Steampunk @ Altitude will be held on 2-3 May in Nimmitabel. Photos: Supplied.
Each May hundreds of people attired in Victorian era outfits gather in Nimmitabel unashamedly showing off their inventiveness and imagination at Steampunk @ Altitude. Teapot racing is one of many eccentric activities on offer.
Tilba’s Zoe Burke was hooked by the pre-race day which sees her and her nemesis race their modified teapots across a zebra crossing. They must stop whenever there is any traffic, making the timed race even more unpredictable.
Adorned with brass and copper, each teapot must do something special. Ms Burke’s rings a bell when it turns. It is all in the spirit of steampunk that celebrates the inventiveness of Britain’s industrial age during Queen Victoria’s reign.
New Zealander Simone Montgomery invented teapot racing in 2014 as something that her friend in a wheelchair could do. They used the base of remote-controlled cars to race their teapots on an obstacle course.
Ms Burke, a designer earlier in her life, used the push-pull methodology for her teapot. That is because push-pull toys, along with wind-up toys, were all the rage during Victorian England.
Getting into character is essential. Ms Burke’s persona is Betsy the Bag Lady and the Teapot Racer. Betsy the Bag Lady came from a horse-racing family, and she held all the money on race day. Ms Burke carries a large bag with ‘Cash’ written on it.
She always loses the obstacle course race because her push-pull racing teapot cannot get through the arch.
“There is a town crier who calls the race and starts and finishes it,” Ms Burke said. “The guys who run it are university students who get right into it.”
Zoe Burke (left) with her push-pull racing teapot.
There are prizes for every teapot racer, be they the fastest, slowest, best-looking teapot or most deft when navigating the course.
“Young kids are right into teapot racing,” she said. “There were four young people under the age of 12 doing it last year and one of them won. The circuit is always the same and he knows it very well.”
Only Ms Burke and her nemesis race across the zebra crossing though.
Originally the teapot race was held in someone’s backyard. Now it is held on the stage of a hall.
Kel Fahey co-founded Steampunk @ Altitude with Dijor Mahon in 2017.
“It is an exciting family-friendly event based on the Victorian era, a time of fashion and technology,” Mr Fahey said. “It was the advent of electricity and cars on the road. Many things came about in that period of the 1870s to 1920s that we concentrate on in Steampunk.”
Everyone at Steampunk @ Altitude has a persona and dresses up. Some spend the weekend speaking with French or Russian accents. Others talk in old English.
“Everyone you meet is either a time traveller or someone from the past and they make their own outfits,” Ms Burke said. “People talk about who they are and why, and talk about how they made their outfit. It is so much fun. ”
Sanjex Seratti is the curious engineer from the Victorian era who brings Steampunk to life, including with penny-farthing racing.
It is no place for wallflowers.
“We have a promenade with hundreds of people prancing up and down the road and we end up in the hall for photos and interviews and the fashion parade,” Mr Fahey said.
There is Morris dancing, buskers and the Steampunk Ball on Saturday night. The ball will feature music with a Bohemian vibe by Dragon Whisper, plus the multitalented musician Geoff Aschmann One Man Eclectic Band, and Steampunk Elton who will play Elton John songs while variously wearing goggles and binoculars.
There are exhibitions, stalls, a steampunk artist, steampunk bikes, and an avid poet runs a poetry evening.
“You have to force your way in as he can recite Henry Lawson like there is no tomorrow,” Ms Burke said.
Then there is Pedal Power with people racing along the street on penny-farthings at 35 km/h.
At the other end of the spectrum is tea-duelling where people dressed to the nines dunk biscuits and shortbread into cups of tea. “People are eyeing each other off and you have to follow protocol,” Mr Fahey said.
“We have reinvented ourselves and have a lovely weekend together,” Ms Burke said. “There are so many things going on with very different takes on Victoriana. It is addictive. Everyone has a go.”
Steampunk @ Altitude 2026, the grand exposition of ingenuity and imagination, will be held on 2-3 May. To find out more or view the full program, check out their website.
