It's the perfect and eccentric mix of Victorian era costumes, weird science, theatre, stalls, intriguing displays and exhibitions, live music along with the timeless attraction of steam trains... And it's coming to the Port Adelaide National Railway Museum this September, with the unique two-day Steampunk Festival.
The festival is an outing for every age and every family as there is something that will interest and excite everyone including the very popular steam train rides.
This is the third year that Port Adelaide National Railway Museum is holding the exciting and fun festival. Executive Officer of the museum, Bob Sampson, has taken the time to answer some questions about the popular and unique festival, and what it means for the railway museum.
This festival is gaining popularity each time, how did the initial idea of holding this festival come about?
A photo shoot involving three people dressed up led to various discussions and eventually the first event in 2014.
This is the third year it's running, how has it developed from its first year to now?
Greater interest from the sector, from merchants, caterers, entertainers and generally overall... 900 in the first year, 1,600 in year two and we expect 2,500 in 2016.
The event is a real mix of genres as it’s a bit of a mix between sci-fi, Victorian and industrial styles. Why do you think this unique mix of styles along with the attraction of the steam trains and machinery is such a hit?
“Old machinery” and particularly steam locomotives and heritage carriages fits the theme well. Having all of the props, and lots of special effects in the same location makes it easy.
It's really centred around the entertaining and fun mix of antique costumes, fascinating displays, science and everything in between. How much of an asset is the festival for the Port Adelaide National Railway Museum?
The annual Steampunk Festival is now a major event for NRM, as it attracts good numbers and good revenue. It is now the second best attended event in the calendar year in terms of numbers per day.
As this festival has quite a few elements and different aspects all merged together in order to create the wonderful world of ‘Steampunk’, what is the biggest challenge when it comes to setting up this festival?
Planning and keeping a close watch on the budget expenditure and expected revenue.
Within all the elements and activities available across the two days, are the trains often the biggest hit? Why do you think this is?
The locomotives and carriages are simply great props and provide good photo opportunities. The event is more about kindred people mixing and enjoying the attractions, entertainment, food and drink and the general opportunity and overall atmosphere created by the event.
And finally, what do you personally enjoy most about running trains within this festival?
A lot of effort and cost goes into running our trains and finding qualified volunteers to run them. The trains are good and contribute to the great atmosphere. The operational trains we run are simply part of the event and raise some revenue and provide some photo opportunities. There is far more interest in simply getting good photo opportunities amongst the many railway locos and carriages as a whole.
