Under the overarching theme ‘Imagining the Future’, this year’s edition of the festival celebrates its fifth anniversary at the National Railway Museum (MNF) in Entroncamento, Santarém district. The festival presents a “contemporary” and “multidisciplinary” program featuring concerts, films, exhibitions, literature, book fair, workshops, and numerous ‘steampunk’ activities for all ages, the organizers announced in a statement.
This year’s musical lineup includes performances by Expresso Transatlântico and Selma Uamusse on September 12, Bateu Matou, Mão Morta, Sarah McCoy and a DJ set by ‘forest’ on September 13, with Bia Maria and Memória de Peixe performing on the festival’s final day, September 14.
The festival’s program, which deepens the dialogue between ‘Vapor’ aesthetics and more transversal projects, also marks the debut of international names, with Sarah McCoy traveling from New Orleans (USA) for a vocal and piano concert on the festival’s main stage.
Embracing the ‘steampunk’ spirit with support from the Lisbon Steampunk League, the Vapor Festival maintains a ‘punk’ edge across various activities, blending with a musical program ranging from ‘rock’ to ‘folk’, Portuguese traditional sonorities, and electronic music.
“Arts, technology, and science as foundations for a better, more diverse, inclusive, and sustainable future. At Vapor, we reclaim history and celebrate fantasy as the engine of creativity, essential for imagining new futures,” the organizers stated.
‘Steampunk’ is a subgenre of science fiction, an “aesthetic movement based on a past where modern technological paradigms occur earlier than in real history,” which “combines punk characteristics with the development provided by steam technology,” applied to locomotives and other machines in a 19th-century setting.
Currently, the ‘steampunk’ aesthetic includes diverse artistic expressions that cross 19th-century styles with contemporary elements from the fantasy universe. At the Vapor Festival, “music coexists with one of the most important European collections of railway heritage.”
“One of Europe’s largest railway museums, with a permanent railway heritage exhibition, also considered one of the best in Europe, is set in extraordinary industrial buildings from the early steam technology era. This setting is ideal for the festival, which explores the ‘steampunk’ aesthetic and its application to music, literature, fashion, and the arts through various family-friendly activities,” stated an MNF information note.
Tickets cost 15 euros for a three-day pass and six euros for a daily ticket until August 31, available for purchase on BOL, Ticketline, and the National Railway Museum’s website.
More information is available at festivalvapor.entroncamento.pt, Instagram (instagram.com/festivalvapor), and Facebook (facebook.com/festivalvapor).
