*CANCELLED* A Journey Into Steampunk Festival Mid Wales 24th / 25th Aug

[Major Willoughby Chase]

Okay, one of the organisers has finally said something on FB, I still wish they'd made a proper announcement in their website, it's not very good customer service when the band have already announced cancellation and they're still advertising them as playing.

Apparently it IS the flights they are struggling to pay for (which I'm still confused about as they are going to be in the country for WM anyway) and need to sell 80 more tickets to do so.

[vampyresheep]

I do think that Abney Park were rather unprofessional in issuing such a poster - which I note that they did remove from their facebook page after a number of people commented on it.  However it does scream of frustration on the part of the band to resort to such a thing, I am suspecting that communication issues (or lack of) are largely the culprit -  surely something like transport costs etc would have been agreed in a contract when the band was booked?

Blaming ticket sales on the weather is too easy an excuse.  I've seen hardly any promotion of this festival on BG, facebook or elsewhere and now they're suddenly paniced and screaming for extra ticket sales?  I personally was cautious of booking for this for that very reason - it gave the impression that someone outside of the scene had just googled "steampunk bands" booked them all and then assumed that people would flock to attend without any need for additional promotion.
Apologies if that isn't the case but if you compare this to say, the Asylum and Waltz on the Wye, which both have stickied threads consisting of updates from the organisers and chatter from attendees, which enthuse people to be a part of it and attend, it's no big surprise that their ticket sales have been low.
(not to mention a complete lack of thought, scheduling such an event so close to the Asylum when many people just can't afford to do both events!)

That said, I do feel for  everyone who risks losing out financially as a result of this, be it the bands, organisers or attendees and hope that something gets resolved.

[Major Willoughby Chase]

Looking at the website. LSP are simply a promotion company, that organise all sorts of music events, I don't think there us anything on their site that suggests they are steampunk themselves. I'm guessing they're just after the brass pound.

They had posted on the FB Steampunk Events page, but never (until today) replied to any messages left in posts and just kept spamming out new posts each time, when I politely messaged one of them asking them not to do so, I never so much as received a reply. So the next time they posted a new post, one of them got kicked and banned. I think half a dozen polite warnings and as many ignored posts from potential customers is enough.

The poster you mentioned, vampyresheep, is still on the AP website and up until LSP finally replied this morning was the only official word on the event.

[Othniel Cope]

Looking at the website. LSP are simply a promotion company, that organise all sorts of music events, I don't think there us anything on their site that suggests they are steampunk themselves. I'm guessing they're just after the brass pound.

They had posted on the FB Steampunk Events page, but never (until today) replied to any messages left in posts and just kept spamming out new posts each time, when I politely messaged one of them asking them not to do so, I never so much as received a reply. So the next time they posted a new post, one of them got kicked and banned. I think half a dozen polite warnings and as many ignored posts from potential customers is enough.

The poster you mentioned, vampyresheep, is still on the AP website and up until LSP finally replied this morning was the only official word on the event.

Surely you mean Brass Guinea?

Anyway without being rude, I for one couldn't give a monkeys about the promoters being Steampunks any more than I care who publishes the books I love or produces the movies I watch...

There has also been a bit of chat about the organsiers poor promotion (not from you Mr Chase, but I have never understood the internet and can't for the life of me Fathom the multi quoting thing)

Any way I would just like to defend the promoters in this respect and state for the record that their festival has, at least in my eyes, had a far greater push than anything else mentioned on these forums, with the possible exception of Bestival (also not run by Steampunks)

Now this is not an attack at any other fesrtival or event... clearly if you are selling out year after year then if it ain't broke don't fix it...

