Last weekend the annual street theatre festival Del Mundo was held at the Maasmechelen Leisure Valley in Belgium. At three different location dozens of artists from all around the globe, all very different kinds of performers, were present to entertain visitors with their acts. The Steampunk Objective was invited to do their thing on the street that is the Maasmechelen Outlet Village.
Continue reading “Del Mundo”
The biggest Gothic festival in the world started at Thursday, May 16 in the evening with the first warmup parties. Those who already arrived during the day could watch the shop owners of Leipzig change their window decoration from colorful to full black or at least some black accessories, even the pharmacies. Continue reading “Wave Gotik Treffen 2013”
Fully named Antwerp Sci-fi, Fantasy and Horror Convention, but by all, the organization included, referred to as Antwerp Convention has just passed with its third edition. And what an edition it was! This convention has steadily continued to grow, not only in popularity but also in quality and as someone who has attended all three editions so far I can honestly say that this is a con worth going to. Continue reading “Antwerp Convention”
Elf Fantasy Fair (EFF for short) Haarzuilens prides itself on being one of the biggest and eldest Fantasy festivals in the Netherlands. They also claim they’re the best and while a lot of people will readily agree with that statement, I beg to differ. Continue reading “Elf Fantasy Fair Haarzuilens”
Made in Asia is going strong with its 5th edition already and is one of the better known and certainly bigger conventions of Belgium. Continue reading “Made in Asia”
Last but not least out of the Phantasium live reports, the review of the group pretty much everyone in attendance showed up for at the fifth anniversary opening night: Abney Park, the Seattle-based sixtet that is probably the best-known steampunk band out there.
The first mainland European (as they have previously performed in the UK) concert of the band was something many steampunks and dieselpunks did not want to miss and so they came down from several countries to witness the musical exploits of the crew of the HMS Ophelia.
Continue reading “Abney Park Live at Phantasium”
Even though Victor Sierra were the actual headliners of the day, most people had clearly come to see Abney Park, leaving the French steampunk band to sadly perform for a near empty venue. Regardless of this regrettable fact, the band gave its all, performed admirably and so the lucky few who did stick around were treated to the best steampunk music France has to offer that I’ve heard so far!
Continue reading “Victor Sierra Live at Phantasium”
For the 5th year in a row the Einhoven Beursgebouw in The Netherlands was home to Phantasium: a convention all about fantasy, medieval times and steampunk. Even though there was a big emphasis on steampunk, with the opening night featuring three steampunk bands (The Violet Steam Experience, Abney Park and Victor Sierra) playing live and The Steampunk Objective having set up their camp so to speak on one of the balconies they convention made sure to offer plenty of diversion and distraction for the guests that were there for everything else. Shops were varied, offering all kinds of things from re-enactment supplies, mead, clothing, ball jointed and other dolls to food and refreshments. Continue reading “Phantasium”
With their visually enticing combination of beautiful steampunk tribal dance and Victoriana style costumes, taxidermy and adorable steampunk mechanical set pieces, all of this combined with their most excellent music, The Violet Steam Experience was the first of three steampunk bands to please the audience’s ears on the opening night of the fifth anniversary Phantasium convention held at the Eindhoven (The Netherlands) Beursgebouw.
Continue reading “The Violet Steam Experience Live at Phantasium”
The annual Midwinter Fair at the archaeological and historical museum compound of Archeon is probably traditionally the last event of the year. Partially indoors and outdoors this fair exhibits the best of history, music, fantasy and various subcultures and fandoms. And despite the horribly cold and bad weather of this edition, the turn-out of visitors seemed to be really quite large (at least on the Sunday when I was there). Continue reading “Archeon Midwinter Fair”
