The 2026 Countdown Begins!

“Adventures in Wonderland”

In August of 1893, a larger than usual white rabbit wearing a rather dapper vest and holding a pocket watch was seen hurrying through the Midway Plaisance of the Chicago Exposition. The rabbit yelled in a timid voice, “I’m late! I’m late!” and looking back over his shoulder in fear, added “As in, I am the late White Rabbit if it gets me!” On lookers turned to see what was chasing the rabbit, but saw nothing; they did, however, hear the deafening roar of an unknown beast.

Elsewhere in the Midway Plaisance, a girl by the name of Alice was amused by her infinite reflections in the hall of mirrors. Her joy, however, was startled away when from outside the hall she heard the roar of the unseen beast. Her shock grew as the mirrors before her cracked in all directions and her splintered reflections began to transform and move independently; some even changed color! Stepping out from the broken glass, dozens of her replicas entered the room. In moments of confusion, Alice pondered that maybe she was the one to have stepped through the shattered mirror. Each Alice looked at the others with the same bewildered expression on their shared faces, paused for a moment, and then screamed before fleeing in crisscrossing directions, stopping to say “After you,” and “Oh no, after you” before continuing their panicked escapes.

Alice, or at least she still believed herself to be Alice, emerged from the hall and came face to face with the white rabbit. The rabbit breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Oh thank goodness I found you Alice. We need your help.” The rabbit’s relief, however, soon returned to consternation when he saw dozens of other Alices running out into the Midway, “Oh bother!”

Guests of Honor & Entertainment

We are delighted to confirm some of our special guests for the 2026 Exposition. More will be announced as we continue our countdown to June 12th, 2026.

Gail Carriger writes books that are hugs, mostly comedies of manners mixed with steampunk, urban fantasy, and sci-fi (plus cozy queer joy as G. L. Carriger). These include the Parasol Protectorate, Custard Protocol, Tinkered Stars, and San Andreas Shifter series for adults, and the Finishing School and Tinkered Starsong series for young adults. Also nonfiction: The Heroine’s Journey. She is published in many languages, has over a million books in print, over a dozen New York Times and USA Today bestsellers, and starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus, and Romantic Times.

Leanna Renee Hieber is an actress, playwright, ghost tour guide and the award-winning, bestselling author of over fourteen Gothic, Gaslamp Fantasy, Supernatural Suspense and Non-Fiction books for adults and teens with publishers such as Tor, Sourcebooks and Kensington Books. A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America’s Ghosts, co-authored with Andrea Janes, is a 2022 Bram Stoker Award finalist for “Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction”. The book explores the intersection of women’s history and ghost stories.

Unwoman. In 2000, while studying cello, composition, and electronic music at UC Santa Cruz, Erica Mulkey chose the stage name Unwoman from Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. She had been writing songs since age 13, inspired by Tori Amos and Trent Reznor (hey, it was the 90s) but her first public releases on on mp3.com were wildly experimental — then in 2005 she had an epiphany that she wanted to focus on writing Actual Songs. She currently works full-time as a cellist-singer-songwriter-producer and is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the Before Time Unwoman performed at steampunk conventions and major events all over the US. Her song “The Heroine” was featured in both Welcome to Night Vale’s “Triptych” episode and the steampunk documentary Vintage Tomorrows. In 2015 she received the Steampunk Chronicle Reader’s Choice Award for Best Solo Musician and Best Album with Circling.

Buy Early & Win Prizes!

Tickets are already selling for the 2026 Chicago Steampunk Exposition and the first 100 Weekend Badges to sell will automatically be entered into a prize drawing to be held during Opening Ceremonies on Friday, June 12th, 2026. There will be four categories for the drawing: the first 20, 30, 60, and then all of the first 100. The winners for each category will be determined by the roll of dice, starting with a d20, then moving to d30, d60, and finally the d100. Each of the first 100 weekend badges sold for 2026 will have a badge number along the bottom identifying the order in which it was purchased.

Pre-sale badges have your name printed on them in a fancy font (designed to look like it is etched in brass), so please include “badge names” in the “Order Notes” section of the check out form. In addition to your name, badges will also be labeled with the purchaser’s last name and order number for reference in case lost badges get turned into Registration; that said, however, please remember that lost badges that are not turned in can not be replaced and a new purchase will be required.

The Program

Over the next nine months the Exposition is putting together the 2026 Program for amusement and education. We are currently accepted session proposals. Please CLICK HERE for more information.

We will list session descriptions as we countdown to June 12th, 2026, and should have the full and final schedule online by mid-April, 2026.

Exhibitor Updates

For 2026 we have FOUR exhibitor spaces.

The Underground Market remains downstairs in Sienna
The Midway Market (formerly known as Artists’ Alley and Printers’ Row) is in Slate.
Hallway Exhibitors in the Atrium Lobby, the North hallway, the South hallway, and the Central hallway.
The Hall of Curiosities in Mahogany 4.

The Exhibitor Application Form will be available as of July 1st, 2025.