Steampunk Road Trip – Watch City Festival

Next stop on the road trip, we are stopping in for a few words with Melissa Honig, the lead organizer of Watch City Festival.

 

Hello, Melissa! As Lead Organizer, what are some of your responsibilities?

Melissa Honig: I handle the relations with the City of Waltham and our sponsoring organization, the Downtown Waltham Partnership, and I work with a great team of volunteers to make this event happen.

 

Where and when should people head towards on their road trip this year?

MH: We are located in Waltham, MA. Our event will be held on Saturday May 12th, rain or shine.

 

This has been running for 8 years now. How has it changed over time?

MH: The festival originated as an event at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation in 2010. They thought they’d get 300 people, and 1000 showed up, so they realized they were on to something! Since then the festival has moved outside and become a project of the Downtown Waltham Partnership, which puts on free community festivals and other events that bring people to Waltham.

 

As people explore downtown, what are they likely to find in the programming?

MH: We’ll have over 65 vendors, three outdoor performance stages, food trucks, circus acts, a carousel organ, a steam machine exhibit, and more surprises in store. We’ll also have panels and presentations over at the Waltham Public Library, our English Music Hall and Pub Sing groups in the back room of a local restaurant (what’s a pub sing without being able to purchase libations?), and live theatrical performances from the “Mrs. Hawking” adventure series. We also have activities just for children. And it’s all free! Well, except for the shopping.

 

Any notable people or activities in previous years?

MH: I can’t make any commitments as to who will definitely be here this year, but in the past we’ve had acts like Frenchy & the Punk, the Boston Circus Guild, and Karnevil. The English Music Hall and Pub Sing groups have been very popular. One of my personal favorites was the exhibit put on by the Boston University Graduate School of Archaeology, who came out and set up a “dig site” with a sandbox that kids could dig through to find artifacts, all in an effort to teach people more about archaeology. I like mixing real history in with our steampunk.

 

Ooohh, Frenchy and the Punk are always worth seeing live! What might a first-timer expect to find?

MH: As a free community festival, the attendees are a mix of steampunk fans and the residents of Waltham, although as the years go by we find more and more of the local residents are putting their steampunk outfits together! The Watch City Steampunk Festival is an outdoor festival which is on rain or shine, so be prepared for the weather. Downtown Waltham has a robust restaurant scene, so after our event ends at 5pm, stick around and have dinner along Moody Street.

For those in the community interested in attending, what are all the ways to follow convention news?
Website: https://www.watchcityfestival.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WatchCitySteampunkFestival
Instagram: http://instagram.com/watchcityfestival
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WatchCityFest
Voice Mail: (781) 499-2824

Ok, everyone, have your brollies and Wellies ready when you stop in at the Watch City Festival!

Follow the whole road trip on the Master Link List

Onward to our next destination!