A Weird and Wonderful Medieval Festival, in Photos

This piece originally appeared on VICE Netherlands.

At best, a festival is like a different world – a temporary alternative society in which you can be your most crazy or wonderful self. And in that sense, Dutch medieval-themed music festival Castlefest is the ultimate immersive experience. Since 2005, people have gathered here to spend four days cosplaying various historical eras and fantasy worlds.

Castlefest is a pretty unique festival. At the entrance, instead of a simple drug search, party-goers’ swords are inspected for, um, sharpness. Other than that, there are very few rules. Viking women, Victorian dandies, elven princesses and humanoids roam around the grounds together with lots of vaguely medieval NPCs.

Besides the eclectic music performances, you can also craft your own iron pendant on an anvil under the watchful eye of a man with a purple beard; shop leg wrappings and pouches; or practice your archery skills. You can even order some homemade pepper mead from Obelix.

Together with photography duo Chris and Marjan, I asked festival goers about the story behind their crazy outfits.

In previous years, Eli went to Castlefest in Victorian style, but this year, he opted for a more fun outfit: a satyr. This mythological creature is a cheerful goat-like forest spirit associated with Dionysos, the god of wine. “I’ve brought homemade wine, which I hand out to people to spread a bit of joy around.”

Marcella's ghostly bride look is based on the “Witte Wieven”, spirits of wise women in Dutch mythology and legends. Marcella made most of the dress and veil herself. “I spent a few months working on them inbetween working hours,” she says.

Barry is dressed as a Victorian duke: “Unfortunately, I forgot my top hat.”

Ramona DIYed her own hat using antlers, and Gina made her cape. In the last few months, Ramona has been looking into her African roots – that's where she got her inspiration from. “There’s a tribe that carries branches loaded with berries on their heads,” she explains. “I wear my antlers in the same way. I’m trying to integrate things like that into my style more and more. After Castlefest, I always think, ‘It’s so nice to be able to wear this, I should do this more often.’” 

To Gina, the festival is a good place to try new things out. “You can be 100 percent your authentic self,” she says. “No one will judge you here.”

Sjoerd gets warm quite quickly so he likes to walk around without a shirt. “It’s no issue at all here,” he said. “No one makes comments like 'Aren't you cold?’ or ‘Just dress normally.’”

Romy was inspired by the many people who wore handmade mushroom hats last year.

Dragica Janeka’s outfit, which she describes as cyberpunk, was inspired by futuristic stories like The Fifth Element. “I thought it’d be fun to do something different,” she says. “And it's great to walk around with platform shoes like some kind of killer babe."

Lua usually goes in full cosplay to this festival, but this year, she went for a more chilled outfit. “The dress is a bit medieval, and the pink cat ears match my little scooter beautifully,” she says. “The weather’s not that good this year, but there’s something fun and intimate about it. Only the really dedicated festival-goers are here, and there are fewer one-timers who just come to watch.”

Kenneth’s outfit was inspired by Captain Faramir and his rangers from the first The Lord of the Rings movie. These characters are good at hiding in trees and bow shooting. “I also like the forest a lot, so it suits me,” Kenneth says. “It feels good to walk around in these clothes, it gives me a lot of confidence.”

Mitchell made his own outfit, inspired by post-apocalyptic games like Fallout and TV shows like The Walking Dead. “The exclamation mark above my head took me so long,” he says. “It indicates people can come to me for a quest. When they complete that quest, they receive a coin from me that says: ‘I completed a silly quest, and all I got was this lousy coin.’ I’ve got good reactions to it.”

It's Dion's first time at Castlefest and he's having a blast. He’s dressed as a character from the game Genshin Impact. “That character is always cheerful, even when bad things happen,” he says. “I relate to that.”

Gijs has attended Castlefest as a bush for many years now, because he loves camouflage. “The nice thing is that people start to recognise you,” he says. His girlfriend Verena joined him for the first time this year.

Wenjun wears a dress inspired by Bridgerton, the series of books she’s currently reading. She got it on AliExpress. “I decided last minute to come here, so I was short on time,” she says.

Koen’s outfit was born from a running joke he has with his friends. He told them he’d start going to the gym so he could go to Castlefest dressed as a muscular soldier – from the army that fought for Spartan King Leonidas, against the Persians. “To be honest, I’ve used that as an excuse to work out really hard lately,” he says. “Then I thought, ‘I'm going to finish the joke’.”

Peter is dressed as a musketeer. The larp weapon he carries is called a rapier. “Actually, only half of this is an outfit. I also wear this coat and hat in everyday life.”

Niek and his friend made an outfit inspired by The Witcher. He says the jacket took a lot of time to make. Oh, and he can see just fine with the coloured lenses. “I can even drive a car while wearing them,” he says.