Timeline Fair

Time for another update! I'll try and keep it brief and not too boring. Over the weekend some members of JOAS (myself included) and the staff of Manning Imperial attended the Berwick Timeline Fair. It's usually called MMFAT (Melbourne Medieval Festival and Tourney), but there were different organizers this year. Same festival, different name.

All in all, it turned out pretty well. The merchant stalls were placed in the shade of the trees and buildings at the Old Cheese Factory, while the reenactors set up their tents in the field behind for the public to wander through. There were several displays from various groups - jousting by Full Tilt, combat by quite a few clubs including the New Varangian Guard and the SCA, firearms displays, the full shebang.

Quite a few time periods were represented as well. Want a list? Here we go!
-Ancient Greeks and Romans

-Dark Age Europe (Vikings, Saxons)
-Medieval Europe (13th, 14th and 15th centuries)
-Renaissance

-Victorian Era
-World War 1 and 2

Most of the above had at least a couple of clubs for each category, and the field was lined with tents around the borders with room in the middle for displays. All in all, pretty packed.

The main event for myself, however, was the birds of prey display by the Full Flight Conservation Centre, based in Flemington, VIC. I didn't see the full display, but they did have three peregrine falcons, a wedge-tailed eagle and one owl of some sort out the back. It was quite interesting - the people running the display showed us how the falcons hunt by letting the falcons fly off, spinning a lure above their heads and waiting for them to dive for the lure. Of course, they did have an extra treat for those watching - holding one of the birds. Because I love the attention, here's a photo of myself holding the eagle.

All in all, a good weekend for all. Not as many of the public turned up as we would have hoped, but certainly not a loss for those who arrived.