The five-day Steampunk NZ Festival Weekend starts tomorrow.
People from as far away as the United States and Britain will dress up and take part in the science fiction genre celebration, now in its eighth year.
Festival director Helen Jansen felt the event was reaching a ''slight point of maturity''.
''Oamaru's becoming noticed and people are looking forward to it. In the beginning, this was done to promote Oamaru and Oamaru's creativity and that's worked.
''It's bigger than Oamaru. It's a national event.''
One of her aims with the festival was to turn Oamaru into a bucket-list visitor location for people who celebrate the genre all over the globe.
This year's programme of events include a beer launch, tea pot racing, tea duelling, a murder mystery, a ball, a fashion show, a talent quest and Tourism Waitaki's Fire and Steam Festival on Friday night.
She said what made Steampunk such a big hit and why it worked so well for the town was it allowed adults to play.
''It's about the inner child coming out.''
This year's theme was underwater Jules Verne.
Fellow festival director Iain Clark said the theme gave people ideas for their outfits
Tourism Waitaki event co-ordinator Lucianne White said her group's fire and steam night was about creating a community connection.
Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said the ''exciting'' festival provided a chance for locals to explore their own town.
''The Steampunkers take over the town and make it very interesting.''
Some of the artists who were involved right at the beginning of Oamaru's introduction to Steampunk, Jac Grenfell and Don Paterson, were opening a virtual reality attraction in Tyne St this week to coincide with the festival.
Mr Paterson said Steampunk was ''fantastic'' for the town.