below I have listed a dozen different mentions of the Journey Into Steampunk festie to give you an idea what I am talking about...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

http://www.last.fm/festival/3334501+A+Journey+Into+Steampunk+Festival

http://www.efestivals.co.uk/festivals/others2012/journey/

http://vae-editor.livejournal.com/227403.html

http://www.songkick.com/festivals/400123-steampunk/id/12467123-steampunk-festival-2012

http://www.britevents.com/whats-on/powys/llanfyllin/a-journey-into-steampunk-festival/439834/

http://www.the-workhouse.org.uk/event/a-journey-into-steampunk

http://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Shrewsbury/The-Workhouse/A-Journey-into-Steampunk-festival/11675312/

http://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Shrewsbury/The-Workhouse/A-Journey-into-Steampunk-festival/11675312/

http://www.safeconcerts.com/festivals/a-journey-into-steampunk/

http://www.stallfinder.com/event/a-journey-into-steampunk/2791/

http://www.soundandscene.com/a-journey-into-steampunk-festival-music-festival-llanfyllin-united-kingdom-2012-%5B10824584%5D/

http://sepiachord.livejournal.com/989819.html

And these don't include the links from the individual artistes... .Anyway rant over and remember I am only defending the promoters who have clearly put a lot of work into hosting what will be an amazing event...In addition to that I also personally believe (with or without Abney Park) that it has the best line up of any festival of its kind I have seen this year...

so with that in mind can we all please show a little community spirit and help them get through their current crisis (which we all bloody know is caused by the attrocious Weather which has been plauging outdoor festivals accross the Uk...)  So let's save the mudslinging till we get there...







 

[Madame Xanthe]

I really want to second what Officer Othniel Cope has posted here regarding support for this festival. It has even made me write my "maiden post" on the forum - quite some achievement!

I am not linked to the organisers in any way, but was present at the Abney Park concert they arranged in Oswestry last November. It was a special event, partly as a "birthday treat" for one of the organisers, I believe, so I don't think they are merely "jumping on the steampunk bandwagon".

No disrespect to any other band, but Abney Park are Kings of their field and well worth seeing if at all possible. If some of us can rally round and help support this festival by buying tickets, or in any other way, then I think we should make every effort to do so. It may be that Abney Park can still make it, since they will be over in the UK anyway. Clearly that is for the promoters to ascertain and update us about as soon as they are able.

I firmly believe the organises to be decent people who truly want the festival to succeed. I don't see that anyone will make huge sums of money from a festival like this, everyone is struggling, even the bands, no doubt, so support is key. Abney Park are, after all, travelling a very long way, no doubt not for a lot of money, and the organisers are having to promote a first time event, which must always be difficult, and very much of a learning curve as well.

In the true spirit of steampunk, I think anyone who can should get behind this. Wouldn't it be great if we could actually help turn this around and see Abney Park alongside the other bands? Believe me, to see Abney Park live would repay a little effort.

Hopefully there will be more information, as it become available, on the Journey Into Steampunk Facebook page.

[Major Willoughby Chase]

My main problem is, they have a website, it's their own website, that they can presumably update whenever they like.

There is no information warning the customers that, at this point, the Headline Act has cancelled.  That's a pretty big omission to make. This isn't mudslinging, this is speculation, speculation caused by a failure on their part, to communicate a rather significant change in line-up, with existing and potential customers.

[Madame Xanthe]

Indeed Sir, you are making a fair point and I hope that a statement of some sort will be forthcoming soon.

Hopefully the festival organisers are working on the issue as we speak - I am sure they have great reason to do so.

[Othniel Cope]

My main problem is, they have a website, it's their own website, that they can presumably update whenever they like.

There is no information warning the customers that, at this point, the Headline Act has cancelled.  That's a pretty big omission to make. This isn't mudslinging, this is speculation, speculation caused by a failure on their part, to communicate a rather significant change in line-up, with existing and potential customers.

Yes there is that! I am hoping that they are attempting to pacify our friends in Seattle and therefore crossing their fingers that no amendments are nessecary...

I would also at this point like to add that I am in no way involved in the Festival other than as a performer with The Dark Design.... But I feel for them I really do... I also feel for Abney Park...

