampunk Festival
Status active
Genre Steampunk
Frequency Annually
Location(s) Waltham, MA
Years active 7
Inaugurated 2011
Attendance 10,000+
Patron(s)

Downtown Waltham Partnership (2015-current)

Charles River Museum (2011-2013)
Website www.watchcityfestival.com

Watch City Steampunk Festival, previously known as "International Steampunk City" and the "Watch City Festival," is the oldest annual open-air, indoor/outdoor steampunk festival in the United States and is held in Waltham, Massachusetts. The Watch City Festival invented a new model of science fiction convention in which the larger community was deliberately engaged by holding events and programing in city spaces and local businesses often free to the public. It began in 2011 as a fundraiser by[1] and for the benefit of the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation,[2][3] which suffered significant flood damage in March 2010.[4]

According to then CRMII Executive Director and first Festival Director Elln Hagny, the event was inspired by the success of two events in 2010: the New England Steampunk Festival[5] and a steampunk exhibit, organized by Bruce Rosenbaum of ModVic, called "Steampunk: Form & Function," the first steampunk exhibit featured in a major American museum.[6][7]

After no event in 2014, 2015 saw the return of the Festival, now called the Watch City Steampunk Festival, in May of that year. For the first time the Festival was not run by the CRMII, but was now under the auspices of the Downtown Waltham Partnership,[8] a Waltham-based nonprofit supporting the city’s community.

In addition to that significant change, the 2015 Festival calendar was scaled back slightly to evening events on Friday and the full outdoor festival occurring only on Saturday (previous years had the Festival continuing through until Sunday), allowing for a Sunday rain date in the event of inclement weather. This also marked the first year that the full schedule of daytime festival events were completely free to the public.

The Festival brought in an estimated Saturday attendance of over 10,000 at the 2015 event.[9]

While the programming is typical of a steampunk festival, including art exhibitions, panel discussions on a variety of topics, steampunk music, crafts workshops, vendors, and performances.[1] unlike many steampunk events, the Watch City Steampunk Festival makes extensive use of its host city’s public spaces and Waltham’s unique place in the history of American industry. In addition, it fosters interaction with both local businesses and organizations, making it truly a Waltham community event.[8]

The Festival continued in 2016 again with a Friday evening gala on May 6 and main festival day on Saturday, May 7, and, in 2017, with the Friday, May 12 evening event now including a free, outdoor, circus-style fire performance preceding the kick-off gala, and the main festival on the Common on Saturday, May 13.[10][11]

The Festival date for 2018 was May 12 with a day-long circus theme.[12] This was the first year without a Friday night kickoff event. While the day brought rain throughout, and attendance was slightly down as a result, the 2018 Festival was deemed a success, with the steampunk attendees and public defying the weather to enjoy the activities and attractions.[13]

The date for the 2019 Watch City Steampunk Festival has yet to be announced.

Past events

  • 2011 - May 7–8, 2012: Titled "International Steampunk City"
  • 2012 - May 11–13: Titled "Watch City Festival"[14]
  • 2013 - May 10–12: Titled "Watch City Festival"[15]
  • 2015 - May 8 (Friday evening concert gala) and May 9 (Main festival) : Titled "Watch City Steampunk Festival”[8]
  • 2016 - May 6 (Friday evening concert gala) and May 7 (Main festival): Titled "Watch City Steampunk Festival"[16]
  • 2017 - May 12 (Friday evening concert gala) and May 13 (Main festival): Titled "Watch City Steampunk Festival"[17]
  • 2018 - May 12: Titled "Watch City Steampunk Festival"[18]

References

  1. 1 2 Woodman, Tenley (May 6, 2011). "Steam Punked Waltham goes full-steam ahead". Boston Herald. Retrieved January 11, 2012. Waltham’s downtown will be transformed into a Victorian-era, science-fiction fantasyland.
  2. ↑ Hecht, James (May 2, 2011). "Welcome to Steampunk City, MA". New Scientist. Retrieved January 11, 2012. Proceeds from the event will go to help the museum, which was flooded last year when the Charles overflowed its banks.
  3. ↑ Doctorow, Cory (February 13, 2011). "Waltham, Mass becomes Steampunkville". BoingBoing. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  4. ↑ Burge, Kathy (March 16, 2010). "Waltham museum director vows to reopen". Boston Globe. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  5. ↑ Anderson, Leslie (February 16, 2011). "Citywide steampunk festival pays homage to Waltham's history". Retrieved March 20, 2012.
  6. ↑ Fenton, Cheryl (March 21, 2011). "Steampunk hits home". Stuff Magazine. Retrieved March 20, 2012. Through May 10, CRMII is hosting "Steampunk: Form & Function," the first exhibit of its kind to be featured in a major American museum.
  7. ↑ Muther, Christopher (May 5, 2011). "Steampunks have a city to call home: Waltham gears up for weekend festival". Boston Globe. “The steampunks clearly needed a place to call home,’’ says Hagney. “At last year’s museum event, I watched each person walk through the door, and it looked like they had finally found a place where they could be themselves. It was pretty remarkable.’’
  8. 1 2 3 Grannan-Doll, Ryan (May 4, 2015). "Watch City Steampunk Festival returns to Waltham". Wicked Local Waltham.
  9. ↑ Perry, Bob (May 19, 2015). "Waltham Voices: Thankful for many Steampunk partners". Wicked Local Waltham.
  10. ↑ Porter Brown, Nell. "Industrial Origins". www.harvardmagazine.com.
  11. ↑ Laguarda, Ignacio (May 5, 2017). "Steampunk Festival returns this weekend". waltham.wickedlocal.com.
  12. ↑ Staff (April 21, 2018). "Steampunk Meets the Big Top: The Watch City Steampunk Festival returns to Waltham, Mass., this time with a circus theme". steampunk-explorer.com.
  13. ↑ Russell, Melissa (May 14, 2018). [watham.wickedlocal.com "Waltham steampunk festival draws crowds, despite rain"] Check |archive-url= value (help). Archived from the original on |archive-url= requires |archive-date= (help).
  14. ↑ Reiss, Jaclyn (May 12, 2012). "Steampunk festival in Waltham brings thousands to the city's center". Boston Herald. Retrieved June 1, 2012.
  15. ↑ Reiss, Jaclyn (May 11, 2013). "2013 Steampunk fest in Waltham slated to draw thousands this weekend". Boston Herald=accessdate=May 15, 2013.
  16. ↑ Whelan, Bill (May 5, 2016). "Steampunk to take over Waltham Common this weekend". waltham.wickedlocal.com. Waltham New Tribune.
  17. ↑ "PHOTOS: Watch City Steampunk Festival 2017". waltham.wickedlocal.com. May 15, 2017.
  18. ↑ Fisher, Jenna (May 11, 2018). "Watch City Steampunk Festival 2018: What To Know".
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