In the absence of the annual Steampunk NZ Festival and Fire and Steam events, usually held over Queen’s Birthday weekend but cancelled due to Covid-19, Oamaru women Carolyn Lewis and Annah Evington came together to organise the Harbour St "Winter Warm Up".
Held over Saturday and yesterday, the pop-up event was designed to bring people back to Oamaru’s Victorian precinct, and offer something extra for visitors to the Waitaki town over the long weekend.
It included workshops with local artists, live music, chalk art workshops, a scavenger hunt, and face painting, and Ms Lewis said everyone had "really embraced" the concept.
While there were no official steampunk events, many festival regulars still came to Oamaru for the long weekend, and wandered around town in costume.
"We’ve had some steampunkers come from all over the place," Ms Lewis said.
It was perfect timing Craftwork Brewery opened its new premises in Harbour St during the long weekend, she said. Scotts Brewing Co also held its own "Winter Fest", with a line-up of musicians performing from Friday to yesterday, and The Penguin Entertainers Club opened on Saturday for a night of live music.
Ms Lewis was "really happy" the Winter Warm Up had helped fill a gap over the long weekend. She thanked all of the businesses who had supported the event, and all of the performers and people who had helped "make it happen".
While it was a one-off, organisers were considering holding similar pop-up events in Harbour St.
"We want to find a way of going for funding to do it a couple of times a year," Ms Lewis said.
"People have really embraced it."
It was hard to know how many people had walked through Harbour St for the various events over the weekend, but Ms Lewis and Ms Evington hoped it had given local businesses a boost and would seek feedback from them in the coming days.
