The Chicago Steampunk Exposition 2026 wrapped up today at the Hyatt Regency Schaumburg, and if you were not there, I cannot help you. The theme was “Adventures in Wonderland” (technically the 1893 Chicago Exposition-through-a-looking-glass, which is the most SteamPunk elevator pitch since someone strapped a pressure gauge to a corset). Gail Carriger was on hand, UnWoman provided the soundtrack to your brass-and-velvet fever dreams, and the Hall of Curiosities was presumably full of things that would have gotten a man arrested in actual 1893. Three days, four exhibitor halls, and approximately one metric ton of top hats. The Doctor approves.

If you missed it: the Underground Market, the Midway Market (Artists/Writers/Musicians), the Hall of Curiosities, AND hallway exhibitors across the entire atrium. That is not a convention, that is a siege. They rolled dice (a d20, a d30, a d60, AND a d100) to determine badge prize winners at Opening Ceremonies, which is the correct way to run any gathering of human beings. Why is every awards show not doing this? I ask because I genuinely want to know.

Mark your calendar now: same Hyatt, same interdimensional time portals, and presumably a new theme that will be equally unhinged in the best possible way. Nothing can beat old age and betrayal, but a weekend in a parallel 1893 with several hundred gear-wearing lunatics comes close.

Via: Chicago Steampunk Exposition

Three days. Three locations. One Gulf Coast city with more Victorian ironwork per square foot than any place has a right to. The 4th Annual Galveston Steampunk Festival wrapped June 5th–7th, and if you weren’t there, the Doctor has a few words for you: what, EXACTLY, were you doing that was more important than watching steam-powered teapots race?

The Galveston festival is genuinely one of the good ones. Pub crawl on the Strand Friday night, full festival at Moody Gardens Saturday (noon to 9pm, bring your brass), then a Sunday mansion experience at the League Kempner estate, complete with a Victorian ghost tour, a Model-T driving tour, and an escape room. This is the full SteamPunk experience, not some ren-faire-with-goggles situation. (Not that there is anything wrong with ren-faires, but you know what I mean.)

The city earns it: Galveston was literally built by Victorian industrialists who drove new machines and fabrication methods straight into the Gulf Coast economy. The bones of the place are SteamPunk. The Omega7Red Formulae didn’t even have to work that hard.

Mark your 2027 calendar now. Teapot racing awaits, and old age and betrayal won’t wait for you to get your goggles sorted.

Via: Galveston Steampunk Festival

Right now, as you read this, the fine citizens of Port Townsend, Washington are three days deep into the Brass Screw Consortium Steampunk Festival (June 12–14), a “chronologically discontiguous” weekend where Pirates, Aetherists, Outcasts, and Bodgers settle their differences via games of skill, wit, and an alarming amount of brass.

This year’s plot: a stray Plague Rat has caused a power vacuum in Consortium leadership, and attendees are invited to weigh in on the new regime. Naturally, nature abhors a vacuum, but the Aetherists love one; it gives them something to aetherify. Honestly, “power vacuum caused by a rat” is the most accurate description of several real governments I could name, but the Doctor doesn’t do American politics, so moving on.

The real highlight is the Bodgers’ Grande Exhibition, a maker showcase that is, in essence, a county fair for people who build steam-powered nonsense in their garages and then bring it to a seaport to show off. This is, and I cannot stress this enough, the single most respectable use of a garage in human history. Forget the lawnmower. Build a brass octopus that dispenses tea.

If you’re anywhere near the Olympic Peninsula this weekend, go pay your respects to the rat. Tell them the Doctor sent you, and that the rat has my full endorsement; unlike most candidates, it has never once promised me anything and then failed to deliver.

Via: Brass Screw Consortium

And call it Steampunk…

Via: Reginald Pikedevant

Doktor A built his Thing for an Addams Family-themed exhibition at the Wootini Gallery in Carrboro North Carolina.  Personally, I’d like to see the whole house done this way.  Can you imagine?

Our favorite Steampunk Tease Kato seems to have something fun planned for our entertainment.  I wish I knew exactly what SteamGirl was, but from what I can see it involves rocket packs, ray guns, and strong Steampunk overtones.

I’ve got a little more to show you…

PBS Arts brings us this lovely short exploring the facets of Steampunk and the different ways people use it to express themselves.

Steampunk art evokes an alternate reality where steam is the primary source of power. Technology, though highly advanced, has taken on a very different look and feel, and fashion is heavily influenced by Victorian styles. In this episode, we explore the Steampunk aesthetic and art movement. We speak with a Steampunk artist, a composer who created an entire piece of music inspired by Steampunk, and a performing arts collective whose work falls naturally into this intriguing world.

Via: PBS Arts

You can thank “batman-n-bananas” (or just Tasha) on Deviant Art for this one.  We really like it when people use that imagination to make things that poke holes in science, and just imagine all the science we’ll get out of this baby.  At least one or two good train wrecks, and a falling airship.  That’s not a tragedy, that’s science – with holes.  Good job Tasha, high-5!

“Alright this next test may involve trace amounts of time travel. So word of advice: if you meet yourself on the testing track don’t make eye contact. Lab boys tell me that’ll wipe out time – entirely. Forward and backward. So do both of yourselves a favor and let that handsome devil go about his business.”

 As usual, click on the image and then zoom in to see detail.

Girl: Did you like that cake, Mrs Jones?
Mrs Jones: Yes, very much.
Girl: That’s funny. My mom said you didn’t have any taste.

Patient: Doctor, I get heartburn every time I eat birthday cake.”
Doctor: Next time, take off the candles.

From Sillof’s Workshop, “The Avengers”.

Sillof mostly has different takes on Star Wars, including WWI and WWII, Noir Cinema, Wild West, and more.  It’s definitely worth a look.