Carnival & Fair News

Based on a bestselling young adult novel of the same name, The Way of The Warrior Kid starring Chris Pratt is scheduled to open on Christmas Day. The story follows a bullied 11-year-old boy who finds his inner warrior through the mentorship of his Navy Seal uncle, played by Pratt, who thrilled audiences as part of the Marvel Universe with Guardians of the Galaxy and as the lead non-dinosaur character in the Jurassic World franchise.

Spoiler alert that will be of interest mainly to the fair, carnival, event and outdoor amusement industry.  The midway scenes in the film were created with equipment furnished by Kastl Amusements, a west-coast/southwest carnival company based in Southern California. It won't be the first film featuring Kastl equipment and/or midway. A smaller, upstart carnival company that has been around since about 1999 and operated by the husband-and-wife team of Frank and Kay Kastl, both of whom are third generation carnival professionals.

Although both are from carnival families – Frank's family owned the legendary Greater Kastl Shows, which folded in the 1980s and Kay's father was Digger Wabinksy, operator of AMP Shows and Badger State Amusements – Frank and Kay both grew up on the midways. But when they met in the 1990s at a social function consisting of multiple generations of carnival families, they weren't full time in the industry. Both had graduated from college and were pursuing careers in other businesses, such as real estate development. “We were out of the industry when we met, said Frank.   “We never meant to start a whole carnival. I owned just a few larger pieces and equipment, such as Musical Chairs that my father bought that I ended up booking around with a little bit.” 



Start Small Ironically, although not working in the industry, the couple met at a wedding of friends who were. As Kay tells it. “basically, we started as a young couple 29 years ago. We gave up careers in real estate development. I have a degree in hotel and restaurant management.


The couple added to the rides with a series of games and some food concessions – today that inventory is 36 rides, two food concessions and up to 15 game concessions, smaller depending on the inventory – and they cobbled together a route that consisted of still-dates and fundraisers, subcontracting with larger carnival companies such Ray Cammack Shows, Brown's Amusements and Helm & Sons Amusements. The company plays a handful of small fairs and most significantly, contracts with larger fairs with robust independent midways, including the Ventura County Fair and the San Diego County Fair.

“Booking into Ventura County in 2003 was a turning point,” said Kay “We had about ten rides and that made booking fairs easier. Ventura was gracious enough and they needed equipment and that gave us an independent midway contract. We were part of the melting pot of rides on the midway.” 

The company expanded its route to include Arizona and Nevada. “We were the perfect size for a shopping center,” said Kay. “We also had top notch equipment. [Frank] is very, very good with the maintenance and painting and getting new and used equipment. Our presentation always looks good, and we began booking more contracts.”



The key to operating a successful smaller carnival company is its flexibility. What's been a growing segment of the businesses have been corporate rentals for a wide array of functions, but especially for Hollywood. The upcoming “The Way of The Warrior Kid” was not the first time the movies came calling. This film set required about 15 pieces for its fair scenes, a rather sizeable rental for a production use. But Kastl Amusements have been in several films and often at red-carpet events, film openings and other entertainment business functions where the eye-catching excitement of a Ferris Wheel and other rides make the event more memorable and exciting. 

“We do quite a few rentals with movie companies,” said Kay. “There was a niche here that not all carnival companies could fill. We built it by word of mouth because of how we do what do. We've met a ton of celebrities, both onset and at movie premiers, which will have a ride or two.”

The Hollywood connection also widened their net for other corporate events in the area, such as a corporate event for In-N-Out Burger, a famous fast food Golden State chain.  It's easier when they contact the company and have an established reputation in this line of rentals, but for some still dates Kay is researching areas and leads. “It can be very hard; you wake up in the middle night trying to find a niche market for events and carnivals. We have been doing well with Greek Churches, which is another niche, they'll use 4-6 rides.”

The challenge is scheduling events, which often means having rides and equipment in two or more places each weekend, before the fair season begins to kick into gear after Independence Day.  Typically, the fair's bulk of business occurs between May and October, although they do subcontract in the first quarter of the year, such as with RCS for the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. “Depending on what time of the year, sometimes we managers are running back and forth to different fairs on the same day,” she said. 

Whether it's rides for a fair or a church fundraiser or a blockbuster movie, “carnival companies are the hardest working people in the industry. We do more in a week than most people, it's very hard work but you have to be passionate about it. It takes more than an 80-hour work week to put out a midway.” 

This year's Kastl Amusements midways will showcase new equipment such as the Mulligan Gondola Wheel, Vertigo, Zero Gravity and Tea Cups obtained at industry conventions, including IAAPA and Gibtown. “We're not buying from places affected by Tariffs,” said Frank. “We are adding new and rebuilt equipment. Last year, we restored equipment with new LED light systems. We're not experiencing as many shipping delays this year, I think those problems are rectified.”



FunTagg Future Another new addition for 2025 will be a cashless midway, FunTagg. Kastl Amusements has become part of the FunTagg system and will be rolling out the new transaction technology at some events this year.  Frank and Kay met with the owners of FunTagg, Frank Zaitshik and Debbie and Corky Powers. “Our biggest fear was the system going down and if it goes down, as a smaller operator, we'd lose all our data. After the meeting, we're assured that would not be a problem, we're going to have eight kiosks, so we'll have eight points of sale instead of one ticket booth.”