[The Governess]

I agree that whether they are or aren't steampunks isn't really an issue for me except that it seems a shame that they don't know about some of the main steampunk avenues such as Brass Goggles (hence you setting this thread up, Mr Cope). They have, however, joined every local steampunk group on facebook known to man, and have been reposting the event since last year. Reading between the lines, the recent ramping up of advertising in facebook groups, which at times may have fallen foul of etiquette, was to try to prevent this current situation. I believe, having been told by the promoter, that they are still working to try to salvage this, and were caught unawares by the weekend announcement. I agree that some sort of warning on the website would be helpful, and hope this will be in place shortly, though also acknowledge that they are almost certainly currently responding to personal correspondence from upset punters!

 Hoping for a positive outcome for all. 

[Argus Fairbrass]

Ah at least I finally understand who this LSP Tony guy who's been thrashing me with events promotions for months is. Yes it sounds like they are a new (ish) promo company suffering the usual teething troubles. As for the AP situation, I agree it sounds a bit odd as they'll be here anyway but this will all be down to money. They're well known in their field but hardly millionaires, it's a fair old yomp from London to Wales, and not exactly cheap on gas.

I actually got recruited as a hired gun guitarist by what was to me a fairly well known American band a good few years ago. This was mainly because they were doing a small European tour and didn't have the cash to bring their own people over on the plane. It really can be that hand to mouth sometimes.

Still I must say in some ways I think it's a shame the response that AP's withdrawal has caused. I've heard a few of my friends complaining about it on FB, it really does sound like AP was the big attraction for them. Personally I'd love to go just to be amongst other Steampunks, but sadly it's too far away and indeed too close to The Asylum for me.

[Engineer]

Firstly, I must say that I think the way that AP announced their cancellation appears very unprofessional and I do hope their announcement doesn't turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy for the event as a whole.

The weather certainly will have put off punters from buying tickets, but the promoters certainly haven't helped themselves, for a number of reasons (most already mentioned in previous posts);

i - Repeatedly spamming every steampunk facebook group without having the courtesy to ask the moderator first is not a good way to endear yourself (I had to warn them regarding spamming the League of Bournemouth Steampunks).

ii - Making no attempt to promote the event via BG - since the promoters are not steampunks, didn't they even think of asking someone 'in the know' (like the the UK based steampunk bands they had hired) as to where best to promote the event?

iii - Following on from my above comments I'm surprised that, as a Wales based promotion company, they made no attempt to promote the event at Waltz on the Wye, which would have been the perfect place to pitch sales.

iv - Setting up the event so close to the Asylum date (THE major date un the UK steampunk diary) shows very poor groundwork in the first place.

v - Very poor communication about AP's decision (although probably not helped by AP dropping this bombshell just before the weekend).

Ok, that's my gripes over with. I do hope the promoter resolves this situation, as there will be a lot of disappointed people out there if either they cannot get AP to come. This includes me, as I bought my ticket a while back and was looking forward to a relaxing festival break after the completion of a stressful project at work.

[Argus Fairbrass]

Gor blimey guvnor, hand to mouth indeed. Still it's an option for those desperate to see them in Wales. (for those that don't have FB, AP are currently asking for donations to assist them in getting there)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Abney-Park/312292093741

[Aethera Verdigris]

Personally I agree with Madame Xanthe and Orthaniel - we need to be a true community and get behind the festival. Again I am not connected with the promoters either but I thoroughly enjoyed AP at Oswestry last year, and it would be a shame for them not to be there. Sadly they seem to be getting a fair amount of grief on their website for saying that they simply can't afford to attend without the airfare being paid. I think there is misconception that they must be rolling in money.
These fund-raising Kickstarter schemes which I presume AP's Cptn Robert is hoping to set up, seem to work very well. Steam Powered Giraffe organised one to fund a gig at the World Steam Expo and raised about $10,000.

As has been said before, I think that the main problem holding back ticket sales is the idea of camping in lousy weather, but also £45 seems a lot if you intend to go (as me and my husband do) to The Asylum as well. Bad timing, although I wonder if it could not be helped.

Anyway, on a positive note, they say the pesky Gulf Stream is finally moving back to where it should be and we can expect some better weather, hopefully no more rain. 

