Richmond Highland Games and Celtic Festival 1999

["Magdalena de Hazebrouck" <magdalena-de-hazebrouck@home.com>]

Poster: "Magdalena de Hazebrouck" <magdalena-de-hazebrouck@home.com>

In 1998 and 1997, the Barony of Caer Mear and friends have put on demo at
the Richmond Highland Games and Celtic Festival.  This year will be no
different.  In fact, we so enjoyed the time/place-focused demo that we did
last year, that we decided to do that again, only bigger and better.  It was
also a big hit with the public, who came by in the THOUSANDS.

We hereby extend an invitation to the denizens of this tavern, and all other
interested folk of this kingdom, to join our demo team, which is now
forming.  If we really enjoy this, we may use this team for other
demos/events/etc.

The time/place of the team is Edinburgh, Scotland in approx 1570.   Queen
Mary is in England, the official religion is now protestant, and Scotland is
experiencing an unsteady peace and a bustling trade with Flanders and other
allies.   We want to do mostly first person presentation and our goal is to
educate and amuse the populace, to increase SCA focus and understanding of
this time and place, and to enjoy ourselves immensely.  So this is a good
opportunity for those with an interest in this time and place to learn,
teach, to do a little drama, and generally to strut your stuff.

The theme of this demo will be "The Great Chain of Being - A Cross Section
of Daily Life in Edinburgh, 1570".  Please note that Edinburgh is LOWLANDS
Scotlands and folk in great kilts would be in very short supply.

"We" are, at this point-
Magdalena de Hazebrouck (ain't that a scots name?), general organizer,
writing up a historical back ground cheat sheet.
magdalena-de-hazebrouck@home.com
Baroness Margaret Cameroun, garb nazi and knowledge resource, writing a garb
cheat sheet. mcameroun@aol.com
Lady Mavi of Black Diamond, prop nazi and knowledge resource, writing a prop
cheat sheet.
Lady Naomi MacAlpin, facilitator for the Society of St Lawrence (cook's
guild), who will be captain of the cooking station.  She will have food for
participants only at the event for a small donation. palmoret@usa.net

Our first open meeting will be at the home of Baroness Margaret (Maggie
Billingslea)
Here is how the Celtic Festival works:

Date: 10/23, 10/24

Setup on Friday 10/22 and early on 10/23.  Gates open to the public at 9:00
AM, activities begin at 10:00 AM.  Gates close to the public at sundown
(5-6PM).  Overnight camping is available to those with a participant pass,
but all tentage that is not part of the demo must be GONE when the gates
open at 9:00 AM and you must be IN GARB at that time.  NO ONE gets in or
parks for free without a participant/parking pass.  That includes your kids,
wife/husband, friend who decided to come along!!!!  You may bring your dog,
as long as you can keep your dog and/or the public safe from each other.
There is water and portapotties, but no showers.  You can request supplies
from the Festival Grounds staff (through me) well in advance, hay bales and
fire wood being the most popular requests.  In order to get a pass, I must
request an exact number of passes from the Festival Grounds production
manager by 9/15/99, so that they can be mailed to me and distributed to you.
You will need to make arrangements with me PRIOR to the event to pick up
your pass.  Because of all that, planning well in advance is absolutely
essential.  We will cut off the list of participants on the week after
Pennsic.  Tickets for the weekend at the door run about $16.

The demo will be run on stations with some specialty events.  Each station
will be staffed with 2 people at a time, so we need a minimum of 4 people
per station.  To staff a station, you need to work with your team to
research, write and memorize your spiel and setup the visual display, if
any.  Your garb should be consistent with your subject (i.e., trades men
should not be dressed in satin, college robes to discuss theology and
literature).  Since you get burned out quickly answering the same dumb
questions a thousand times, the stations will be staffed on two hour shifts,
and the specialty events will be an hour or less.  This will give everyone
time  to walk around the grounds, drink beer, eat scotch eggs, listen to
music, buy things from the merchants and watch big men in skirts throw heavy
things.

What we need:
1. there will be a guide or welcome person(s), who speaks in third person
about the SCA, the demo, hands out flyers, encourages the public to go to
the stations and talk to people.  This person must be in garb and must be
very social and energetic.  This is a burnout position and we will rotate
this often.
2.  Basic life station captains and staff for 3-6 stations.  Topics can be
things like: cooking, tradesmen and guild life, armor and military strategy,
apothecary shop, textiles and lace, making leather jacks, merchants and
trade, upper class life, etc...
3. Specialty events - these will be posted on a schedule with the Festival
Grounds staff so that folks will know when to come see what they want to
see.  Ideas: dance, period games, a surgeon, rapier demo, madrigals or other
musicians, college dons debating philosophy or religion, special craft
demos, putting on a great kilt, glass beads, etc.
4. Support.  We need folks to help put up and take down tents, dig a fire
pit, run to the store in jeans for bottled water, find the FG staff and ask
a question, etc.
5. Mentors, teachers, preparatory workshop teachers, garb experts, scots of
all sorts.  Even if you cannot/willnot be involved in the demo, we would be
gratefull for any guidance we can get, since many of us have personas from
another time/place.
6. MALES.  We don't want this to be exclusively a wool and garb demo.
7. People with ideas.  We don't have them all.  As long as you stay in
theme, you can write your own ticket, here, and show off something your know
and love.


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