Update at 8 a.m. Noting Jeff Brimble's comment below, if you haven't yet been down to the show, please do. You're unlikely to regret it.
Colourful. Realistic. Dramatic. Imaginative. Stirring. And literally striking. The organisers of the Medieval World & Country Show will no doubt be delighted at the strong turn out on Day One, yesterday. The weather helped, of course. It reached 28°C and imagine what that must've been like under chain mail and armour. At least one knight was wearing fake mail—wool—and that would've been equally hot *and* itchy, to boot.
With competition later today from the football, the organisers might expect Day Two's attendance to be lower. Still, it was a good start to the biggest event staged in Rhuthun/Ruthin in a long, long while. Not just that, the organisers should be congratulated at providing such a wide variety of entertainment and stalls. As one customer said, it was better and there was more to see & do than at the established Castell Bodelwyddan's medieval extravaganza.
The two-day event is reported as costing over £30,000. Not cheap. The company of jousters alone would've commanded a princely four figure sum. The total equates to 2,000 families over the two days, each at £15. Based on Day One, I'd estimate that they will be on track at least to break even.
Perhaps Jeff can confirm.
And what about the town itself? It was woefully quiet yesterday afternoon. Traders seemed a little disappointed that the "medieval thing" was robbing them of business. And, a number of visitors and even locals were unaware of the spectacular on the doorstep. With food retailers on the field till close at 7 p.m., takeaways, a usual beneficiary of such events, were doing average trade.
Things were much different in the morning, though. Even though the produce market was sadly down to just a little more than a dozen stalls, there was a steady stream of people up and down Clwyd Street. Indeed, I would hazard a guess that people were condensing their business into the morning, to get things finished for an afternoon at the show. There was a welcome number of visitors, no doubt making a day of it. The town was fair roaring with people yesterday morning and there was plenty of summer traffic, two. For one thing, I have never seen the indoor market so busy and bustling. And, referring back to the produce market, that was also doing admirable trade, in spite of fewer stallholders. A couple of the usual suspects had migrated into the well-stocked food marquee at the show.
We'd urge everyone to tear themselves from the football this afternoon and visit the show. The finale, the second ever burning of Rhuthun, is three hours earlier, at 4 p.m. By 7 p.m. yesterday evening, there were few people left to see the first one.
Colourful. Realistic. Dramatic. Imaginative. Stirring. And literally striking. The organisers of the Medieval World & Country Show will no doubt be delighted at the strong turn out on Day One, yesterday. The weather helped, of course. It reached 28°C and imagine what that must've been like under chain mail and armour. At least one knight was wearing fake mail—wool—and that would've been equally hot *and* itchy, to boot.
With competition later today from the football, the organisers might expect Day Two's attendance to be lower. Still, it was a good start to the biggest event staged in Rhuthun/Ruthin in a long, long while. Not just that, the organisers should be congratulated at providing such a wide variety of entertainment and stalls. As one customer said, it was better and there was more to see & do than at the established Castell Bodelwyddan's medieval extravaganza.
The two-day event is reported as costing over £30,000. Not cheap. The company of jousters alone would've commanded a princely four figure sum. The total equates to 2,000 families over the two days, each at £15. Based on Day One, I'd estimate that they will be on track at least to break even.Perhaps Jeff can confirm.
And what about the town itself? It was woefully quiet yesterday afternoon. Traders seemed a little disappointed that the "medieval thing" was robbing them of business. And, a number of visitors and even locals were unaware of the spectacular on the doorstep. With food retailers on the field till close at 7 p.m., takeaways, a usual beneficiary of such events, were doing average trade.
Things were much different in the morning, though. Even though the produce market was sadly down to just a little more than a dozen stalls, there was a steady stream of people up and down Clwyd Street. Indeed, I would hazard a guess that people were condensing their business into the morning, to get things finished for an afternoon at the show. There was a welcome number of visitors, no doubt making a day of it. The town was fair roaring with people yesterday morning and there was plenty of summer traffic, two. For one thing, I have never seen the indoor market so busy and bustling. And, referring back to the produce market, that was also doing admirable trade, in spite of fewer stallholders. A couple of the usual suspects had migrated into the well-stocked food marquee at the show.We'd urge everyone to tear themselves from the football this afternoon and visit the show. The finale, the second ever burning of Rhuthun, is three hours earlier, at 4 p.m. By 7 p.m. yesterday evening, there were few people left to see the first one.