[vampyresheep]

i didn't mean to come across as slagging off the promoters but giving my reason for why I hadn't purchased a ticket and why I thought that "blaming the weather" was merely an excuse - i've seen a number of incidents of "all-too-good-to-be-true" line-ups, put on by reasonably unknown promoters, only for the event to fold because they've made promises they couldn't fulfil and friends who'd purchased tickets, lost out financially.
Not saying that is the case for LSP but an event this size which came out of the blue and no actual promotion other than the most basic of listings - sorry, I must have missed the Facebook notifications but I tend to have a personal spam-filter when I get too many identical notifications.

Whilst it doesn't matter whether LSP are steampunk or not, however given that this is more of a social scene than a conventional "gig-going" scene, a little more personal/friendly updates might given more encouragement to the ticket sales.  I'm not going to go into comparing specific events but several new (non-steampunk) festivals that I've been to recently have managed this to good effect; building up a fanbase by making use of their FB groups and giving the occasional update/comment/chit-chat rather than just the bog-standard spammy post.  A little goes a long way to show that you are dealing with a real person and therefore more likely to trust and support them.
Its unfortunate that LSP haven't considered doing this until they've reached crisis point (ironically, have just received an FB friends request from one of the organisers, nearly a year after the event was first advertised!)

And also there is the fundamental issue of background research into the scene - scheduling it so close to the Asylum was guaranteed to have an impact on their ticket sales.

I've no doubt they've been working their behinds off to get this organised and truly hope that it all goes well. 

I do also maintain that I thought Abney Park were very unprofessional in how they announced the news.  my initial impression was of a  musicians' tantrum and a poster phrased to intentionally damage the festival; obviously having read since just how badly they stand to lose out financially, I can understand that they were upset - it is still yet to be understood how exactly it reached that stage; as i commented earlier, surely a contract should have been signed and terms agreed when they were booked to perform?

Anyway, I've no wish to add to the trail of complaints, merely clarifying my previous post which appear to have upset some, albeit unintentionally.  I cannot afford to attend myself, due to the sheer amount of events I've shelled out for of late but I hope that they do meet their ticket numbers and that everyone who attends has a fantastic time - it is an amazing line-up after all, even without AP!

[TimeTinker]

I have avoided making any public comment on Journey Into Steampunk since The Asylum is obviously the UK's leading steampunk festival and it could be seen as sour grapes however a promoters view may help folks understand.

We were more than a little disconcerted that LSP chose to launch an event that runs just two weeks before The Asylum.  For many people this is within the same salary cheque so timing could be viewed as ill-considered at best.

Many people have tried to promote steampunk events in the past using social media etc to find that their events do not do as well as they thought they would.  Why is The Asylum different?  We got out there.  We travelled to other events (not just steampunk ones) to meet people and enthuse them about the festival.  It's about building a relationship with the audience.  Being active steampunks helps.  Actually being available to talk to people face to face is essential.

Abney Park are an expensive band.  They want to bring 10 people in total.  Travel and accomodation far outweighs any fees.  We did consider having them headline The Asylum this year and talked to Robert about it.  The fact we have indoor venues of limited size (so no weather issues) meant we would have to charge around £35 a ticket to put them on. We considered this to be unviable.  With a larger venue available for 2013 making for economies of scale and thus a lower ticket price we are looking at future years.  Outdoor festivals mean bigger audiences and thus a chance of better profits.  Since we run not-for-profit it is not something we worry about. Indoors means we are not held hostage by the weather.

Abney Park are obviously upset about having to pull out.  They have tried to be open and honest about it.  Negotiations about fees etc are always the hardest part of running an event.  Bands know that at The Asylum we do not do negotiation.  They tell us what they want to appear and we say yes or no.  If we agree then we pay even if the event looks to be making a loss.   Similarly we do not use a clause to stop us refunding if an act is forced to pull out.  When the Men were offered Bestival we were very upset not to have them play (as they were) but we have offered refunds and alternatives to the people affected and a free CD as an apology too.   Our structure of single feature tickets helps this.  It reduces our sales and potential profits but since we are not hunting profit it works and is to the benefit of the event goer.

