Mechanical and medieval lifestyles at Frankton festival

Steam engines and Steampunk fashions alike can be seen in Hamilton on Sunday, during the annual Frankton Thunder festival.

The event, possibly best described as a celebration of the combustion engine, will feature displays and demonstrations by the likes of the Holden Car Club, the Tauwhare Military Museum and the Hamilton Motorcycle Club.

Adding a new - or possibly old - dimension to the festivities is the addition of a steam locomotive, which will be making return trips throughout the day from the Frankton Railway Station to Ruakura and, later in the day, Huntly.

There will be many Hamiltonians for whom the sound of revving or shunting engines is not an appealing sensation. Fortuitously for them, across town at the Hamilton Gardens a completely separate festival depicting life in the pre-industrial era will be taking place.

The Medieval Fair will feature numerous activities from the Middle Ages that can be enjoyed by all ages, including maypole dancing and a jousting tournament.

Held in the Hamilton suburb since 2016 - aside from two years during the Covid Pandemic - the Frankton Thunder event was initially a gathering for aficionados of shiny classic cars and rumbly motorbikes. It has since become a multi-faceted festival incorporating music, fashion, food stalls, tattoo artists, a Steampunk fashion market, and other fun and weirdness.

A Miss Frankton Thunder “pin-up”-style beauty competition, sponsored by Tron Records, is also being staged in Kent St, and is split into three age categories - under 18, 18 to 35, and 35 and older. Bike lovers have their own competition: The “Show & Shine”, which will feature prizes for Best Harley-Davidson, and Best Custom, among others, judged by a panel including Paul Martin and Tony “Nail” Vincent, from the band Devilskin.

The steam train is a JA-class locomotive that was built in Dunedin in 1956 and hauled people and freight around the southern half of the South Island until the early 1970s.

It is now part of the collection of the Glenbrook Vintage Railway in Waiuku. Trips on the train cost $20 per person, with the exception of the excursion to Huntly, which costs $49 per person. All profits raised from Frankton Thunder will go to the Hamilton branch of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society.

MARK TAYLOR / STUFF/WAIKATO TIMES Frankton Thunder is a good place to go to see and hear some classic cars and trucks. But there is much more to the event than that.

CHRISTINE CORNEGE There will be steamy scenes in Frankton on Sunday when this vintage locomotive arrives to take people on trips to Ruakura and Huntly and back.

TOM LEE/STUFF Last year’s Frankton Thunder featured the involvement of numerous steampunks and rockabillies, including this gentleman, who said his name was “Crazy Smurf”.