Western Steampunk Symposium
By Ann Smith
Reporter
Now that California is coming out of lockdown, we are seeing all kinds of interesting events open up. An internet search revealed the Western Steampunk Symposium is taking place June 12 to 13. This event will be their third gathering. According to the website, it’s a “crazy, weird genre that’s only been around for about 20 years. Set in the wild west, during the Victorian era, Steampunk imagines how things might look and work if everything was still run off steam.”
PHOTO IS OWNED BY IDYLLWILD FESTIVALS AND USED WITH PERMISSION.
One of the festival operators, Marie Regalado, an Idyllwild and Los Angeles resident, has other events planned once Idyllwild is fully out of COVID restrictions. Idyllwild Festivals is a nonprofit. According to Regalado, the plan is to produce four festivals per year, all family oriented. Believe it or not, one of the items on Regalado wish list is a bluegrass festival. Unfortunately, due to COVID, only this upcoming festival was confirmed. The future festivals include a Renaissance Festival in September and a Viking Festival in December.
“The primary focus of this week’s festival is historical education,” stated Regalado.
Regalado goes on to explain “a large portion of what we do is volunteer based, families, high school students. We teach them how to produce these festivals from top to bottom.” This is an opportunity for a young person to add something of special value to their resumes. Marie comes from a long line of family-oriented festival producers out of the Southern California area. The CEO is Roy Regalado, the patriarch of the family.
What you can expect when you enter the festival area are musicians, merchants, tea dueling and even a “Hoosegow.” You get to arrest a family member or friend for various shenanigans. You have three options when they are arrested. You can pay $5 to bail them out. You can entertain everyone onstage, or you can just wait your timeout for their release! The Hoosegow sounds like a hoot and is kid-friendly.
The Western Steampunk Symposium is a ticketed event. The price is $10 per day or $15 for the entire weekend. Children under 12 are free. Free Icees will be given to ticket purchasers.
Tickets can be purchased online or at the gate. Entry to the festival is in the Rustic Theater and Entertainment Center parking lot, located at the rear of the building. They have coordinated with first responders in the event it becomes necessary to contact them. The round-about is accessible for first responders only. They have no public parking within the event site and are encouraging attendees to park throughout the area so they can visit merchants in Idyllwild!
Rustic Garden will have a beer garden for adults.
