Watch City Steampunk Festival Canceled Because Of Coronavirus

WALTHAM, MA — Almost every year for the past 10 years, the Waltham Common has filled with people with top hats and corsets and quirk as folks from near and far come to celebrate the mix of imaginative steam-powered technology, Victorian-era history and science fiction that is steampunk.

But not this year. Organizers announced the annual festival - one of the largest in the country of its kind - has been canceled this year because of the new coronavirus pandemic.

"We held out for as long as we could, hoping to be able to provide one of the first large events that people could attend, but it's become clear that we will be unable to do so," organizers said in an announcement Monday. The festival had been scheduled for May 9.

As of Monday, 56 people had died across the state because of the virus, including one person in Waltham, according to officials. There were 5,752 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state according to DPH. The last time Waltham updated the number of diagnosed cases of people who tested positive for coronavirus, on March 25, there were 24 people in the city, but the mayor and health officials said that number was expected to rise as more testing became available.

Organizers said it was the extension of the restrictions on large gatherings, and "persistent uncertainty" about the progress of the coronavirus and input from the mayor's office that they made the decision.

Steampunk can be loosely thought of as the literary mix of Victorian-era history and fashion with a bit of modern technology and the fantastical brought to life. There are robots and gears and top hats galore and lots of steam-powered gear.

The Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation founded the event back in 2010 as a way to raise money for repairs following a bad flood. Since then, aside from a brief break in 2014, it's kept going. The first year organizers thought maybe a few hundred would show up. But 1,000 showed up, and each year the number has grown with as many as 10,000 estimated in recent years.

The Downtown Waltham Partnership, a Waltham-based nonprofit along with the Waltham Tourism Council, Waltham Cultural Council, Mass Cultural Council and Hobbs Brook Management sponsor the event.

Organizers said rather than just postpone it to the fall and compete with a number of other events - everything from the Boston Marathon to graduations have been postponed until then - they will skip this year.

The date, however, is set for the next festival. Plan for the Saturday before Mother's Day, May 8 2021.

Previously:

• Steampunks Take Over Waltham: Watch City Steampunk ...

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