Under the theme ‘Fantasizing the Future,’ the festival, marking its fifth edition this year at the National Railway Museum (MNF) in Entroncamento, Santarém district, offers a “contemporary” and “multidisciplinary” program. This includes concerts, films, exhibitions, literature, a book fair, workshops, and numerous ‘steampunk’ activities for all ages, as stated by the organizers.
This year’s musical lineup features performances by Expresso Transatlântico and Selma Uamusse on the 12th, Bateu Matou, Mão Morta, Sarah MacCoy, and a DJ set of ‘forest’ on the 13th, with Bia Maria and Memória de Peixe performing on the event’s final day, September 14.
The programming of this edition enhances the dialogue between Vapor aesthetics and more transversal projects and marks the debut of international names with Sarah McCoy traveling from New Orleans, USA, for a voice and piano concert on the festival’s main stage.
Embodying the ‘steampunk’ spirit, with support from the Lisbon Steampunk League, the Festival Vapor maintains a ‘punk’ ethos in various activities, merging with a musical program ranging from ‘rock’ to ‘folk,’ the sounds of Portuguese tradition, and electronic music.
“Arts, technology, and science as the foundation for a better, more diverse, inclusive, and sustainable future. At Vapor, we reclaim history and celebrate fantasy as a driver of creativity, essential for imagining new futures,” states the organization.
‘Steampunk’ is a subgenre of science fiction, an “aesthetic movement based in a past where modern technological paradigms occur earlier than in real history,” blending punk movement characteristics with the development brought by steam technology, applied to locomotives and other machines in a 19th-century setting.
Currently, the ‘steampunk’ aesthetic encompasses various artistic expressions, combining 19th-century styles with contemporary elements from the fantasy universe. At the Festival Vapor, “music stands alongside one of the most important European collections of railway heritage.”
“One of Europe’s largest railway museums, with a permanent exhibition of railway heritage considered one of the best in Europe, housed in extraordinary industrial buildings from the dawn of steam technology, is the perfect setting for this festival. Through various activities for the whole family, it explores the ‘steampunk’ aesthetic and its application to music, literature, fashion, and the arts,” reads an informational note from the MNF.
Tickets are priced at 15 euros for a three-day pass and six euros for a daily ticket until August 31, and are available at BOL, Ticketline, and the National Railway Museum website.
More information is available at festivalvapor.entroncamento.pt, on Instagram (instagram.com/festivalvapor), and on Facebook (facebook.com/festivalvapor).
