On Durango’s Main Avenue Saturday afternoon, a man wearing 19th century welder’s goggles, with a leather vest and a Mohawk held the reins to a team or horses pulling a sled on wheels.
Pulling out into modern traffic, like some timeless barbaric villain leading his chariot lost in today’s world, he commanded the team north. A few tourists snapped photos, and he was gone.
And just like that, Steampunk Snowdown 2015, the 37th annual winter festival that brings out the best, and sometimes the worst, in people, came to an end.
“I think this was one of the best years in a long time,” said Snowdown Board President Dawn James-Staten. The board, a nine-member panel that oversees two coordinators and five planning committees, won’t be idle for long. Planning for next year begins in three weeks.
Staten said it was fun to see Snowdowners adapt to this year’s theme, Steampunk, a sub-genre of science fiction that blends Victorian-age style and industry with a futuristic technology. If you’re thinking H.G Wells,’ The Time Machine, you’re right on the money.
“A year ago, everyone was asking what Steampunk was,” she said. “But then to see so many people in costume, everywhere you went, and all week long, it was fabulous.”
Durango is a good fit for the theme, already a stage of sorts for the historic cutting edge of the industrial age – the train itself one giant Steampunk dragon.
“It does seem like a natural fit,” Staten said. “We have so many Victorian houses, the train. It was a long time coming, I think.”
With 140 different events, 59 floats in the hour-long parade and endless amounts of dollars rolling into cash registers downtown, the carnival was deemed a great success.
“Our mission statement is to promote fun, commerce and tourism – and in that order – to Durango,” Staten said. “It’s like Halloween to some people, and the Fourth of July to others. People love it and look forward to this all year.”
Staten called it the “original cabin-fever reliever,” and it is a way to plow through the post-holiday blues and get ready for spring.
“It’s something to do during the darkness of winter,” she said. “Just before spring hits, to give everybody a focus.”
A few reports of broken glass doors, one being at the Cream Bean Berry ice-cream shop on Main Avenue, were received. In addition, police reported the typical ruckus for a Snowdown weekend, but there were no reports of substantial incidents, according to Cpl. Nick Stasi with the Durango Police Department.
For now, as Durangoans return to their normal dress code, Snowdown planners will take a break, but not for long.
“We don’t let much moss grow underneath our feet,” Staten said. “In our first meeting in February, we’ll request artists’ proposals for posters and other artwork.”
And, it’s official. Snowdown 2016 is all about the 1980s.
“It should be a lot of fun,” Staten said. “I think enough of us remember the ‘80s, so we can really wrap our heads around it. I hear a lot of people talking about it already.”
bmathis@durangoherald.com
