Drachenwald 30th Year

Weather at the event

2023-06-09T00:00:00+00:00

At the moment it looks as though we are in for a warm 30 Year, though thankfully it should cool off at night. View the Dutch weather forecast for Baarlo.

Temperatures are forecast to be in the mid to high 20s ˚C/low to mid 80s ˚F during the day, cooling down to ~15 to 16˚C/low 60s ˚F at night.

The site has a lot of trees and shade cover, but please make sure you take care of yourself. Drink plenty of water/sports drinks/electrolytes, make sure you eat enough, wear sunscreen, cover your head, and take a break if you feel you are getting overheated. If you experience symptoms of heat stroke or heat exhaustion please follow these instructions from the NHS (move them to a cool place, remove all unnecessary clothing/armour, get them to drink a sports/rehydration drink or water, cool their skin.) If symptoms do not improve please find a member of the event staff or Duchess Isabetta.

The site is surrounded by open water, and this means there will be mosquitoes - please make sure you bring bug spray.

The windows of the bedrooms do open, however please note there are no screens over them.

There is a short 1-2 minute walk between the building with the bedrooms and activity rooms, and the building where court and meals will be. Please make sure you have a wrap/cloak/some sort of cover if you feel you will need this in case of cooler weather or rain for this walk.

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Court Business

2023-06-07T00:00:00+00:00

TLDR: For requesting audience in royal court at Drachenwald 30 year event, contact the heralds-in-charge at dugi@iki.fi or moira@iki.fi.

Unto all good gentles, wishing to bring matters before the Crown of Drachenwald and thus requesting an audience from their Majesties, greetings and salutations from the office of Herald in Charge.

As all must know, these celebrations will have a busy programme and their Majesties and Highnesses of the Albion Throne wish to serve our people and the attendants well, by having a well planned and well scheduled courts. Nice courts, well ran courts.

For this purpose, let it be known that all good gentles wishing to do business with them, let us know of this in advance. As there are many courts, with many many court heralds, the heralds in charge are attending to the court business ahead of time.

So, if in need of an audience to gift, to beg, or to do homage to our Crown, hesitate no longer, but contact either Master Dubhghall (Henri Laine) or Mistress Memorantia (Maria Laine), Schwarzdrachen Herald, at the earliest.

We can be reached by email, dugi@iki.fi or moira@iki.fi.”

A Call for Royal Retainers

2023-06-07T00:00:00+00:00

In order for the Royals to dutifully play Their part as Royalty, They need assistance. When you help out any Royals during an event you are helping Them play Their regal part and adding to the quality of everyone’s Dream. For that, we thank you.

Who can be a Lady-in-waiting / Lord-in-waiting / Noble-in-waiting (aka Royal retainer)?

Anyone! Regardless if this is your first event or your hundredth.

What kind of assistance does a Royal retainer need to provide?

It varies depending on who has the role of a Royal in our society but mostly it means carrying things, washing feast gear (dishes and cutlery), delivering messages and sometimes companionship.

We have about 110 shifts to cover so that the Royals can do their job. And rather than a few doing a lot, we’d like to see as many of you as possible taking a shift, to spread the load. So let us know your availability!

Come and help us make the Dream come to life.

Yours in service,
THL Gele Pechplumin
Mistress Ragnell Caxtone
Royal Liaisons

30 Year schedule posted

2023-05-31T00:00:00+00:00

A schedule of activities to be held at the Drachenwald 30 Year celebration is now available on-line.

All types of activities and information are listed in the schedule, from meal times to classes to tourneys. Many activities such as classes feature a description along with a teacher profile.

The schedule can be viewed according to time, venue and activity category by selecting different filters. You can register on the Sched.com site and then create a personal calendar based on the activities you select. Download the Sched.com app to view the schedule on your mobile device. Printing and many social media options are also available.

If you have questions about how to use the features on the Drachenwald 30 Year Schedule site, please see the Sched attendee guide.

If you or your group would still like to have a meeting, activity or party to be displayed on the schedule, please contact me at dw30yearsched@gmail.com. Please give me the activity name, date, start and end times, location, host’s name and activity description.

