St Catherine's Faire and Royal Visit

Welcome to St Catherine's Faire - a weekend of medieval arts, combat, feasting and revelry, in the presence of Their Majesties, Henri and Beatrice, King and Queen of Lochac.

NOTE: bookings for food and accommodation have now closed, as we're using every chair and table in the site. If you missed out you are still most welcome to day-trip to attend tourneys, classes, court and the ball. To go onto the waiting list, please fill in the booking form below for what you would like to attend: if there are cancellations, the steward will be in touch with you.

• BOOKING FORM

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

Dates and times

Friday November 30th to Sunday December 2nd.

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). Scheduled activities will begin late in the afternoon, but will remain informal through Friday evening.

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 Investiture).

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 a completely private.

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

Schedule

Schedule for St Catherine's - last updated 12/11/2012

It's possible that there will still be some minor changes, but the broad outlines won't change.

Activities

SCANZ AGM (Friday, 8:30pm)

The annual general meeting of SCA New Zealand. This will be in the main eating hall. We have quite a few motions to cover, so please do attend and vote. If you don't want to, please move outside, or keep the noise down.

Ball (Saturday, 4:30pm)

The Ball will be run by Anna de Wilde. Everyone attending (time permitting) will have the opportunity to choose a dance. Anna will have a list of popular dances, and will be able to assist in making a selection if you wish. You may request a dance that has already been done, you may request something that only you and your partner know - it's entirely up to you.

Embroidery Competition

See here for details. Judging will be on Saturday morning: please submit your entry to Caterine de Vantier, at the A&S display tables in the small hall, between 9 and 10 am.

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

Armoured tournament - format TBA (Sunday, 10am)

Classes:

Tent-making and cooking (Hawis de Wercewode, all weekend)

Hawis will be opening her campsite to discuss tent-making and cooking over a campfire. Look for the big blue geteld (tall, A-shaped tent).

Beginners Dance Class (Caterine de Vantier, Friday 5pm - before dinner)

Spend an hour brushing up some simple, popular dances, in preparation for the ball on Saturday night.

Singing (Christine Bess Duvaunt, Friday 7pm - after dinner, before SCANZ AGM)

As well as a few of the usual rounds, we will be going over some of the songs that we have recently been practicing in Ildhafn. Some of these will be known favorites, others may be new to you. Everyone who would like a good sing whatever your level you are welcome to come along to this class and give it a go.

Have a look at our Music Page for a preview. We're likely to look at some or all of Laudemus virginem, My love hath vow'd, Dona Nobis Pacem, Verbum caro factum est, Contrapunto bestiale alla mente, and O my heart.

Girdle Books (Isabell Winter, Saturday 10am)

For a preview of Isabell's skill in bookbinding, have a look at her website.

Dance: Contrapasso Nuovo (Anna de Wilde, Saturday 11am)

Contrapasso Nuovo is a 16th-century Italian dance for six. If we don't get six people, we'll do another 16thC Italian dance from the CF ball list: Cesarina, Spagnoletta, or Il Conto del Orco. Some previous experience with dancing will be helpful.

Tubular tablet weaving (Amalie von Brisache, Saturday noon)

The class will be on tubular tablet weaving.  We will make (or start making) a tubular band, like this one: http://www.silkewerk.com/tabletweaving/tubular.html. The band will be suitable for using as a seal tag for a Kingdom award (http://fibreguildoflochac.pbworks.com/w/page/33741548/Seal-Tag-project) I won't be explaining how to thread up cards so if you have not learned that before (I can give a run though privately if necessary) you won't be getting the full picture. The class will take less than an hour (but weaving the whole band will probably take more like 2 or 3).  Bring a belt if you have one. Cards and silk provided.

Locks (Grimm of Thornby, Saturday 3pm - after court)

A talk on period locks and lock-making, with examples.

Banner-painting (Christine Bess Duvaunt, Saturday 3pm - after court, and Sunday morning from 10am)

In the effort to create Painted Wall hangings to be used at events such as these. Christine invites the populous to come and take up a brush and paint within the lines on the already prepared fabric for this en masse effort. Little skill is required....a willingness to help will be encouraged.

Drugs and Medicine (Kotek Torzhokskoi, Sunday 11am)

Looking at drugs and interventions provided by 21st century medical professionals and their history (for those that existed in some form before 1600ish).

12th-century shoe decoration (William de Wyke, Sunday noon)

For a preview of William's skill in shoe-making, have a look at his blog.

Pricing

The full adult price - 2 nights, 6 meals - is $80.

If you're only attending part of the event, we'll adjust the price accordingly. If you book after the 16th 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, I'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 will be in touch to confirm the exact cost.

Bookings

Bookings to William de Wyke (Alasdair Muckart).

Please fill out the form and William will get back with you to confirm your booking and the total cost for your group.

Bookings close on November 23rd (a week before the event), and adult prices rise by $10 on November 16th (a fortnight before the event). You don't need to book to just visit during the day, but you do need to book for food or accommodation.

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 I finalise the schedule (late October) I'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

Lady Aesa Hrolfsdottir (Wendy Rowsell) will help those who are visiting from out of town and need assistance with billeting or transport. She'll 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 - Katherina Weyssin (Katherine Davies)
• Deputy Steward, wrangler of Things Martial - Eleanor Hall 
  • Archery - Geoffrey de Wulf
• A&S Wrangler - Christine Bess Duvant (Chantelle Gerrard)
• Herald - Ludwig von Regensburg (Patrick Bowman)
• Bookings - William de Wyke (Al Muckart)
• Billeting - Aesa Hrolfsdottir (Wendy Rowsell); also willing to act as food-buyer for out of town cooks
• Cooks - Androu (feast), Ludwig (Friday dinner), Catalina (Sunday breakfast), Serafina (roving cooks' 2IC), Isabel (lunch), Katherine Xavier (lunch), Anna de Wilde (Saturday breakfast)
• Royal Liaison - William de Cameron (David Robb)
• Dancing - Anna de Wilde