International Steampunk City Festival kicks off this weekend in Waltham

Isaiah Plovnick, 20, of Salem poses for a portrait during a steampunk event held at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation in Waltham earlier this year.

(Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe)

By Jaclyn Reiss, Globe Correspondent

Get ready, Waltham: old-fashioned pocket watches, clunky pilot goggles and brass-buttoned coats are making a comeback this weekend.

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Steampunk, an underground movement that visualizes modern technology in the Victorian Era (think: The Prestige meets Iron Man), will materialize at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation in Waltham for the International Steampunk City Festival this weekend.

Eighty-five vendors, 25 performing acts and numerous artists will sprawl across downtown Waltham from the museum to the Watch Factory, and from the Waltham Common down Moody Street to showcase their work Saturday and Sunday. All venues are within three-quarters of a mile from the museum, with most events only one-quarter of a mile away.

Visitors will be able to see a reconstructed mobile home, listen to steampunk bands like Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band, attend academic lectures and book signings, and participate in live action role playing.

Stephanie Bassett, event director for International Steampunk City, said the museum is hoping 10,000 people will attend over the two-day event span and has already pre-sold 1,000 buttons, or passes. Proceeds will go towards the museum’s flood damage renovations, which start in June.

“Of the 10,000 people coming, we will have between 3,000 and 4,000 hardcore steampunkers that wear costumes and actually be in character,” Bassett, who also makes Victorian costumes, said. “The rest will be folks from towns like Belmont and Concord who see that this interesting thing going on in Waltham, and families doing something special for Mother’s Day.”

The Waltham government, police department, and fire station were helpful in welcoming the festival, Bassett said.

“In our economy, we have to bring people to our city, so they said they would help out in whatever we need,” she said. “The merchants of Waltham are also so excited about people coming in to buy their merchandise.”

S.J. Chambers, co-author of The Steampunk Bible, said she is curious to see the concept of a steampunk village.

“Most events are contained within a hotel, and it’s nice to have this idea where you get to explore the city,” said Chambers, who is from Tallahassee, Fla. “I’ve never been to the Boston area so having this excursion – which is what I think of it as – sounds really interesting.”

G.D. Falksen, a steampunk author/video game designer, said the movement’s name was born from tongue-in-cheek humor referring to cyberpunk, a science fiction genre with heavy emphasis on technology.

Falksen said that nostalgia for the days of relatively simple, well-built inventions drives the movement’s force.

“In the 19th century, mass-produced industrial technology like cars were used for years and years,” he said. “They’re like heirlooms – people still use them. They’re as good as the day they were born. You don’t have that craftsmanship, that longevity with modern technology.”

The movement has gained so many followers because Americans reject modern society and yearn for elaborate ornamental detail, Falksen said.

“Each generation that rebelled became more and more casual,” he said. “Now, the way to rebel against previous generations is to become more formal. [Steampunkers] have accessories, gadgets, and technologies, but they add a personal touch.”

Jake von Slatt, a renovation artist from Burlington who is attending the festival, spends every Friday in his workshop souping up everything from pins to computers to mobile homes.

Von Slatt said he thinks the movement began to get popular a few years ago because people like the romantic visions of humanized technology.

“People want more control over the machines in their daily lives and I think steampunk feeds into that because the technology from earlier times is something you can understand,” he said. “People know how a steam train works, but people have no idea how a hybrid automobile works.”

Although the city expects an influx of visitors this weekend, Bassett said that festivities should not interfere with natives’ daily lives.

“The residents of Waltham themselves, people in residential homes, will not be hindered,” Bassett said. “The spaces we’re taking over will be businesses. There might be a few traffic problems, but we can alleviate that with our volunteers directing cars.”

Lots and meters offer 15,000 parking spots, while a free shuttle bus will run every half hour to the Riverside MBTA station on Saturday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Passes can be purchased here. Two-day passes are $20 for adults, $10 for children; one-day passes are $15 for adults, $7 for children.