In Creatures of Castlefest, we want to put the wondrous creatures, that are part of the world of Castlefest, in the spotlight. From visitor to entertainer, from exhibitor to volunteer. What moves them and which role does Castlefest play in their lives? This week: Martijn, the burger-flipping pirate.
I've been coming to different fantasy festivals for years now. My first Castlefest visit must have been around fifteen years ago. It was great! After visiting for a few years, I decided to be a volunteer at the tenth edition. I got to bake pancakes during the event. On Sunday afternoon, it was bustling with people around our stand. Many wanted something to eat or shop for the last things on their list. The pancake stall is very open and while baking the pancakes I got to take a good look at the crowd. Outside the festivals I'm an entertainer, so I quite liked this spot in full sight. I decided to make the waiting a bit more fun for the visitors by singing songs while flipping pancakes.
Apparently this did not go by unnoticed, as I was asked to return to the catering team for the next event: Haunted Castle. They had the perfect spot for me: catering combined with entertainment. I got to sell popcorn as a zombie in the outside cinema. In the end, I only sold six bags of popcorn, so I think I took my role a little too serious!
These events were so great that I decided to make a parttime job out of catering.
As a caterer, I now have less time to walk around festival grounds. I have to delegate and of course do my fair share of cooking and selling. But when there's a moment of spare time I make sure to find a stage with good music or walk around the market.
When walking around as well as from my stand, I get to see many people. Mostly exhibitors I know from other festivals and visitors who come to have something to eat and to make some small talk. Since my first visit, I love the openness and togetherness with all these people. It is what has made me come back each and every year.
One time I had to run the ice cream stand and decided to decorate it pirate style. I brought all this decoration from home... as I have enough anyway! In the 'real' world I am a pirate too. I never leave the house without my bandana. And once, when my girlfriend and I participated in a television show about men becoming fathers, we were known as the pirate family.
At my job at a daycare I'm 'The Pirate'. So when our summer program had the pirate theme I got to go full-out!
This makes Castlefest for me not differ much from the real world. I love it when my two kids react to pirate-related stuff by saying 'daddy' or 'arrrrrr'. My oldest already beat me in the plastic sword fight we had. I just can't win. But as a father and entertainer, I couldn't just give up the fight! I went down dramatically and our fight ended with me rolling on the ground. It resulted in quite a few amused bystanders!
Besides the pirate theme I bring to my catering job, I also bring my experience working as an improv actor and my experience working at a daycare. Like, I always bring some fake swords. I often end up in a sword fight with children in the queue, and sometimes even with their parents!