Questions about the schedule can be sent via email to me at dw30yearsched@gmail.com.

Yours in service,

Margaret de Mey
30 Year Event Schedule Coordinator

Tavern at 30 Year

2023-04-28T00:00:00+00:00

We’re happy to announce there will be a tavern at Drachenwald 30 Year and Coronation, run by Lord Dominic Beniamin and his capable crew! The tavern is set in the oldest part of the castle, with visible castle foundations and brick arches adding to the atmosphere - you can see the tavern here.

The tavern will sell the below (tap beer, wines, and sodas supplied by the site)

Gulpener pilsner beer on tap (500mL for 5 euro)
Red, white, and rose wine (250 mL for 5 euro, please note most wines are dry, not sweet)
Ciders (mix of sweet and dry, sizes/prices to be confirmed as we are still sourcing these)
Sodas (1L bottles only, price to be confirmed)

The tavern will run on a stamp card system, where your tavern card is good for a certain amount of credit and is stamped each 5 euro increment as this credit is used. Cards will be available for sale at the tavern- payment can be made in cash only. We are also offering the opportunity to preorder your tavern cards via filling in the form. This will allow you to pay via PayPal, bank transfer, or Wise. After filling in the form, we will contact you to arrange payment, and your cards will be ready for you at gate when you check in.

Any credit balance left on your cards will be refunded via cash at the tavern (cash supply allowing) or via PayPal or bank transfer after the event (the tavern staff will help you with providing the info needed for the refund.) The tavern will also be hosting special events- look out for more information on this in the upcoming schedule!

A note regarding the site’s alcohol policy - the site allows us to bring our own alcohol to the event, this is not a problem. They only ask that we don’t conspicuously consume our own drinks at the bar areas - therefore we ask that you please don’t display your own cans/bottles of drinks at the bars openly, ensure your beverages are in suitable containers, etc. Thank you for your assistance with this!

Please let us know if you have any questions or if we can help with anything - we look forward to welcoming you to 30 Year!

Tourist information for the Netherlands

2023-04-19T00:00:00+00:00

So you’re on your way to 30 year and you’re coming from the northeast. From Hamburg or further north in Germany or you got off a ferry from Sweden.

You could stay on the autobahn all the way to Venlo, but what if you crossed the border to the Netherlands earlier?

Well, you could make a stop in Vesting Bourtange. A fortress 2 kilometers from the German border in the province of Groningen. This is a real gem. Originally built in the 16th century, it is a star-shaped fortress with a little town in the middle. By the 1960s it was very deteriorated, but then the decision was made to rebuild it as an exact replica from the 16th century. And here it is: complete with gates, guardhouses, canons and moats. A really nice place to visit.

If you continue to drive south you could make a detour to Borger where you can find the largest ‘Hunebed’ or dolmen in the country. In and around the town you can find 10 more and there is also an info centre (Nationaal Hunebedden Informatiecentrum).

Or you can visit the city of Zutphen, with a historic city centre and a beautiful church (St. Walburgskerk). A really special place to visit is the church ‘Librije’ (library). This is a ‘chain-library’ dating back to 1564. All the 750 books (all from the 16th century or earlier) are chained to prevent stealing. It used to be a public library without supervision. The frustrating bit is that you can’t open any of the books.

A little further south Nijmegen is a really good place to stop. One of the oldest cities in the Netherlands, it still has many historic sites.

If you want to visit a castle, there are several close to the German border worth a visit. From north to south you can look for:

De Fraelylemaborg in Slochteren (Friesland).
Kasteel Doorwerth (in Doorwerth) west of Arnhem
Kasteel Doornenburg (in Doornenburg) southwest of Arnhem, near the river Waal.
Huis Bergh (in ‘s Heerenberg) on the German border near Emmerik
Kasteel Wijchen (in Wijchen) near Nijmegen
Kasteel Hernen (in Hernen) also near Nijmegen and really close to Wijchen.

A little to the north of our site are the Kasteeltuinen van Arcen (in Arcen). There is no castle there anymore, but the very large gardens are very beautiful.