I fear that the main mistakes made by LSP have been around misunderstanding the steampunk community.  I sincerely hope they manage to salvage the event from its current difficulties.  Wherever steampunks gather they have a good time and they will enjoy the event provided it can go ahead so fingers crossed this will not be the start of the event's cancellation.

My advice (for what it is worth)

1. Communicate lots - talk to people through the boards and FB etc.  Work to reassure people and keep them informed of what is going on.
2. Don't try making excuses (not saying you are btw but as a general comment) just try to say what you are doing and what people can expect or do to help.
3. Think about offering refunds (or a goodwill gesture) if Abney Park aren't going to make it and see if you can attract more people to the reduced event.
4. Adjust your website.  Don't have tickets onsale for a festival proclaiming Abney Park as headliners if they may not make it.  People may see it as dishonest.

For future events:
5. Check what else is going on and avoid going head to head with other events. VSS and White Mischief have always avoided one another's dates to good effect.
6. Promote face to face - get out there and engage with the community.

The Asylum in 2013 will be in September.   We are also looking at running a smaller festival in March (Steampunk at the Seaside - details at The Asylum)   Looking at dates for Waltz on the Wye, Whitby Goth Weekend and White Mischeif might I suggest June or July would be the best bet.

[vampyresheep]

The Asylum in 2013 will be in September.   We are also looking at running a smaller festival in March (Steampunk at the Seaside - details at The Asylum)   Looking at dates for Waltz on the Wye, Whitby Goth Weekend and White Mischeif might I suggest June or July would be the best bet.

Looking forward to hearing more about that!  Please also consider the Wave Gothic Treffen dates (mid-May next year), so as not to clash against those too, as a number of us will be there too  - I know there are so many festivals these days that its impossible not to clash with something however WGT is one of the biggest in Europe, with a large number of UK attendees and a growing steampunk crowd every year.

and as for the rest of your comment (just cut here to make it easier to type my reply!); pretty much what I was getting at but mine from a punters point of view and yours somewhat better put! 

[Argus Fairbrass]

I must confess on a personal note I'd be curious to know how many tickets they've sold already and indeed how many they were expecting to sell. Bad weather and almost certainly ill considered timing are no doubt taking their toll. But (I genuinely couldn't make the slightest guess at this myself) how many people would one realistically calculate a pure SP festival in the UK is likely to attract, even in ideal conditions?

According to LSP they need to sell around another 80 tickets to be able to bring AP over. Although that doesn't in itself sound like a huge number, I must confess if I put on a Steampunk event that sold that much alone in my area, I'd consider it a minor miracle given how unknown it remains here.

Now I realise folks do travel from abroad, but also that not every UK Steamy is for whatever reason going to attend. I'm just wondering if they haven't slightly overestimated how extensive the UK Steampunk note is at present.

[TimeTinker]

We are expecting around 12-1500 steampunks at The Asylum this year.  This is however a proven event in its fourth year and attracts steampunks from abroad.  I estimate there are around 3-4000 active steampunks in the UK.  (Please note this makes us probably the biggest SF convention in the UK this year.)

Numbers often seem inflated.  Steamcon in the US is the biggest and attracts 2500-3000 people.  Teslacon is the second biggest and is Asylum sized. (Steampunk World's Faire claim this honour but there is some doubt about their figures.)

For a new event in the UK I would be pleased if I got 4-500 takers.  This is actually the level we are aiming for with our new event "Steampunk at the Seaside" next March.

Many new UK events seem to get around 200 people. The new steampunk festival in The Netherlands this November "Journey Vernesque" is aiming for around 150 people.

Steampunk is not "all about the music" as some other scenes are.  A good music festival will attract people from outside the core community providing the promotional work is good.  Since steampunks also want social features, day events etc then I would have been aiming (and budgetting) for a festival of 450-500 people if I were running "Journey into Steampunk".

The VSS makes a point of advertising the number of tickets remaining so folks can see how sales are going rather than just saying "tickets selling fast".  This openess means that people can book promptly for popular features (our ball sold out in fifteen days last September).

