General News
2 February, 2024
Steampunk a win for local tourism
The Wimmera Steampunk Festival, celebrated in Dimboola, has taken out the Hindmarsh Shire Event of the Year Award.
The Wimmera Steampunk Festival, celebrated in Dimboola, has taken out the Hindmarsh Shire Event of the Year Award.
The event was organised and run by the Dimboola Progress Association, with Chan Uoy as the mind behind the idea of bringing the steampunk genre to Dimboola.
“It was a social experiment and the fact the town embraced it says a lot,” Mr Uoy said.
Mr Uoy expressed his gratitude and said he felt honoured and humbled to have received this award.
“It wouldn’t have worked without the community and volunteers behind it,” he said.
The 2023 festival attracted 4000 people from around the country, and even a visitor from overseas.
Around 46 per cent of attendees lived outside the region.
“Dimboola isn’t easy to get to, so the effort everyone made was mind blowing,” Mr Uoy said.
Mr Uoy said he had never been to a steampunk festival himself before coming up with the idea of throwing one in Dimboola.
“I was aware of the concept; therefore, in theory it should work,” he said.
“It was a steep learning curve.”
The date for the next Wimmera Steampunk Festival main event has been set as April 12 2025, with the theme being “the carnival of peculiarity.”
“It’s about individuality and expressing that everyone’s unique in their own ways and this is expressed through costume,” Mr Uoy said.
A callout for volunteers for the next festival will be made soon.