Gentle reader, I have been informed that TeslaCon, North America’s largest immersive SteamPunk convention, has chosen its 2026 theme, and that theme is The Wonderful Land of Oz. November 12-15, Middleton, Wisconsin. They are transporting the whole operation back to 1896, complete with Tik-Tok and the Wizard, and I want you to think about what that means for exactly five seconds. Tik-Tok. A clockwork automaton. In a SteamPunk convention. The Formula practically applied ITSELF.

Look: the Tin Man is already a cyborg with existential feelings about his own humanity, the Scarecrow is running on no wetware whatsoever and still outperforms half of Congress, and Dorothy is a small child who defeated a theocratic authoritarian twice using nothing but found objects and sheer audacity. Apply the Omega7Red Formulae and what do you get? Airship Kansas. Brass poppies. The Yellow Brick Road as a literal gear-driven conveyor belt. A Wizard who is, at least, honest about being a fraud (which is more than most). The Doctor approves of this crossover on a molecular level.

If you are within driving distance of Madison, Wisconsin this November and you are NOT going to this, I genuinely cannot help you. Tickets are up at teslacon.com. The hotel fills fast, so don’t be the person who waits too long and ends up sleeping in an airship. Nothing can beat old age and betrayal.

Via: TeslaCon

The good people at Clockwork Alchemy have declared their 2026 theme and it is, frankly, exactly what the Formula ordered: Rogue Makers & Air Pirates. October 16-18, Redwood City, California. Grand Bay Hotel. You show up, you craft wonders that others fear to dream of, you seize the sky by the lapels. That is the entire pitch. That is enough.

If you have been waiting for the universe to give you permission to build a ridiculous aetheric contraption, strap on a flight coat, and demand that the horizon respect you, congratulations: the universe just sent you a formal engraved invitation. Artists’ Bazaar applications are open right now. The Doctor will be watching the attendee photos with great personal interest and mild professional jealousy.

Via: Clockwork Alchemy 2026: Rogue Makers & Air Pirates (theme art by Laura Carns, Gretchen Kisler, Danielle Hill, and Charlie Wong)

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

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

Apparently, this won the Marvel Costume Contest at New York Comic Con 2010.  Good job, high-5!