Advance budgetting is however a pain.  We have an arrangement with Paypal whereby our funds are held by them until the event meaning that if there is a cancellation etc then no customer loses any money.  It does mean we have to find all of the deposits and advance payments ourselves which can be a cashflow problem.  LSP seem to be having a cashflow problem probably caused by overestimates on their sales projections.  This is likely due more to their inexperience of dealling with steampunks  than the weather although the weather will certainly have played a part in it.  It would be interesting to know how many tickets have been sold.  An additional eighty generates a further £3500 which is a sizeable chunk of cash towards Abney Park attending so it is certainly achieveable and ticket sales usually accelerate towards the event.  Of course that is little help now when they need to be paying Abney Park for their travel hence the problems.

It would be a real shame to see the event collapse and I hope that another eighty or so steampunks can make the trip to Wales thus avoiding disappointment and acrimony from the people who already have tickets.  Personally I have other commitments that weekend (including White Mischief in London where Abney Park are playing) and of course I am building up to The Asylum just as lots of other steampunks are.

[Mr Peter Harrow, Esq]

Yes, Eastercon (the UK National SF Convention) is used to being the largest SF Con in the UK, running from about 600- 1400 people (a London Eastercon far and away the largest). The Asylum this year should be at , or larger than this years London  Eastercon in membership. Four years has built a fanbase for steampunk that took Eastercon 60 years to achieve. Eastercon is hotel based so 1,400 is about as large as it will ever get. Of course we had Brass Goggles, which helped with the Asylum immensely. A UK hotel based convention simply can't get as large as the huge US Convention Centre Hotels used by the US Steampunk and SF Cons.

Most of the other SF and fantasy  Conventions get between 100-350 members, Waltz on the wye is getting towards the upper part of this range in its second year. There is some meet up or event pretty much every weekend, far more than the SF scene (I suspect we are more social than mainstream SF fandom). This means any new UK steampunk event is competing against against multiple competition, and strong competition if close to The Asylum or Waltz in the calendar.

Steampunk is attractive to the man in the street (more so than SF fandom) but most non-steampunks attending such events are those that literally stumble upon it, which you are far more likely to do so in a street than a field. A fair number of Lincoln locals got into steampunk due to coming across The Asylum and recognising kindred spirits.

I hope Journey goes ahead and is successful enough for it to be regular event. However the organisers should reconsider timing (it's competing with too many other music festivals and The Asylum, where it is in the calendar), and they need to look at their offer, even other Music Festivals are offering more than music now (some of them are offering steampunk, the swine!). Venue as well needs to be considered again. Perhaps a bit more Steampunk Glynbourne than Bestival?

Consideration as to be given to overseas Acts/Guests. Travel is not cheap and only Eastercon can generally afford (with its membership) to ship in US guests, and even then thought is given to whether they are cheaper East Coast rather than expensive West Coast residents. Otherwise the organising Committee put their hands in their own pockets to fund the difference rather than cancel the event or the guest. It happens, when I ran Eastercon in 2009 we got Tim Powers, we tried a totally new hotel, and there was considerable risk I might end up paying about £1,500 from own pocket. As it happened we got 940 members leaving us with a surplus to pass along, and the hotel in Bradford is being used again in 2013.

[r_is_for_rachel]

Most of the other SF and fantasy  Conventions get between 100-350 members, Waltz on the wye is getting towards the upper part of this range in its second year. There is some meet up or event pretty much every weekend, far more than the SF scene (I suspect we are more social than mainstream SF fandom). This means any new UK steampunk event is competing against against multiple competition, and strong competition if close to The Asylum or Waltz in the calendar.
/quote]

Hi Peter, actual ticket holders for Waltz this year was just shy of 450! but that is 2nd year.
First year for any event is always much harder because you're an unknown quantity and it's difficult to ask people to buy tickets on faith -which i'm guessing is probably half of the problem for LSP.

