We went to the medieval festival in Speyer. It was held in the Domgarten (cathedral gardens). The festival had a much bigger turnout than we expected. What I knew of the Speyer Domgarten is that it is not that big. So we planned to get there early so we could have a good look at the stalls. We were pleasantly surprised with how much was going on there. This one was put on by a travelling group called Mittelalterich Phantasie Spectaculum. Unfortunately for the participants, Saturday had provided a couple of downpours turning low lying parts of the gardens into mud pits at best and small lakes at worst. The wooden shows that Andrea and I had picked up at Adventon were the best thing for the conditions.

Shea Family in Regalia

A Diadem

The players coming to challenge the reputation of the Lady of the manor. Note the banner of Mordor.

So we spent a good part of the morning shopping. Ursula got herself an ocarina and a diadem. Both girls bought bags, too. I guess you could call us cosplayers at this point. We had ourselves some lunch then Kathryn and I watched the jousting tournament. The tournament would have been much more entertaining if we could have heard the players over the sounds of the medieval bagpipe rock band playing on the next stage. Andrea and Ursula wandered around and watched some other performances on the other side of the park. At that point it was about 2:30 and it was getting crowded. We decided to pack it in and head home. On our way out we were surprised to see traffic backed up all the way to the B39! As the rain began to fall, too, we began to feel sorry for the late arrivals.

At home with a tired kitty.