PORT TOWNSEND — Homemade creations big and small will be on display at this year’s Bodgers Hall for the annual Brass Screw Confederacy Steampunk Festival.
The festival will start at 5 p.m. today and run until 3 p.m. Sunday. It will include music, dancing, costumes, shopping, competition and cannon fire at various venues around Port Townsend.
Some activities charge admission — tickets can be purchased at brass-screw.org/index.php — while others are free.
Bodgers, or makers, are steampunk enthusiasts who go the extra mile to create something that fits into the steampunk “Victorian science fiction” aesthetic, according to Cindy Madsen, one of the people who founded the festival.
Last year, industrial artist Ray Hammer stole the show with his “steampunk tank zombie killer.”
The small metal tank looked a lot like a rusted tractor, with a functional crow’s nest, flame thrower and air cannon attached.
“As far as steampunk goes, I’m pretty new,” Hammer said. “Everything I used to make the tank was recycled, and I’d guess that’s a common theme.”
Hammer said he didn’t know anything about steampunk until he happened upon the festival in 2015.
“I was determined to make something for the steampunk festival the next year,” Hammer said.
Hammer said he and a few friends worked for months on the tank.
“It’s still not even close to done,” Hammer said. “We’re still adding new things.”
This year, Hammer said, he decided to do something a little more simple.
“It’s a rolling teeter-totter,” Hammer said. “It’s big but probably more user-friendly.”
Bodgers from the area will bring their creations to Port Townsend this weekend where they will be on display at Pope Marine Park and will be judged by steampunk celebrities Tobias McCurry, Will Brown aka Lord Towers and Kit Ward-Crixell for the opportunity to win a cash prize.
Last year, a “time-traveling device” was the overall winner, but it was an animatronic dog built by Jessi Klancke that stole the People’s Choice award.
“It was made of one of those animatronic plush toys,” said Madsen. “Jessi said she felt really weird when she had to rip its fur off, like she was doing taxidermy or something.”
Aside from the more wacky inventions, there will also be clothes and steampunk’d accessories available at the Bazaar Bazaar.
Online ticket sales for some of the weekend’s events ended Thursday, but tickets can still be purchased at the festival.
There will also be music and movies at the Cotton Building all weekend. Unfortunately, headliners Frenchy and the Punk have canceled their Saturday night show, but according to the festival’s Facebook page, the event organizers are working to get a replacement act.
For more information, see brass-screw.org/index.php.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.
