“We mowed last Wednesday, and look at it now. I’ve never experienced anything like this before.” Eddie Mensink walks through the tall grass that has already grown on his festival grounds. He is the organizer of the festival that has set up its tent just outside Borger.
Just as the grass has found fertile ground in Borger, so has the Mega Pirate Festival, organizer Mensink confirms. “You could say that. We are in Borger every year and that just suits us. The people in this area love it, also that we keep coming back. This is the only stop where we come back every year.”
Mensink started the pirate festival in 2004 with a relatively small party in Lemelerveld in Overijssel. It is now a traveling festival of pirate music that gives several shows in the spring and autumn. This year the festival will be held in Borger for the 18th time.
Drenthe is a typical pirate area, according to Mensink. “Think of Jannes, born near here. Think of Lucas and Gea, René Karst. You name it, many singers come from the area. And also in the past in piracy, pirate music is very successful here.”
The festival site is built up and broken down several times per season, and has been for years. Today is the final touch. Mensink talks about it easily, but it remains a lot of work to be done.
“We had a lot of water a week and a half ago, so you have to take a good look at how the location is holding up and where the road plates should be. We started building up last Thursday. The tent has been up for a week now and tomorrow there will be ten thousand visitors, we are completely sold out.”