Zorro at cons – StarFest 2022
The StarFest festival on 4th-6th November 2022 in Lublin, Poland was the last con Zorro Polish Fandom appeared at last year. We gave a short lecture, and also took part in fencing show and workshops. And we showed new T-shirt designs!
The third time’s the charm, or Zorro at StarFest 2022
“Zorro: History of the Legend”, our short lecture, was delivered for the third time. And every time, a different team gives it. The StarFest team consisted of Isza and Phea. Unfortunately, we were given only an hour, so we needed to cut out lots of the material and gave up on some movie clips. Also the stage was nearby and the loud attractions happening there made it difficult for us to focus on what we’re actually saying. Thankfully, the audience claimed they could hear us well enough. It was a challenge, then. But we faced it and won. And we’re quite proud of ourselves! 😉
There was a person in the audience who already attended our lecture at Kapitularz festival in Łódź, Poland. Apparently, she enjoyed it so much that she came to listen to us again. She also encouraged all her friends to join her at Zorro lecture because it’s so great. 🙂 I suppose, though, she might’ve felt a little disappointed. She asked me about the little Zorro cosplayer, but sadly, there were no Kasia’s kids in Lublin cosplaying Zorro characters like they did at the previous con. 😉
En garde, señor!
On Sunday, Phea with her stage combat group Szermjeże presented a fencing show and ran workshops for the StarFest participants. One of the duels showed a fight between don Diego and capitan Monastario. We recommend it wholeheartedly! Both roles are acted splendidly (Phea plays don Diego accused of being Zorro by the comandante). Lots of fun and emotions!
During the workshop part, the participants were divided into pairs. We practised the moves showed by the instructors, remembering it’s a stage combat all along. Or, in other words, that we don’t really want to hurt our opponent and make them unable to walk for two weeks. We aim at pretending that we defeat them in the most dramatic and spectacular way possible. 🙂 Phea was giving the instructions and I was training with my fiance as my opponent.
Zorro fan’s style at StarFest 2022
We got our fan T-shirts with cool graphics designed by Phea before StarFest. And we wore them while giving the short lecture, like the professional fangirls we are! As the professionals, we decided that each one of us would wear a different design, supporting both hot men of the Zorro series. That’s why Phea’s wearing a Zorro T-shirt while me, the biggest comandante fangirl, is wearing the beautiful Enrique Sanchez Monastario.
I’ll tell you a secret: we both wanted to wear the comandante design for our lecture. Phea, the more reasonable one, said that it’d be kind of awkward as the presentation is about Zorro. And that we represent ZORRO Polish Fandom, after all. Not Monastario Polish fandom, unfortunately. 😉
Wrap-up and plans for 2023
Somehow, it’s become our tradition that after every presentation we deliver, a new person joins our Facebook group. It happened also at StarFest. We’re always happy to welcome fellow Zorro fans into our Polish fandom.
StarFest wasn’t a particularly big festival, but we have good memories connecting to it. After the Saturday lecture, Phea and I were wandering together around the con, talking about Zorro, of course. I was sharing my thoughts and plans concerning my Monastario fanfic, with Phea listening patiently. I suppose none of us really expected that in 2022, Zorro would appear at as many as three bigger festivals. Or that after so many online discussions, we’d meet in person, give the presentations together, and finally become good friends.
Mind you, this is only the beginning. 2023 opens new possibilites for us. We want much more Polish cities to hear about Zorro’s legend and learn about our fandom.
The first & last photos were taken by Yarrow from Informator Konwentowy, who also attended our presentation. Thanks a lot!