Very close to the site is Venlo. It is a really old (Roman) city, but much of it was destroyed in WW2. What’s left is a 15th century church (St. Martinuskerk), the ‘Alt Weishoes’ (old latin school) from 1611 and the beautiful renaissance Cityhall (Stadhuis).

If you come from the south of Germany there are also some nice options for a brief, or a longer stop.

In the very south of the Netherlands is the beautiful and very old (Roman) city of Maastricht. There are some real gems to be found here. Over the river Maas stretches the St. Servaas bridge from the 13th century. A lot of the medieval city walls are still standing, with the oldest surviving city gate in the country, the Helpoort (Hellgate). There are two awesome churches: Sint Servaas Basiliek and Onze Lieve Vrouwe basiliek (Basilica of Our Lady), both of which started construction around the year 1000.

Maastricht is built near de Sint Pieters berg (St. Peter’s mountain) which is (or was) a hill made of marlstone. This stone has been used as building material for ages and a lot of the hill is gone by now. What’s left is riddled with passages (20.000 of them). Some of these can be visited on a guided tour which is surprisingly interesting (Grotten Sint Pietersberg)

Near Maastricht is the town of Valkenburg. Although it still has two city gates standing, a church from the 13th century, a ruined castle from the 12th and a marlstone mine (which can be visited, Gemeentegrot) from Roman times, it is also really really touristy. It is a charming place though, it just can get very busy.

The province of Limburg has a lot (!) of castles, but only a few are open to the public. Luckily one of those is Kasteel Hoensbroek (in Heerlen) which is really worth a visit.

For 800 years the White village of Thorn was a independent principality ruled by 33 abbesses of royal descent from the secular Abbey of Thorn. The abbey was a place for young ladies of noble birth to dedicate their lives to God (and avoid getting married). Their independence ended in 1794 when the place was conquered by the French. The village is very charming, with mostly white houses and a beautiful abbey church.

Also a very nice town to visit is Roermond, closer to our site. It has two beautiful churches. The Onze lieve Vrouwe munsterkerk from the 13th century and the St. Christoffel kathedraal from the 15th.

Part 2: On the way to 30 year

Tourist information for the Netherlands

2023-04-17T00:00:00+00:00

On the way to an exciting event you could find yourself with a few hours to kill if you arrive with a plane or ferry really early in the morning. What to do?

Here are a few tips:

If you arrive by plane at Amsterdam Airport (Schiphol) and you continue with the train to Venlo you will pass a few very interesting towns on your way.

One of them, Utrecht, I already described in my previous post on this website (23-03). The other one is ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

’s-Hertogenbosch (about an hour from Schiphol)

This is my hometown and it’s a lovely place full of history. You’ll have a nice time just strolling through its city center (There is a nice art supply store and a fabric store on the Vughterstraat). You can visit the cathedral (St. Jan). There is a museum dedicated to Jheronimus Bosch (Jheronimus Bosch Art Center. No original paintings, but all of his work in reproductions, up close and you can open the tripycks yourself), the famous medieval painter who lived and worked in an house on the Markt, witch you can also visit (Het Huis van Bosch).

The best thing to do, though, is take a boat trip. This will need some planning, because these one hour trips are popular and need to be booked in advance. Unlike Amsterdam where the canals are in front of the houses for all to see, the canals (or rather little rivers) here are behind and under the houses. You see, when the city ran out of room to build (the surrounding land was too swampy to build on) they started to build over the little streams flowing through the city, so the water disappeared from view. Being on the water now is a lovely experience. It’s quiet, mysterious, a bit spooky and very interesting. Highly recommended!

If you arrive by ferry in IJmuiden and continue by car, you can also visit the places described above or choose Haarlem, het Muiderslot or Gouda which I described earlier.

If you arrive by ferry in Rotterdam you’ll find a couple of interesting places on your route to the site.

You van visit Dordrecht. A nice old city on the river Maas. It has a beautiful historic centre, perfect for a stroll.

On your way you’ll pass close to ’s-Hertogenbosch, but if you feel more like visiting a castle there is one in Ammerzoden (exit 19 from the A2). Kasteel Ammersoyen.

Further along your way you’ll find the city of Eindhoven. No historic city centre here. It’s a real modern town, but it has a nice open air historic museum (stone age and medieval buildings) worth a visit.

