Lincoln Steampunk Festival
Recently I was invited to join in events at The Lincoln Steampunk Festival..the biggest event of its kind in the world. It was an amazing experience, Steampunk is rooted in Victorian and Edwardian culture and creativity and aims to be very inclusive in its philosophy. Everyone I met was so friendly and I can honestly say I have never had such a fun weekend, I met so many interesting people from all backgrounds including clergy and fellow Christians, writers and dancers, shanty singers and sword dancers. I was part of a small group of timbrel players called steampunk sallies. I walked into the festival feeling quite conspicuous in my bonnet and bustle and the first building I came to was the Bailgate Methodist Church offering much needed coffee and cake. They did not turn a hair at my appearance and made us very welcome.
There were some amazing automatons zooming around including something that used to scare me as a child…a dalek. Even now I was glad to see him behind a barrier. There are two parades which I found very moving. The Sunday military parade gave an opportunity to pause and remember family , friends and comrades no longer with us. The Monday parade in contrast encouraged all ages to march together round Lincoln. There was babies and children including a young lad on his father’s penny farthing bike alongside some wonderfully decorated mobility scooters. It took an hour for the head of the parade to make it back to the castle.
I was invited to the Victorian ball which was fun but almost ended in disaster, Doing the conga in a crinoline was not my finest moment and ended with a hefty bruise. I also went to the final evening of the festival where an auction raised thousands of pounds for local good causes and global charities such as water aid.
You may think this is a strange topic for my blog or even that I have lost the plot but the weekend taught me so much about how to embrace diversity and respect individuality. People felt able to express themselves without judgement and there was a real feeling of being part of a wider family. I saw so many examples of acts of kindness and consideration and people going the extra mile to adjust things to include people in all that was going on. So despite a sunburned nose, blistered feet and a variety of bruises I have already booked to come back next year.
