Dust off your top hat and fire up the airship: Cogs & Corsets—A Central Illinois Steampunk Happening, is happening June 4-5 in downtown Bloomington.
For Event co-chair Candace Summers, the timing couldn’t be better.
“This is probably one of the first major outdoor festival-type activities that the community has had (since the pandemic began),” Summers said. “A lot of us are vaccinated, getting vaccinated, we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, so I really think it's a way to kind of celebrate that we’re making it through it.”
Making it through, but not totally out of the woods yet — so the event will look a little different this year.
“We kept it on a smaller scale because we had no idea what we’d be allowed to do with COVID, Summers explained. “So we didn’t want to plan all these big things and then get told we were going to have to shut down or scale it back.”
With the exception of a ticketed Saturday morning breakfast buffet on the Vrooman Mansion lawn, all-in person events will take place Friday, June 4 in downtown Bloomington.
For the uninitiated, event co-chair Cathy Sutliff summarized Steampunk as "a reimagining of history where people hold onto the Victorian aesthetic, but advances in technology happened via steam and ectoplasm, as opposed to going forth with electricity and such as we know it now."
The festival still features favorites, including the Steampunk Market, Maker Faire, Dirigible and Splendid Teapot Races and costume contest, with additional family-friendly offerings like an airship hunt, Nerf duel and STEAM activities.
And to cap off the night, making her Cogs and Corsets debut performance is Lady Lyric d’Avalon, the Time-Traveling Trouvère, with Steampunk-inspired original music.
Also new this year are two free webinars streaming Saturday, June 5. Susan Hartzold, curator of collections and exhibits at the McLean County Museum of History, gives “The Skinny on the Scanties” at 10 a.m.
Summers said this unique peek at the history of women’s undergarments is a must for any costume enthusiast.
“Petticoats and split drawers and corsets and all these things that people incorporate into their costumes — where does it come from? How does it evolve? How did we get where we are now?” she said.
If you’re not interested in ladies’ undergarments, perhaps trains and trolleys are more your speed.
Labor Historian Mike Matejka will explore the problem of how to get masses of people hither and thither, and the solutions we’ve come up with over time, in “Urban Transit—Moving in the City,” at 1 p.m.
Sutliff said even with a pared-down schedule, she and other Steampunk fans are grateful to get together again.
“I’m not a terribly social person, but this past year pointed out that yeah, actually I am in some ways,” she said. “I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of people I haven’t seen in a long time.”
Not to mention the chance to indulge in a bit of fantasy for a change.
“I’m looking forward to all the fun and whimsy that comes with Steampunk,” Sutliff said. “We don’t take ourselves terribly seriously...all of us, the whole crew, we’re looking forward to seeing our old friends and having some fun, just for one night having some fun.”
One night of fun — that’s not too much to ask, is it?
For a full schedule of activities, contest rules and tickets, visit the event website.