If you arrive by plane at Rotterdam airport and continue by train, you’ll find Dordrecht on your route and another interesting city: Breda. Between the station and the city centre is a nice green park and the centre itself is really worthwhile. Nice old houses, nice shops and a beautiful church.

If you arrive by plane at Eindhoven airport, there is nothing really on your route I can recommend. If you have time to kill, consider a trip to ‘s-Hertogenbosch (20 minutes away by train). Avoid Eindhoven, trust me, SCAdians don’t like Eindhoven and the open air museum mentioned above is difficult to reach by public transport.

You can also visit Venlo, which has a nice renaissance Stadhuis (City Hall), but as I have not visited this city yet, I can’t really tell you much about it.

Part 1: Amsterdam and around Part 3: From the east

Waitlist for indoor sleeping

2023-03-27T00:00:00+00:00

We have now assigned the last available spaces in our 3-5 person rooms. With that, all remaining bookings for indoor sleeping space are now on a waitlist. Day trip and camping spots are still available at this time.

If you recently paid your site fee, you should soon receive an email from the reservation steward confirming your place. Otherwise, we will work through the waitlist in order, as we get cancellation of previously paid bookings. The Reservation Steward will be in touch with everyone on the waitlist the week of April 3rd to discuss options as well.

Tourist information for the Netherlands

2023-03-22T00:00:00+00:00

Soooo you’re planning on coming to Drachenwald’s 30 year celebration in Polderslot. What a very good idea.

In the coming months I’ll be posting information of interesting historical sites to visit along your way to the site or if you’re planning to extend your stay in the Netherlands and look around.

When people come to the Netherlands their first stop generally is Amsterdam. That’s not surprising, because it’s a great city to visit. But I would like to focus on what’s outside of Amsterdam in the rest of the country, because a lot of visitors never get to see that.

If you’re planning to extend your stay and you’re based in or near Amsterdam here are a few great places to visit within easy reach. You can get there by train in less then an hour.

Haarlem

Wonderful charming historical town to the west of Amsterdam (travel time by train 15 minutes.) It’s very nice for a stroll around the historic towncentre. It has a beatiful church (Grote Kerk) with huge organ and a couple of great museums.

First there is the Teyler museum, the Netherlands’ first purpose build museum with a collection of historic scientific instruments, fossils, minerals and drawings.
And the Frans Hals museum. He was a Dutch painter (1580-1666). The museum is housed in some wonderfull period buildings.

Zaanse Schans

This is a very touristy place (15 minutes by bus), but if you like historic windmills, this is the place to be. Also the place to shop for cloggs and pigments . Just don’t buy any cheese here. It’s overpriced and you can find the same in any Dutch supermarket.

Alkmaar

Historical town (35 minutes by train to the north) especially known for its historical cheesemarket every Friday morning. But great for a stroll along its picturesque streets and canals.

Leiden

Great place. Very pretty. (35 minutes by train to the south) It has a beautiful botanical garden, a couple of windmills in the city center, some canals, a nice Gothic church (Pieterskerk), the ruins of a Motte and Bailey castle (De Burcht) hidden away in a little street (great views from atop the walls) and a lot of intresting museums.

One of them is the National Archeological Museum (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden) wich houses the most important finds from the Netherlands, the wonderful Dorestad Fibula among many others. It also has great collections from Egypt, Greece, Roman empire and more.

Another is Rijksmuseum Boerhaave, a museum dedicated to Dutch scientific history.

Den Haag

Den Haag/The Hague (50 minutes by train from Amsterdam) is where the Dutch gouvernment is seated. The government buildings are called ‘Het Binnenhof’ and are medieval in origin. The oldert part, still in use for ceremonies, is ‘De Ridderzaal’, a greal hall from the 13th century. Normally you can walk around the buildings and visit de Ridderzaal, but at the moment there’s reconstruction going on, so you will have to go and see.

Next to Het Binnenhof is a great museum called Het Mauritshuis. Together with het Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, this museum houses the greatest artcollection in The Netherlands.

