The festival, which is a homage to science fiction writers from the Steampunk genre, such as H. P. Lovecraft and H. G. Wells, starts on Saturday with the return of Steampunk fiction reading and dirigible (airship) ''dog-fights''.
Event co-organiser Helen Jansen said the annual Steampunk Fashion Show on Sunday also promised to be ''more spectacular than in previous years''.
''There is a special acknowledgement of Oamaru's 150 years as an official town, a circus performance as well as a family show with theatrics, stories, music and, of course, outrageous steampunk costumes.''
Ms Jansen said 21 entrants from ''the full length'' of New Zealand had already registered for the fashion show, but it was ''too early to tell'' how many would take part on the day.
She added that the Steampunk literary readings, which took place for the first time last year, had this year drawn interest from the US, which would put Oamaru in the ''international limelight''.
''We are very excited to have a live link to Virginia, USA, with one of the Hatton Cross Steampunk authors who is going to read excerpts from his book Country in Ruin, 1865.
''We also have another contribution from award-winning Kiwi author Pip Ballantine, featuring Oamaru.''
A Steampunk wine label had been created for the event by local winemaker Birdlands.
Participants from Whangarei, Rotorua, Nelson, Christchurch, Oamaru and Dunedin were also expected during the weekend, she said.
