St Catherine's Faire 2013

Welcome to St Catherine's Faire - a weekend of medieval arts, combat, feasting and revelry.

NOTE: BOOKINGS ARE NOW CLOSED!

If you have any questions about the event, or would like to volunteer to help out or run a class, please email the steward (Lady Christine Bess Duvaunt) 

• dates and times
• site
• schedule
• details of activities
• prices
• bookings
• accommodation
• staff

Dates and times

Friday December 6th to Sunday December 8th 2013.

On Friday, the site will open for the set-up crew at about noon, and for the populace at about 2pm (contact the steward if you need earlier access). There will be no scheduled activities on the Friday as people will be busy arriving and setting up, however, the event will be garbed from 6pm.

Dinner will be available from about 6pm on Friday, and through the evening, so those who arrive later need not fear missing out.

Saturday is the main part of the event. If you can only come for one day, come on Saturday.

On Sunday, it's fun in the morning, lunch, and then packing and cleaning the site.

Site

Camp Sladdin. Thorpe's quarry road, Clevedon (same site as last year's St Catherine's Faire).

Camp Sladdin is about three-quarters of an hour's drive South of central Auckland, and about half an hour from the airport.

It has two halls, bunk-rooms (not the most luxurious, but available to those who need them), plentiful space for tents, a large kitchen, showers and toilets, space for classes, fighting, archery, a campfire and more. It backs onto a reserve with pretty walks in native forest (try it at night for the glow-worms); however, the walking paths are open to the public, so it's not completely private.

There is an partially-fenced stream running through the site: smaller children will need close supervision.

Schedule

Schedule for St Catherine's -second draft (updated 22/11/2013)

This is still a draft and subject to change.

Activities

Ball (Saturday, 4:00pm)

Anna ce Wilde will be taking requests for what the populous wishes to dance, and the same dance can be suggested more than once. You may wish to look at the Canterbury Faire Ball list on the Ildhafn website listed under dance in order to get some ideas and get some practice in. 

Fencing tournament - Baronial Fencing Championship (Saturday, 10am)

Armoured Combat - TBA

A&S Classes:

These are yet to be scheduled. If you are interested in running a class, please contact the steward.

Pricing

The full adult price - 2 nights, 6 meals - is $82.

If you're only attending part of the event, we'll adjust the price accordingly. If you book after the 19th of November the price will go up a bit.

Camp Sladdin charges the full accommodation-rate for even the smallest children, so we must too; otherwise, we've tried to make the pricing for children reflect what they're likely to consume.

Once you've filled out the booking form, the Steward or Bookings Officer will be in touch to confirm the exact cost.

Bookings

Bookings for this event are now closed.

Bookings to Katherina Weyssin (Katherine Davies).

You don't need to book to just visit during the day, but you do need to book for food or accommodation. There will be a booking form available for you to fill out.

Bookings close on November 29th (a week before the event), and adult prices rise by $10 on November 19th (a fortnight before the event).

Why book early?

1. It's a nice thing to do for the steward, if you can: it's much easier to plan when you know how many people are coming and what they want to do.
2. If you've booked by the time we finalise the schedule (late October) we'll be able to take your requests into account.
3. As usual, everyone on site will be asked to help out. People who book early will get to choose their chores; those who book later will be assigned whatever is left.
4. Adult prices jump by $10 a fortnight before the event.

Accommodation: to bunk or to tent?

There's plenty of space for tents, and facilities to make tenting comfortable.

Camp Sladdin has bunk-rooms, but they're what you get for $8.50 a night in a site designed for children.  In the past some people have found the beds too short for tall adults, too many beds and people in one room (16 or more), and the top bunks hard to climb into (they're stacked three- and four-high).

If you can conveniently stay in a tent, please do so, so that the bunks are as little crowded as possible for those who need them. If you won't be happy or healthy without a comfortable, adult-sized bed you may be better off day-tripping or getting a room  in motel.

There are a number of motels with rooms in the $80-$100 range in Papakura, about 15 minutes drive away; and some more luxurious bed-and-breakfasts close by in Clevedon.

Billeting and transport

We are able to help those who are visiting from out of town and need assistance with billeting or transport. The Stewarding team will be in touch if you ask for either of these on your booking form.

We can't promise anything, but we'll certainly try to help.

People

• Steward - Christine Bess Duvaunt (Chantelle Gerrard)
• Deputy Steward - Vettoria di Giovanni da Verona (formerly Caterine de Vantier - Shannon Wanty)
• A&S Wrangler - Christine Bess Duvant
• Herald - Vettoria di Giovanni da Verona
• Bookings - Katherina Weyssin (Katherine Davies)
• Cooks - Elanor Hall (Friday night dinner) Anna de Wilde (Saturday Breakfast) Margaretta Haywards (Saturday Lunch) Norina (Sunday Breakfast) Isabell Winter (Feast Saturday Night) Norina (Sunday breakfast) Katherine of Glastonbury (Sunday lunch)
• Archery - Geffrey de Wulf 
  
• Heavy - Grimm
• Baronial Fencing tournament - William de Cameron
• Ball - Anna de Wilde