Highland Games and Celtic Festival Demo

[Betty & David Eyer <Betty_and_David@compuserve.com>]

Poster: Betty & David Eyer <Betty_and_David@compuserve.com>

Greetings to all patrons of the Merry Rose!

On October 24 and 25, the Barony of Caer Mear will be organizing a demo at
the Highland Games and Celtic Festival at the Richmond Strawberry Hills
Racetrack at the Virginia State Fairgrounds.  Although we will man the demo
on Saturday the 24th, since this is in competition with Baronial
Investiture/Fall Hunt, we are targeting Sunday the 25th for most of our
participation and we will be getting help from another Living History
organization.    Saturday, we will probably have 2-4 hour watches, so that
folks can participate in Baronial Investiture at least part of the day.

We did this last year and it was a fun and productive demo.  This year, we
will be doing it a little differently.  We will be having three period
encampments; Viking Era, Robert the Bruce and late period urban.  Each
encampment will have a seperate organizer to help the participants with
equipment and garb and generally to bring the level of historical
presentation up to a consistent quality.   On Sunday, we will also have a
list field and will schedule time in the afternoon for heavy weapons and
rapier demonstrations, given appropriate interest from the populace.

The Viking Camp will be led by Sir Ian Andru des Scrogges and will focus on
aspects of daily life.  The Army of Robert the Bruce, based in the
Williamsburg area, will organize the Robert the Bruce encampment, and will
demonstrate camp life at the Battle of Bannockburn.  The late period camp
will be led by Lady Mavi of Black Diamond and will portray a weaving shop -
steps involved in textile construction circa 1600 (S.W.A.T. members
welcome!).  The organizers of each camp will attempt to staff and schedule
the camp so that everyone there can take breaks and see some of the
festival, but if you are in the encampment, you will be expected to be an
active participant for a significant part of the day.  In short, this is
not intended as a way to get free entry into the Celtic festival for all
SCA members, but a sincere attempt to put on a good demo.  My role in this
is to interact with the Strawberry Hills Authority and to make sure that
the encampments and the fighters have what they need to put on a good show.

If you are at all interested in Scots, Irish, Welsh or Breton history
during the above periods, this is an excellent opportunity to increase and
to show off your knowledge.  If you are going to Baronial Investiture, this
would be a good way to extend your weekend and your fun.  If you would like
to join one of these encampments, you should contact me as soon as
possible.  Based on the physical location of the participants, we will
schedule a meeting for each camp in early September.  If you would like to
participate as a fighter on Sunday afternoon, I also need you to contact me
soon, so that I can get a feel for the space we will need.
To gain entry to the Fairgrounds as a participant,  you will need an entry
and a parking pass.  I will need the names of any participants by October
9th to reserve passes.  It may be necessary for participants to carpool,
since the amount of free parking is limited.  Limited crash space is
available, so reserve early!

You can reach me at 804-323-6379 or email me at
Betty_and_David@compuserve.com.
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