Steampunk World's Fair | |
---|---|
Genre | Steampunk |
Venue | Radisson and Embassy Suites of Piscataway |
Location(s) | Somerset or Piscataway, New Jersey |
Country | United States |
Inaugurated | 2010 |
Most recent | 2017 |
Attendance | c. 4,000 (in 2012) |
Organized by | Jeff Mach Events / Widdershins, Inc |
Website | steampunkworldsfair |
Steampunk World's Fair (SPWF) was the largest annual steampunk festival on the East Coast of the United States and one of the biggest in the world [1] held over the course of a weekend during the month of May in Piscataway, New Jersey or Somerset, New Jersey. The programming embodied an atmosphere of fandom, including musicians, performers, vendors, artisans, authors, and other guests whose work is related to the steampunk subculture.
Activities at the convention typically included (but are not limited to):
The fair was founded in 2010 by Jeff Mach, Josh Marks, Erin Tierniegh, and Jack Manx. [2]
Journalist Mo Rocca attended the 2011 Steampunk World's Fair and reviewed the event for CBS News Sunday Morning. [3]
In January 2018, former volunteers, employees, and attendees of Steampunk World's Fair and other events organized by Jeff Mach Events (JME) accused JME founder Jeff Mach of sexual misconduct, questionable business practices, and failing to respond to alleged criminal activities at his events. On January 26, 2018, Jeff Mach announced on Facebook that he would be stepping down from running events and JME changed its name to Just Magical Events. A community run steampunk event took place on the 2018 event dates, with no association to the Steampunk World's Fair. It was called C.O.G.S., or Community Organized Gathering of Steampunks. [7] [8] [9]
As of 2023, Just Magical Events has changed its name back to Jeff Mach Events and has listed The Evil Expo [10] (The Steampunk World's Fair under a new name [11] ) and The Marvelous Maytide Misfit Market [12] as events currently being organized by JME.
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