There are many other museums in the city including:

de Gevangenenpoort (the prisonersgate), a place not for the fainthearted, dedicated to imprisonment and torture.
Escher in the Palace, a museum dedicated to the Dutch graphical genius M.C.Esher. Not remotely period, but great fun!

Den Haag is also on the coast. Just take the tram to Scheveningen Strand (beach) and stick your toes in the sand!

Delft

Delft is almost too cute for its own good. (60 minutes by train) It has canals like Amsterdam, but they’re much smaller. It has a nice market square with a renaissance looking city hall (wich is much older). The ‘Nieuwe kerk’ (New church) stands on the other side of the square and is from the 14th - 16th century. A few streets away is the old church (Oude kerk) from the 12th century.

Zandvoort

If you want to go to the beach, go to Zandvoort (30 minutes). The train stops about 500 meters from the sea. It can still get busy, but it is not as crazy as Scheveningen.

Muiderslot

For a real medieval experience you can visit het Muiderslot, a 13th century castle just outside Amsterdam. Details on how to get there are on their website

Naarden

About 25 minutes west by train of Amsterdam (Station Naarden Bussum) is the little fortress city Naarden. The town was founded in 1350 and has beautifully preserved fortifications from the 17th century. It’s very charming and packed with monuments.

Gouda

Yes, this is the home of the world famous Gouda cheese and also a very charming old city. (50 minutes by train, change in Utrecht). There is a cheese market on thursday morning (also local produce and crafts). There are canals, a cheese museum, a very cute old Town hall and a very long church (123 meters) famous for its beautiful old stained glass windows.

Utrecht

Don’t let the modern shopping centre next to the station (30 minutes from Amsterdam) deter you. You’ll have to pass through it to get to the old city center, but once there you’ll see it’s a beautiful old city. Again there are canals, but these are a bit different; they have wharves. You can climb the country’s tallest churchtower (Domtoren) or take a look under the square it is located on (Domunder) to see the archeological remains from Roman time onwards.

There is a Miffy museum (Nijntjemuseum), a great museum about Medieval religious art (Museum Catharijneconvent) and one about mechanical musical instruments (Museum Speelklok).

Saturday is market day: there is a general market of course, but also one selling flowers (Bloemenmarkt St. Janskerkhof) and one selling textile (Lapjesmarkt, Breestraat).

Part 2: On the way to 30 year

Important dates

2023-03-14T00:00:00+00:00

Greetings all,

We hope you’re looking forward to 30 Year as much as we are! We wanted to flag up a few important dates and some info for 30 Year, please see below:

Sunday 23 April at 22:00 CEST: Reservations will close for Drachenwald 30 Year on this date at this time - if you wish to attend please make sure you have reserved by then! Please note we have waitlists for dorms and doubles, and are down to the last few beds in the 3 to 5 bed category. If you have reserved for a spot in a 3 to 5 bed room but have not yet paid please do so asap or you will be added to the waitlists as well, we will not be able to guarantee you a spot at the event. We do still have camping space, and it is possible to stay offsite as well.

Sunday 30 April at 23:59 CEST: All payments must be received in full by this date/time! This is critical, as we have to pay the site fee to the site in full very shortly after this. Please note if we have not received your payment in full by this time you will not have a spot at the event. If you have special circumstances you need to discuss with us regarding this you can contact us at dw30year@gmail.com.

Sunday 30 April at 23:59 CEST: Cancellations - this is the last date/time to cancel your reservation and be sure to receive a refund. If you are unable to attend please make sure you let us know by this date, or preferably before if possible so we can offer your spot to someone on the waitlist. Any cancellations received after this date will not be refunded except in cases of illness, or special circumstances where the event team chooses to give a refund.

For cancellation requests after 1st May/for special circumstances, please contact us as soon as possible and the event team will offer your spot to someone else on the waitlist, and if they are able to take it over then we will be able to refund you after they pay in full for it. Please note there are no guarantees on this though so you do risk not being refunded if you cancel May 1st or later for reasons other than illness, though we will do our best to assist you where possible.

Thank you for your cooperation, and please let us know if you have any questions or need any additional info. We look forward to seeing you at 30 Year!

the 30 Year Event Team