Bend, OR

Camping with a twist! Do you have a side of you that says you are a pirate and want to sail the seas or try and taste the salt or do you just like to talk like a pirate, and who cares if you’re horrible at it? Or do you have the more mystical, magical, mysterious, free spirit, dance-in-the-moonlight, spellbinding side that says you are a gypsy? Do you just not know but feel as if you are missing something? If so the pirate-gypsy gatherings are exactly what one needs to express this side/or the missing side of your personality. The gatherings are held in different places around the Western part of Oregon. One day Central Oregon I hope.

Pirate games, pirate food, costumes, merchant rows, ships, bonfires, food, quests, ransoms, home made brews, ships, royalty and lack thereof. Belly dancers, fire eaters and dancers, candy blowing cannons, scavenger hunts, songs sung backwards…what is it?

One armed, bare-chested competitions, fencing practice, boffer fights, barroom brawls, adult and kid contests, tablero tourneys, talent shows, wicked and innocent costumes, stocks and bonds (haven’t figured out who to thank for that one) and maybe even shackles and duct tape…parades, kids, kids, kids, adults, adults, adults. How can it be?

Headhunters, kidnappings, bubbles, fairy dust, dancing fires, specialized craft, history and play classes for kids, anywhere from 40-1300 intoxicated and sober people, first aids within each camp, carnivals and what else can you offer for the imagination?

These events are awesome! Take the weekend, or 4 days if you can, more if you want and let go in a positive and fun yet wild and mellow atmosphere of the scads of people. All kids are absolutely welcome; they are actually part of the fun. Most people dress up in period costumes, anything pirate, anything gypsy. If you can’t figure it out, we probably wouldn’t be able to tell anyway. Heck we even see sweats on occasion and we live in a world of sea farers and magic during these few days.

Even though this sounds mostly as an adult affair it really isn’t. We do welcome our children, very much so and they participate just as much as the adults do. Even if you’re a stick in the mud person you’d still enjoy yourself.

The directions and event dates are listed in the following web page. Remember the events change places each time and every once in awhile there is a last minute place change. You will have to do your own Mapquest search if your directions are not found within the web page. There are 3-4 events a year, starting in January (outside of the snowbelt). If you need/have/want questions about definitions/descriptions/specific statements made in this editorial fire an email to double_elite@yahoo.com. I’ll talk to you, if I can’t simply answer or show a picture then I’ll direct you to someone who does know. Handicap accessible.

* ALL THINGS (to include but not limited to) THAT PERTAIN TO WEAPONRY, FIGHTING OR PRACTICE, IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM ARE NOT WEAPONS OR FIGHTS. CONTESTS AND LIGHTWEIGHT FOAM MADE MATERIALS. SOME CONTESTS NOT SUITABLE/VIEWABLE/PLAYABLE FOR PERSONS UNDER 21 AND NOTICES WILL BE POSTED. ALCOHOL IS NOT DISTRIBUTED TO MINORS. FIGHTS DON’T HAPPEN HERE. ABSOLUTELY NO STEEL.