The Hulloween Steampunk Festival is heading back to East Yorkshire with the promise of more weird, wacky and wonderful experiences for all the family and the hope that the excitement around the event will help to secure a top tourism award.
Participants plan to transform Hull city centre over the weekend of 20–22 October with displays of spooky and spectacular tomfoolery inspired by a passion for Victorian fashions and engineering.
The event, which is organised by HullBID and the Ministry of Steampunk, will start on the Friday with an afternoon history walk by Old Town tour guide Paul Schofield and an evening ghost walk by horror historian Mike Covell, plus a performance of Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror in Trinity Indoor Market.
Events on Saturday will include a Hulloween Parade which will begin in Paragon Square and make its way through the city centre to join a Steampunk Market in Trinity Square and Hull Minster. An All Hallows Tide Choral Evensong will echo through the Minster between 4pm and 5pm.
The Immortal Ball – the centrepiece of the festival – will take place in Hull Guildhall from 7pm until midnight with the promise of a sumptuous candlelit meal followed by live music from The Reprobates.
A Steampunk Market will be held in Zebedee’s Yard on the Sunday, and attractions in Trinity Square will include large Steampunk artefact displays and performances by the Raven Morris Dancers before the finale of a Grand Steampunk Parade setting off from Paragon Square at 2.15pm.
Throughout the weekend there will be Steampunk talks in Hepworths Arcade with intriguing titles including Glunda the Veg Witch and Defensive Couture and Combative Coattails (or Why Zombies Love a Little Black Dress).
Other attractions include teapot racing and the Ullalele ukelele rock quartet in Trinity Market, an ethereal voices open mic challenge in the Minster and an Illicit Market in Zebedee’s Yard.
Most of the activities will be free to attend. Tickets are required for The Immortal Ball and can be booked through the Hulloween website until midnight on Sunday 15 October. You can also book through the website for the history and ghost walks and for Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.
HullBID Executive Director Kathryn Shillito said the quirky quality of Hulloween is underlined by last year’s inaugural festival being shortlisted in the Remarkable East Yorkshire Tourism Awards (REYTAs) as a candidate for tourism event of the year.
Kathryn added: “It was indeed a truly memorable event which attracted visitors from across the city and the wider region. Many of them had never seen anything like it before and found it absolutely spellbinding looking at the intricate costumes and paraphernalia and listening to some enthralling stories.
“Members of the Steampunk community came from far and wide to celebrate their culture against the backdrop of our historic streets and buildings and we’re expecting even more this year which, with a packed programme of events, adds up to even more of a spectacle for people coming to take a look and bigger crowds to support our city centre businesses.”
To find out more about the Hulloween Steampunk Festival 2023 and check the full schedule visit https://hulloweensteampunk.co.uk
