THE MINISTRY OF STEAMPUNK
NOTICEBOARD
Asylum Evening Event update
All the information you need to know about the evening events for Asylum XIV is now on this website under the 'events' tab. You will find an introductory page and then additional pages for each of the Asylum evenings from the Advance Guard on Thursday to the Dead Dog Party on Monday evening.
Tickets are currently for sale to Patreons only.
On Sunday 31 March everyone who has purchased wristbands will receive an email (sent to the address used to purchase the wristbands) which will include a password. From 9PM on 31 March for a period of 5 days, tickets will be on sale only to wristband holders.
After 5 days the password will be removed and anyone can buy evening tickets whether or not they have bought wristbands.
We hope that everyone coming to the evening events will buy a daytime wristband so that they can support the daytime programme and attend all that it has to offer, but we are not making this mandatory this year, except for the Advance Guard (for which you must have proof of purchase of a weekend wristband) or the Dead Dog Party (for which you will need to show your wristband on admission).
Asylum Wristbands and Merch update
Asylum wristbands and merchandise pre-orders are now on sale to everyone
The Steampunk Fairytale Weekend
It's time to prepare yourself for a host of important and exciting announcements about forthcoming MoS events, the first of which concerns the third Steampunk Fairytale Weekend which will be held at the fabulous Tutbury Castle in May.
We have begun to construct the website page here to which we will be adding lots more information over the coming weeks.
Did someone ask about the Asylum?
As the Ministry's (indeed the world's) biggest Steampunk event of the year, The Asylum Steampunk Festival takes a fair bit of planning and preparation and the elves at MoS HQ have been working on it for some time - in fact pretty much since the closing ceremony of Asylum XIII.
Asylum XIV promises to be another huge event with a host of daytime features and a variety of evening events including some new events that we will announce in due course.
We are getting very close to being able to release the daytime wristbands and hope to do so before the end of February, subject to getting our last few ducks in a row. But don't worry, we will be giving everyone plenty of notice here and on our Facebook Welcome to The Asylum page before we do. Meanwhile you can find out more about this year's Asylum medal here.
Steampunk New Year!
Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate Steampunk New Year with the MoS at the wonderful Belmont Hotel in Leicester. We had a fabulous time and the feedback has been excellent. You will not surprised to learn that we are investigating the possibility of doing it all again next year - but more of that later.
Immortal Ball News Flash!!
As a result of an unexpected change in the 'supply chain' for Saturday night's catering we have today been notified by chef that we can re-open ball ticket sales briefly from now through to 9PM on Thursday.
Full details about the ball are here.
Hulloween weather update
The Ministry of Steampunk are fully aware of the potentially challenging weather forecast for Hull this coming weekend. As you would expect, we have been consulting with our partners in Hull (including Hull BID and the Council) and we are in the process of relocating the daytime features at Hulloween including the markets to the event space within the nearby Princes Quay Shopping Centre (HU1 2PQ).
We ask that you bear with us for a day or two while we explore the new opportunities this new venue provides and while we make the necessary arrangemrents to relocate the event.
We are working hard to bring you the best possible experience that we can, but time is short and we have many contributors to contact and a myriad of arrangements to change.
Weather-wise it looks like it might not be a very nice weekend - so if you are still unsure about your plans, it is starting to look like Hulloween might be the perfect location for a weekend of indoor Steampunk fabulousness.
We will update our facebook page Welcome to the Asylum and this website as soon as we are able.
Meanwhile please Stay Splendid and we look forward to meeting up with everyone in Hull this coming weekend.
17 October 2023
Hulloween II is just around the corner!
The final daytime timetable is now on the Hulloween page here.
Look what's just arrived at MoS HQ: shiny new Hulloween II medals!!
The Hulloween Steampunk Festival daytime and evening programmes are now live on the Hulloween pages.
We still have a few more features to add, but you will find the majority of the planned events on the website now, including the links to buy tickets to the screening of Nosferatu on Friday night and the Hulloween Ball on Saturday night.
ASYLUM ON THE BACK COVER OF 'QUANTUM' COMIC
Word of The Asylum continues to spread - check out the full page advert for The Asylum on the back cover of issue #2 of the amazing Quantum comic anthology by Time Bomb Comics - in stores now. You might just spot one or two people you recognise...
THE H.G.WELLS AWARD
Congratulations to Andrew Prudom who won the first H.G. Wells award at The Town That Never Was for his Time-Travel themed diorama "What Had Happened in Surrey".
