Line up | News | Info | Contact | Webshop

✨Meet team Pixie✨

Team Pixie is a group of creatives with a deep passion for fantasy. For many years, each of us has been exploring the wonderful world of fantasy in our own way. What connects us besides a long-standing friendship? A shared, long-held dream:

🧚🏻 Our very own fantasy event! 🧚🏻

We’re excited to introduce ourselves and share what fantasy means to us.

Zwanette Mientjes
Volunteer Coordinator

  • I was born in the fairy-tale-like Weserbergland in Germany, the region where the Brothers Grimm found their stories among forests, castles, and fortresses. This enchanting landscape sparked my imagination and laid the foundation for my love of fantasy, stories, and magic.

    For my great love Jos, I moved to the Netherlands. Here, I began sculpting fantasy dolls. What started small grew into Zwanette’s Spookjes atelier: a creative world full of miniatures and magical scenes, which I presented together with my team at various fairs.

    For many years, I stood as the High Witch, along with my team of witches and wizards, at fairs. Young and old came to us to get their hands on magic orbs, filled with potions, twilight and moonshine, lucky stones, and magical spells. An enchanting ritual that always brought a smile to everyone’s face.

    Nowadays, I give workshops where young and old can build their own fantasy scenes with miniatures. With my treasure chest full of creative materials, I attend fairs and help everyone create their own magical world.

    For me, fantasy is not an escape from reality, but a way to see the ordinary a little differently. With a bit of wonder, we can make the world more beautiful and take others along on that journey.

Jos Mientjes
Vendor/Exhibitor Coordinator

  • I'm just Jos. No elf, no wizard — just someone who makes sure everything is always on time and in the right place. Tables, lamps, shelves, boxes of miniatures; in short, the man of the setup and the quiet magic.

    When we’re at a fair, chances are I’ve packed the van, planned the route, and set up the tent first.

    For a long time, fantasy wasn’t my domain, even though I spent years right in the middle of it alongside Zwanette. Gradually, it started to take hold of me. During workshops, I saw people with a few trees, a gnome, and a handful of stones creating the most beautiful scenes. You can see their imagination come to life in their work.

    Nowadays, I no longer help only behind the scenes, but I also stand at the workshop table. I give tips, help find the right miniature, and watch how visitors immerse themselves in their own world.

    For me, fantasy is something you build — sturdy and layer by layer. And the best part? I get to contribute a little each time.

Björn Simonek
Marketing and Social Media

  • All my life, I have been told I have a vivid imagination. I have always nurtured this imagination through my interest in faith, mythology, and fantasy stories.

    I have always been very adventurous. When I was little and went on holiday to Austria with my parents, I wanted to explore every mountain peak and valley during long walks, to see what was to be discovered. If I had to choose between the swimming pool or the museum, I always chose the museum. I was fascinated by who the Schmerzenman is and admiring the costumes worn during Krampus.

    In 2013, my wife took me to a fantasy event for the first time, and that opened up a whole new world for me. At that event, I found all my interests—and more—in one place, alongside like-minded people.

    It brought me new stories, experiences, and the freedom to let my imagination run wild. Fantasy and everything related to it are deeply rooted in my heart. My love for fantasy will never fade.

Miriam Bos
Graphic Designer

  • I grew up in a warm family where a bit of fantasy always seemed to be around us, like magic in the air. Everywhere in our house, there were books by Brian Froud, Cecily Mary Barker, and Rien Poortvliet. My mother collected stickers of flower fairies, and my grandparents told us that little gnomes lived in their cuckoo clock, setting the breakfast table for them every morning.
    According to my grandfather, you never saw the gnomes because they are naturally very shy, but he assured us they were real. He had caught them once right in the middle of the night. When we doubted him, he would say: “Tonight, I will look for the gnomes and ask if they want to cook a soft-boiled egg tomorrow.” And lo and behold, the next day, there was a soft-boiled egg on the table.

    Thanks to my family and upbringing, I believe in a world where fantasy can set you free. Maybe coincidence doesn’t actually exist, and the unexplainable can simply be explained with a spark of magic.

    As an illustrator, I love to let the fantasy world walk into my work. Gnomes, elves, and mermaids often appear in my illustrations, sometimes openly, sometimes secretly hidden. Also in my picture books, my imagination is free to play, and I invite children to stay a little longer in the magical realm with me.

Guy Clifford 
presentor and musical act manager

  • Hi everyone, I am Guy, and until thirteen years ago my life was acutely ‘normal’that was until a very good friend of mine ( you all know Uncle Roly ) convinced me to venture to the Netherlands to a fantasy festival.

    From that day my life changed, I found a world of wonder, of costumes and inclusivity and beautiful souls in the people I befriended. I was also given the opportunity to use a microphone and introduce bands on stage, such a contrast to my previous life!

    I helped bring a fantasy festival to the Uk as one of its organisers ( fantasy Forest ) so am now able to bring fantasy to the hearts of so many wonderful people .

    And to be able to share my own fantasy costumes ( and hats ) to those visitors to Pixie Spirit makes my heart beat stronger to share my fantasy with them 👌❤️

Uncle Roly
resident lecturer

  • I've been asked, what fantasy means to me in regard to what I'm going to be doing at the Pixie Spirit Fest, and indeed what I've been doing for many years of my life.

    I think a correct answer would be does fantasy actually exist? Or is it another type of reality? One of my favourite Romans said there is no distinction between that which is real and that which I believe to be real.

    So if a fantasy is real for you does it become less real simply because someone else doesn't understand it. I've spent my life researching myths, legends, fairy tales, and many of them have a basis in what most people would call fact. But if the myth and the legend, well the legend certainly, have a basis in fact, does that therefore mean that that legend is an alternative history? An alternative way of looking at what has happened? Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Cinderella, most of their stories were written down by the brothers Grimm and were researched and recorded by them. They do have a basis in ancient folk beliefs, many of them telling a cautionary tale or indeed are based on actions of real people.

    So if you're listening to a fairy story, are you listening to something that is purely made up? Or are you indeed listening to something that is an alternative way of viewing history? I personally don't know, and I hope I never find out because that'll take most of the Magic away. But I think that's what is important.

    It's not coming to someone for answers, but going away with more questions, and that encourages you to go out and find more. Otherwise, if anyone says they're giving you answers to questions all they're doing, they're giving you their answers which might not necessarily be the right ones. Remember, even as a historian, you only work with the material you got at the moment.

    Next to making occasional announcements concerning news about the event, that's what I will be looking forward doing at Pixie Spirit Fest and that's what I've done for many years. Many of you of course have already come and listen to me as the years have gone on. So I shall continue to explore legends, fairy stories, history, and of course continuing the series of the castles in which I have lived and worked, see you there!

Andrea Aurelli
Photographer

  • I grew up in a house filled with magic and fantasy. My earliest memories go back to my father's passion for Tolkien, and I remember how he spent hours admiring the illustrations of Brian Froud and reading his books.

    When I close my eyes, I still see the beautiful drawings Alan Lee made of Middle-earth and The Silmarillion.

    I also remember how, during holidays in the Austrian Alps, I searched for wild strawberries with my parents and brother. My parents told us that these were planted by gnomes. The gnomes always knew whether my brother and I had been good boys, and they let us find their treasures.

    To this day, I believe that if something has gone missing from my closet, it has something to do with the mischievous gnomes. And I happily let them play with my things.

    But beware! Never make them angry, or they can become very troublesome…