Victoria Steampunk Expo at Craigdarroch Castle September 24 & 25

Craigdarroch Castle will host the second annual Victoria Steam Expo on September 24th and 25th, 2011. Featuring a full weekend of exhibits, lectures, demonstrations and performances, the event will introduce guests to the genre of Steampunk and provide those already familiar with the culture a perfect venue to celebrate all its forms.  The Victoria Steampunk Society’s Jordan Stratford describes Steampunk as “the collision of history, technology, imagination, and attitude. Nineteenth-century sensibilities with impossible Jules-Verne-inspired technology. Teak-paneled computers, corsets and jetpacks, top hats and rayguns.”  A genre of art, science fiction, technology and counter-culture, steampunk brings together the best of past and future and most importantly:  in a fun and imaginative way.

As a genre of literature, it was highly popularized in the 1980’s and 1990’s but its inspiration is the science fiction and fantasy adventure stories popular during the Victorian period itself.  By the time the Dunsmuir family moved into Craigdarroch Castle, Jules Verne had published many of his now well-known works.  Fantastic stories like A Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Steam House, a novel recounting the travels of a group of British colonists in a wheeled house pulled by a steam-powered mechanical elephant, had been in print since the 1860’s.  It is highly likely that the Dunsmuirs read these books and the Castle itself projects the whimsy and exuberance embodied by Steampunk culture.

Like the châteauesque architecture that was predominant in Canada’s public buildings and hotels during the Victorian era (The Empress, the Parliament Buildings, or Chateau Frontenac,) Craigdarroch Castle combines fantastical elements of various architectural styles, which correlate with the spirit of Steampunk.  The Castle’s endless wood paneling, brass speaking-tubes, intricate iron work and state-of-the-art Victorian details easily provide perfect backdrop to absinthe-inspired imaginings of time-travel and airship pirates. To highlight the connection between Craigdarroch Castle and contemporary Steampunk culture, The Castle will co-host this year’s event.

The $40 weekend pass to the Victoria Steam Expo gives visitors weekend-long re-entry access to the castle and its permanent collections, as well as exhibits and demonstrations of steampunk jewelers, tinkers, corsetières, milliners, leather and glassworkers, artisans and anachronists.  Additionally there will be continuous panel discussions on costuming, history, literary readings, prop-making, and a one-of-a-kind art cabaret party on Saturday evening.  Both days will feature a Victorian picnic on the castle’s lawns, complete with period refreshments by History Bites.  Sunday’s activities will include live entertainment, and a children’s costume contest.

Headlining the Saturday evening cabaret-style event is San Francisco’s glam-noir siren Jill Tracy, who will conduct a “séance” communing with the spirits not of the departed, but of the castle’s nineteenth-century Steinway pianos. Burlesque dancers and gypsy folk music will intertwine with tattoo artists, brass goggles, and mad contraptions.

One of the featured artists will be Kyle Miller, a visual artist, luthier and propmaker based out of Vancouver Island. His work has been featured on a multitude of websites, and his impressive craftsmanship and delightful imagination result in contraptions that exemplify the best of Steampunk culture.

The Craigdarroch Castle Historical Museum Society would like to lend hearty thank you to our sponsors: Driftwood Brewery, Hotel Rialto, Big Bus Trolley, History Bites, Pedersen’s Event Rentals, and Laudanum Events & Such.

Advance tickets are available for purchase online only through the Victoria Steam Expo’s website:  www.victoriasteamexpo.com.