If you’re used to dealing with big public events like the Willy Smiths Mid Winter Festival, or medieval faires like Ren Faires and the Sheffield Medieval Festival, then an SCA feast will be a lot different. We’re not putting on a show for the public — we’re inviting the public to join us in a feast. Big difference! Here’s what you need to do.
Paying for booking
Under the SCA’s COVID-19 rules, we can’t physically handle money. That means paying entry at the door isn’t possible. Instead, you can pay using direct deposit or PayID. To avoid certain kinds of bank fraud, we don’t publish those details here. Drop us a line on info@lightwood.lochac.sca.org to confirm amounts and get the payment details.
Dressing up
Part of how we differ from those “putting on a show” events is that we expect every participant at our feasts to dress up in an appropriate style. Some good pseudo-medieval garb can be as simple as a floofy plain-coloured shirt over a long, plain brown or black skirt or trousers, cinched with a belt and accessorised with plain shoes or boots. Ugg boots are perfectly medieval, believe it or not! If you have a plain or tartan woollen cot blanket and a large safety pin or kilt pin, you can make a simple cloak. Our rules only say “a reasonable attempt at pre-17th-century garb”, so we don’t expect perfection. We’re here to have fun, not to nitpick your sewing. (Well, unless you enjoy nitpicking, in which case we can totally put you in touch with some real experts… but that’s optional.)
More in-depth garb ideas are available. We’re updating regularly, so come back and check again if you don’t find something immediately.
Bringing food
Normally, SCA feasts are catered, and we have some excellent cooks in the Canton (the Huon Valley) and the wider Barony (Tasmania). But the COVID rules say no, for the moment. So for this event, you need to bring your own food and drink, to share just among your household. You also need to bring what we call feasting gear: plates, bowls, cups, cutlery, whatever you need. Remember we also can’t offer cleaning facilities, so bring enough for all your courses! We’ll have tables and chairs at least!
Medieval food can be pretty varied. If you avoid potato, tomato, capsicum and chilli (all of which were brought to Europe from the Americas and didn’t get eaten much in medieval times) you still have lots of meats, veges and spices to choose from. If you need recipes, we have plenty here. If you thought medieval meant turnip stew and mouldy mutton, you’re about to have a really delicious awakening!
Entertainment
We’re having a feast together with friends, not putting on a show for spectators, so our entertainment isn’t going to be some flashy spectacular. We have some games to play, and there will be singing and renaissance dancing. We’re going to put on a fashion show of garb throughout the ages, and there will be people to talk to and lots of opportunities to ask questions and find out more about the SCA. If you haven’t given up yet on the idea of having fun without a screen or a motor, we’ll keep you entertained the old-fashioned way.
What about witch-burnings, slave-whippings and wars?
There’s a saying about the middle ages — life back then was just like the people: ugly, brutish and short. But we have our own saying: we live the middle ages not as they were but as they should have been. We have Witches, sure (and Pagans and Christians and Jews and Atheists and many more) but we don’t burn them. Many cultures in medieval times and before had slaves, but we’re all noble here, and our only “servants” are volunteers. You’ve heard how white supremacists are getting into Viking role-play because they think the middle ages were a golden age for them? They’re not welcome around here, and if you want to argue we have some people with swords who will back us up. Bigotry and oppression don’t belong, and we will be very unkind to anyone who behaves otherwise. Oh my yes…
And as for wars… well, we have some big ones, but they’re not what you think. Hundreds or even thousands of armoured combatants of all races and genders, shouting out their battle cries for victory on the war field… and when they’re dead, they get up, dust themselves off, and go again. Then when they’re done for the day, those “enemies” are friends again.
You’ll have to travel for that though, and COVID is making it a little tricky. But boy, do we have some war stories for you. No s***, there I was…
So anyhow, that’s a bit about what to expect from an SCA feast. Don’t forget to book, ask any questions you still have, and we’ll see you there!