Sunday 10 July 2011

Medieval Festival (cue thousands of exclamation marks)

I literally don't know where to begin but be warned this will be long! So let's start at the very beginning.

This is what I wore (and by wore, I also include my hair!)




















And yes, that is an incredibly cheesy grin on my face! I was more than a bit excited. And then I felt odd because I didn't buy anything special to wear... I genuinely own and wear these clothes in my day to day life. Not in that combination, but it makes me wonder if my personal style is 'Medieval Peasant'? Not the most stylish of fashion concepts I think you'll agree!

It took a while to get there and we got stuck in traffic but we made a game out of it, peering into every car beside us to see if the occupants were dressed up. Thank goodness for our tinted windows! We only ended up seeing one or two people dressed up in their cars but it certainly made the time go quicker.

As we were walking in to buy our tickets, there was hardly anybody dressed up but once we were inside there were so many people all dressed up! It was BRILLIANT!!!!!! I wussed out and took zero photos of people because I am a scaredy cat. But my favourites were this guy with long red hair and beard who looked like he'd stepped off the set of 'Braveheart' in his Scottish warrior regalia. And this man in full on leather armour with a minotaur helmet on.

I think you can see one or two people dressed up, but I put this picture up so you can see what a gorgeous winter's day it was. Perfect clear blue sky, sun beating down on us and a crisp wind to stop things from being too hot.

Now, when me and my roomies get together, we usually indulge in our love of food. There was SO much food on offer- big hunks of meat, pies of every flavour and even a stall called The Vegetari Inn (say it aloud, it wins my award for best pun of the day). We went to a Spanish stall and they both got taster plates and I had chorizo and palenta. You'll have to take my word for it because we'd all nearly finished when I realised I should have taken photos. Well, it's not like I have a food blog. Throughout the day, we also had poffertjes and various other sweet things.

There was also a tavern which we stopped in and had some cider. And watched a gurning contest. Gurning is where people pull the ugliest face they can and the ugliest face wins. Roomies and I fell in love with a contestant called Ian who was middle aged and definitely not on his first cider of the day. When it was announced that he had come third in the contest, us and a random group of guys protested so hard that we 'changed history' and Ian came second!!

There was lots of swordfights throughout the day. Some were choreographed and some just involved a blunted sword, a shield and the attitude 'just go for it'!

















But I was really there for the jousting! We started off a 'boom-boom-clap' a la 'We Will Rock You' because since 'A Knight's Tale', I think that if you go and see jousting, it has to happen at least once. It was awesome when the whole crowd was going... but we had to stop as it scared the horses. The jousting was really good, I love seeing the horses and the outfits and nothing puts me more into a Medievaly state of mind.

There was some amazing craftsmanship on offer and if I was a billionaire I would have walked away with drinking horns, jugs shaped like dogs and about a dozen cloaks and other assorted outfits. Alas, I am not- so I contented myself with a dragon charm (see previous post) and a celtic cross necklace.

The day was so much fun and I can't wait for the next one. I might have to hit up ebay or etsy for an actual costume. I had severe costume envy going on.

Hope your weekends are just as fun. Thanks for all the support re: my failure as a monitor of animal health during operations :)

3 comments:

ladykate63 said...

Woo! A medieval weekend! :) I think that's your signal to finally get back to the Robin Hood board, no? ;) (You really should post the story and pictures there; you totally look like an RH extra!) I do seriously hope I'm not being a pain -- would LOVE to see you there. I think you'll like my GoT/RH crossover topic. :)

Katie said...

Oh wow, actual jousting! That's amazing!

It looks like such a fantastic event and I'm so glad it lived up to that excited grin on your face right at the start.

Abigail said...

This looks like a freaking AWESOME faire. I wish I could've been there!!! I love your outfit, but totally understand the costume envy (I bought a bodice at the faire I was at a few weeks ago... out of envy). So wonderful!!! Also, odd that it's winter where you are, whilst here we are in the throws of summer heat :).