[Mr Peter Harrow, Esq]

Rachel, yes you are right that a second year is easier, you have so much  positive  word of mouth which is why I hope Journey gets past this and isn't a one-off. The more successful open events the better for Steampunk, but inevitably some events are going to fail, this happens in SF, Eastercon 2007 Convoy in Liverpool never happened as people wouldn't book with the Hotel (The Adelphi) because of previous bad experiences. A scratch Eastercon of 450 members went ahead in Chester (Contemplation) instead. The Committee returned money and would have been left out of pocket (as you know, you spend a lot of your own money as an organiser, which you never see back).

This is the difference with fan run events rather than pro run events, a loss may be acceptable to establish the event in the calendar.

[BB BlackDog]

I'm daytripping.
Which sadly means I probably won't get to see BBBlackdog :-(
 
Sorry, chaps.

:-(

[BB BlackDog]

Hello
Having avoided commenting for many reasons, I couldn't help adding a few pence worth.
 

If you want a band that has an entourage of 10 people and all related costs of travel from the new world, its going to be very expensive. I understand AP have paid their own air fares already and will be appearing at the London show anyway, They seem to have threatened to cancel the Festival appearance, on principle at not having all the fares and costs for the full 10 people paid to them yet, and its their decision to make as they feel.
LSP have brought AP to the UK before, plus done a lot to promote the cause, in Hindsight perhaps an earlier date and the promise of funding a slightly smaller AP party might of been wiser, but its much easier to criticise, than run such an event
LSP have been very fair in dealing with BB BlackDog, and we will be bringing a very special show to the event with special surprises and 10 Dancers ! It will be worth the ticket fee alone 

Its good that events are popping up, it increases the profile, brings more people in and promotes the Ideals of steampunk to a wider audience, we've supported a number of events now for little or no fee, to help spread the word and once established they have had us back, its the steampunk and our way, help others.
So
If people help promote via social networks and the like, I'm sure this will work out and we'll have another great event to attend with Abney Park in attendance.

Starting a new event is always a risk financially, having our first full Day steampunk event this year, we were blighted by foul weather, and many problems, but still managed to get over 200 attendee's and just about broke even, (with a little going to local charity's as well) We learn't a lot, even though we've run much bigger "Rock Festivals" before, a Steampunk event has many more facets to consider.
Next years Steampunk Solstice will be bigger and better because of it, and because of the humble beginnings.
We're also running another in early October "The Steampunk Illuminations" Wholly inside.
One of our first considerations was to keep the Dates well away from the Asylum, Waltz, Whitby and WGT for obvious reasons, as well as avoiding the Cornish groups 3rd event Steampunks in springtime next May, and the Derbyshire Guild Steampunk Solstice event in June.
Our second was not to make promises based on funds we don't have in reserve.

But before I get accused of promoting other events, I'd like to ask everyone to help promote this and get the Extra ticket sales.
We have no self interest in this, we've agreed a fee and will be there anyway.
But we're a community, and its an event for us. The Sunderland event went under due to slow tickets sales, lets not loose another.
So All hand's to the pumps, and lets help them out, if things are this tight LSP won't be making much and have put a lot of work and money in.

Post the link around, invite all your friends, write to local papers, comment on forums, we've had more people been invited for our Chrismas party !
Come on Ladies and Gentlemen, lets have a go
Here's the Facebook event
http://www.facebook.com/events/297552753613887/


 


 

[Othniel Cope]

So it looks like Abney Park m,ay be back on the agenda...

The Promoters have opened up this Kisckstater... We particularitly like the limited editin VIP tickets With Back stage pass...for £35 that's less than the festival ticket price and within splurging distance for any one hwo wants to hangout with us and Charlie and Mandy(lol)

http://wefund.com/project/get-abney-park-over-to-the-uk/p44769/

[SteamBlast Mary]

... the limited editin VIP tickets With Back stage pass...for £35 that's less than the festival ticket price

http://wefund.com/project/get-abney-park-over-to-the-uk/p44769/

There must be some mistake. A regular ticket bought in advance of this debacle would've cost £45. Now you can get a VIP ticket + backstage pass for LESS than the cover price?

How does that work?