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.

This week was the Viking festival in Adventon near Osterburken. Adventon is a permanent medieval village, where the founders want to make a historical village to use as a site for events like these.


Hungry peasants, Ursula, Kathryn, Aiden, and Noah.



Here come the Vikings! Their leader announced that they were there to sieze domestic animals, such as women and children.



The melee! After the last man was left standing, he would annouce that the warriors were not yet ready for Valhala. He would then command the dead to rise. The process would then repeat itself.

The Shea family gets medieval! At the beginning of August we visited the Mittelalterfest in Angelbachtal. We made some progress on our outfits.

Last weekend we went to the Medieval Festival in Angelbachtal. We are starting to really look like a bunch of peasants. I had put a rope on as a belt. When I actually started looking at leather belts, the owner warned me off, saying that the rope was more authentic. Kati got herself a pair of boots, while Andrea and Ursula bought dresses. I satisfied myself with a staw hat. It was a hot day.

We are still unpacking boxes. At least we hung up our pictures. Kathryn is the first to empty all her boxes.

On the weekend we were visited by the Waitzmanns. We went to a medieval faire in Mannheim. The girls each got themselves something. Above, the three archers. Below a lady-in-waiting.