Haworth Steampunk Weekend: Celebrating colour and creativity with curious outfits in Yorkshire festival

Friday night marked the start of the Haworth Steampunk Weekend with burlesque night before a jam packed two days full of festivities. There were Morris dancers and choir singers, a fun dog show, owl displays and more, while pubs and museums threw open their doors.

And to visitors, perhaps touring the cobbled streets of the historic West Yorkshire village, there were some eye-catching costumes on display .

Organiser Michael Young has hosted the event for the past 11 years. This weekend there were visitors from as far afield as Oxford and America, he said.

"Steampunk is all to do with the ingenuity of the engineers of the Victorian age," said Mr Young. "It's a link with that era, of pistons and steam. People wear what they choose to, just looking superb. Walking around and promenading, as the Victorians did.

"It's been very colourful," he added. "It's a celebration of colour, and it does turn heads. Some people like to look different. They might be a traffic warden or a bank manager, it's just another way of expressing yourself."

Mr Young also helps to organise other steampunk events, including Hebden Bridge and Otley, and one in Saltaire in the past. He likened the event to a football match, as a way to break up the monotony of routine.

"We do exactly what everyone else is doing, but we're all dressed up," he said. "A good lady once said to me ‘ we are walking forms of art’, and that's a good analogy.

"Some people buy bits off the shelf, others are seamstresses who make a different outfit for every event they attend. The outfits are pretty wow. I've seen people make a handbag out of a fire extinguisher. It's so clever."

The weekend raises money for Sue Ryder's Manorlands Hospice, which provides palliative care and support people with life-limiting conditions.