Legendaerer Mittelalter

Last weekend, instead of going to see the Brussels Flower Carpet, we decided to take Etsy with us to check out the Legendaerer Mittelalter.  It was advertised as the answer to the Renaissance Festival back stateside. 

Just like at home, all the vendors were in costume and the people attending were all encouraged to be in costume as well.

It was different than back home in what was focused upon.  Stateside, the Renfest is much more entertainment based.  I would say roughly half of the stands are people putting on shows: magic tricks, comedy, juggling, and the like. 

Here, the vast majority of the wares sold were hand made: leather shoes and boots, furs, wood work, wooden spoons, wooden tables, wooden chairs, armor, swords, spear heads, bows and arrows.  The vendors all had their own tents on the property with their own flags.  The flags were my personal favorite touch because they actually made it really easy to pick different stands from a distance.  They also had all hand-made chairs, benches, tables, and fire-places and cauldrons where they cook their food.  There were very few people pitching entertainment.  They sold a surprising amount of raw materials: leather, bolts of linen, ink, sealing wax and stamps.  A lot of the food sold there was made by the vendors: hoenigwein, dutch-oven bread, spaezel, and brezels.

Here are some pictures we took.  Here are three Roman soldiers we saw.

Some fresh baked bread...

We bought one of these cutting boards and a wooden spoon from this stand.

J loved the setup these people had in their tent.

Here are some other tents and setups we saw that we liked.

Some nice tasty bretzel...

 Nice!

The first live cobbler I've ever seen!

Neither of us were quite sure what was going on here, but I thought the actual setup to be entertaining in and of itself.

Lots and lots of wax seals to choose from!

Bows anyone?

Or swords?

Interesting boxes.

Here is the two tone stamp color idea I saw...

Even the dog got something (it was actually just water)!

Random pirate stand...

Another cool tent setup...

 Some spaetzel we tried out...

They even sell hemp products!

Cloth for sale...

Spear tips and arrow heads...

Swords and helmets...

...and leather purses...

Some pretty cool wooden bowls, plates, cutting boards, and neat wall designs...

The grand finale...a phoenix banner!

All in all, it felt a lot more like what an actual middle ages market would be like.  Unlike back home though, no forges.  I also found, at long last, the horn seal stamp that I have been looking everywhere for.  They also showed how to use stamp ink to create a two-colored wax seal stamp.  The ink that I also bought there was the cheapest I had ever found per volume anywhere.  I am now well stocked for calligraphy!

Our next trip planned is going to be camping in Belgium.  We're pretty excited to check it out!  I'll keep you posted.