Last weekend, we attended our first Great Handcar Regatta in Santa Rosa, CA after hearing numerous accounts of how utterly fantastic the event is. What we’d heard and seen from afar did nothing to prepare us for the double barreled blast of steamy magic that showered us all the day long.
Despite the recorded 97 degree high temperature that day, ourselves and numerous well-dressed steampunks, bike punks, dandies, debutantes, and other assorted costumed multitudes enjoyed ourselves and one another immensely. We hope that this introductory video will allow you to glean at a least a taste of the wonder and amazement we experienced while sharing in the music, fashion (this year’s theme was “India and Beyond“), vending, sideshows, and of course, the Regatta Rail Racers themselves.
We shot a boxcar-load of footage and have been graciously allowed access to use Nemea Laessig aka Lady Cordelia Dashitall’s excellent photos from the event (also her first year) as well as several other photographers (who will be mentioned as their pictures get used in the upcoming videos) so needless to say this is part one of a trilogy of videos reporting on this tremendous event!
Amazing culture! It satisfies, amung other things, my permaculture/transition movement interests with the back to the future aesthetic and prioritizing of community and art, etc over commerce. Good video production including soundtrack choices.
You make an interesting connection between these two distinct and current movements Lambchop. “The future is in the past” some might say. What I find myself vibrating most harmoniously with regarding SteamPunk is it’s fundamentally rebellious nature (hence the “punk”) which I would add is another applicable similarity to permaculture.
The Steampunk and permaculture visions seem to separate though when it comes to the Steampunk universe’s industrial and war-like aspects. War machines, guns, and a sort of industrial-military complex are all glamorously portrayed within the context of the Steampunk universe and I would have to say that without the ability to wage a war, the permaculture/transition movement will probably not have significant appeal beyond fringe rural/primitive communities.