For further details about Andrew's winning entry and information about this year's Great Exhibition at the Asylum Steampunk Festival check out the Great Exhibition page under the Feautures tab above.
NEW FRIDAY EVENING EVENT ADDED TO ASYLUM
Come and join Dr Corvus Marconi in The Blue Room on Friday night for a very special séance experience; full details are up on the 'Asylum Friday Evening' page and numbers are strictly limited for this show, so don't leave it too late if you are interested in finding more about this very 'spiritual' event!
ASYLUM INTRODUCING
The Ministry are always on the lookout for new artists to perform at our events and so this year at the Asylum we have added a new evening event which we have called 'Asylum Introducing'. We are inviting applications from artists who have never played at the Asylum before and will be putting together an evening of entertainment to take place at the Assembly Rooms on Saturday evening, hosted by Asylum veterans The Cogkneys.
If you are interested in performing please head over to the 'Performing/ Contributing' page under the 'Get Involved' tab of the website where you will find the application form.
If you know of an act who you think would be suitable please let them know about this, so they can fill in the form themselves.
We hope to feature multiple bands/performers during the evening, so prioroty will be given to smaller ensembles not requiring lengthy set-up time or complex audio facilities.
Members of the audience will vote for the best act of the evening who will be invited to play at The Major's Soiree at Asylum XIV in 2024.
ASYLUM EVENING EVENT TICKETS
Tickets for the evening events at The Asylum are now on sale. The system for buying tickets has changed slightly this year so please begin by reading through the information on the overview page first and then check out the separate pages for Thursday through to Monday evenings.
We are hoping to add some ticketed tea party events shortly. When they are available they will be announced here and on our Facebook page Welcome to the Asylum.
ASYLUM MERCHANDISE
This year is Asylum 13, so we have decided to embrace the number 13 in our merchandise and publicity for the event. There is a species of Cicada that has a 13 year life cycle, so we have incorporated a Cicada into a number of designs for our medals, pins, patches and T-shirts for Asylum 13. We have already revealed a couple of the designs on our facebook page and here is another.
You can order medals, pins, patches and T-shirts as well as weekend and day wristbands through the link below and collect them at the Advance Guard on Thursday evening or at Event Control over the weekend.
THE TOWN THAT NEVER WAS
The dates for our next event 'The Town That Never Was' (24-25 June 2023) at the fabulous Blists Hill Victorian Town have been on the MoS website ever since 'The Asylum' last August.
More news about this year's event will be unveiled in the coming weeks, but meanwhile here is a sneak preview of this year's Facebook banner for the event.
Will there be the usual 'optional theme' this year? It's funny you should ask, but there is a subtle clue in the image. This year our theme is going to be 'Time Travel'.
It is of course the case that everyone walking the streets of this Victorian Town is time travelling in one way or another, but this year we are inviting you to take the Time Travel element of the occasion a little further - should you feel so inclined.
THE LEWIS CARROLL AWARD
Massive congratulations to Alice Prudom who won the first Lewis Carroll award at the Steampunk Fairytal weekend for her mixed media creation 'Alice in Steamland'. Alice is now the proud owner of the first of the new MoS Medals for Creativity.
Full details will be added to the MoS 'Medals and Pins' section of the website shortly.
BELVOIR CASTLE STEAMPUNK FAIRYTALE WEEKEND
Did you come to the Steampunk Fairytale weekend at Belvoir? If so thank you very much; it was brilliant to see so many smiling faces and fabulous outfits.
We have now added a selection of images to the gallery section of the website which you can access here.
ASYLUM WRISTBANDS AND COLLECTABLES
Asylum 2023 Wristbands and Collectables are now on sale - checkout the asylum page under the 'events' tab or click here.
The Ministry of Steampunk is a voluntary organisation who host Steampunk and alternative history events, including creating and hosting the Asylum Steampunk Festival in Lincoln since 2009.
We are a somewhat amorphous organisation with various offices and bureaux that cover some of the myriad aspects of Steampunk and the wider anachronistic creative scene.
We make no attempt to define Steampunk but instead strive to create opportunities where Steampunks can gather together and share their imaginations, creativity and friendship.
The Ministry's new website has been a while in the making, so why not find somewhere comfy to sit with a nice cup of tea and take a look around - follow the menus for information about our upcoming events, the Ministry itself, the various ways you can get involved and information on all manner of subjects from illicit markets to photography and weapons to tea duelling!