Steampunk features bygone technologies or retrofuturistic inventions as Victorian era people might have envisioned them in a world where steam power remained in mainstream use. It is influenced by and often adopts the style of the 19th-century scientific romances of Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Mary Shelley and also the fictional machines like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne. The association to the Victorian era promotes the type of dress and costume of the cosplay characters such as goggles, waistcoats, heavy boots, corsets, gears and brass gadgets.

The Steanpunk Asylum Festival in Lincoln has been running since 2009. It is normally held over a 4 day period at the end of August.