Letter To The Editor: Watch City Steampunk Festival Returns To Waltham

WALTHAM, MA — The following letter to the editor was submitted by Waltham resident David Rosen.

Hundreds of Waltham residents and folks young and old from points far and wide – many dressed in eye-catching costumes – gathered on the Common Saturday, May 7 to participate in the city’s annual Steampunk Festival.

The popular event was established by the Charles River Museum of Industry in 2010. Since then, it has been run by the Downtown Waltham Partnership. The festival was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID and was held virtually in 2021.

In the words of the Partnership, the event seeks to “bring steampunks and people of all ages and interests” to the city “for a day of artisan and craft vendors, spectacular entertainment, food, fun and more.”

It surely did that on a chilly, windy day. So many families with smiling faces, so much good cheer. Just what the doctor ordered in these troubled times. A good time was had by all, and I was there to capture some of the sights

So what, you ask, is “steampunk?”

Steampunk is a literary and artistic movement that melds elements of Victorian-era history and fashion with modern technology and fantastical fiction. It asks the question, “What would the world look like if modern technology were available when steam was king, corsets were mandatory and man was just learning to fly?”

Science fiction writer K.W. Jeter coined the term steampunk in 1987 to describe the Victorian- style speculative fiction being written back then, as an alternative to the very high-tech futuristic style known as “cyberpunk.”

In more recent years, steampunk has exploded in popularity as an artistic and lifestyle movement as well as a literary one. Steampunk artists and makers, fed up with plastic and streamlined designs, have been looking to the Victorian, Edwardian and Industrial eras for inspiration.