Steampunk Festival promotes Springfield’s economic development

The Springfield Steampunk Festival, a three-day festival from Sept. 11-13, will be held in several locations by a guiding group of dedicated fans of the alternative history of Victorian sensibility melded with steam-fired science fiction.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150202/BUSINESS03/702029962

Steampunk Festival promotes Springfield’s economic development By Susan Smallheer Staff Writer | February 02,2015 Email Article Print Article Photo by Len Emery Steampunk aficionada Brandy Aldriedge of Springfield uses old pocket watches, small gears and other Victorian era steam machinery related items to build her attire. SPRINGFIELD — Steampunk is arriving in Springfield in September. The Springfield Steampunk Festival, a three-day festival from Sept. 11-13, will be held in several locations by a guiding group of dedicated fans of the alternative history of Victorian sensibility melded with steam-fired science fiction. Think Tim Burton’s movie “Nine,” or the 1927 science fiction movie “Metropolis.” For those unfamiliar with the Steampunk phenomenon, organizer Sabrina Smith of Springfield describes it this way: “The Victorian era meets computers run on steam.” Steampunk aficionados love Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, the British Victorian era with a punk influence of mechanical devices from an earlier century: Goggles and gears are big in Steampunk circles. Smith, along with fellow organizers Melody Reed of Chester and Brandy Aldriedge of Springfield, say that steampunk includes not just dressing in Victorian punk style; literature and music will be featured during the festival. Springfield, with its dozens of 19th and 20th century mill buildings and architecture, is a perfect place for the birthplace of the Steampunk Society of Vermont, which Smith, Reed, Aldriedge and others have formed. “Springfield is ripe to be the steampunk capital of Vermont,” said Smith, a legal secretary, website designer and business manager for her son’s construction company. “It’s just so much fun,” said Reed, who said she first got exposed to the steampunk aesthetic five years ago when she visited The Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation in Waltham, Mass. “You just smush them together, the lace and the metal,” Aldriedge said. Smith said she and Reed were talking about steampunk on Facebook, and last fall they decided to explore whether having a festival would make sense. They were supported by Selectman George McNaughton, who has been promoting alternative methods of economic development for the Springfield area. Smith said she has had nothing but support from Springfield Town Manager Thomas Yennerell as well. Smith said that the group received a big boost when the new owners of the Hartness House Inn agreed to host several of the events, including the Steampunk Ball on Saturday night, as well as lectures and workshops, and a steampunk fashion show. The group has a myriad of ideas, from hula hoop contests to absinthe tastings. There will be a photo booth for those in costume, and a theremin, an early electronic musical instrument. “It’s going to be a real carnival,” Reed said. The group is also using The Great Hall at One Hundred River Street for several activities, and it will be turned into a “Victorian carnival,” Aldriedge said, and will include a “traders’ bazaar” selling all things steampunk. “We have vendors coming from as far away as Oklahoma,” Smith said. Originally the festival was going to be based at the Springfield Community Center, which itself could be called steampunk, Smith and Reed said, because of its industrial history. All proceeds from the festival will benefit the Community Center. “It will be very family oriented,” said Reed, who said the organizing group wants to get Springfield youth involved in the planning of the festival as well. For more information, see www.springfieldvtsteampunkfest.com.