SA Medieval Fair

I've been going to medieval fairs for a little over 5 years now and this one was probably the worst one yet. It just felt overly commercialised and there was none of the passion which it's predecessors had. Everything, from the prices of the food and wares sold just felt like cheap gimmicks, instead of historically authentic items which you'd typically buy from an event such as this.And that's not to mention the complete removal of the medieval aesthetic. Here I saw katana's being sold, red coats teaching a crowd how to 'bayonet charge' with sticks and a store selling what appeared to be pagan charms and rocks?It felt like the organisers of this event just said, Eh

For how big the location they were using for the event was, I would think they could have worked out a way better parking situation. Cars were parked all over the place. There was an overpriced entry fee of $25 which instantly takes away from the money that will be spent with the vendors, who I assume are paying to be there. They supplied 2 toilet locations (with about 3 toilets each) from what I could see, and by midday 2 of the toilets were blocked. The food was another thing, (Not only the ridiculous wait time, and I wish I took photos) $8 for a small cup of chips, $14 for the smallest hotdog I've ever seen, mostly just bread with a soapy tasting sausage and $10 for 5 tiny chicken balls that if squished together wouldn't even make one full sized meatball. It was still great to see how many people were dressed up and in the theme of it and the tavern had a good atmosphere. I feel with a few changes like more food vendors and toilets, as well as a smaller entry fee, or even a token that gets you 1 drink after paying that amount will really improve the event. I hope it was still successful for everyone and continues to get bigger and better.

There was nothing especially redeemable about this fair, it felt like Disney World, in the fact that everything was designed to get as much money from you as possible.After driving about an hour, we go in and pay around 20 dollars entry fee. This would be fine, if not for the fact that every stall, selling both food and goods wasn't overpriced to begin with. For example each store was selling goods that clearly were mass manufactured and sold via quantity, instead of quality. Helmets that were a dime a dozen and in boxes out the back, were sold for around 200 - 500 dollars, crystals were around 30 - 75 dollars and the food was about 14 dollars for smallish meals, that wouldn't even satiate a child.That's not to mention the complete paucity of medieval shops. I reckon there were only around 4 shops which were genuinely medieval, the rest of the stalls felt like the stall owners just said, 'eh, this is medieval enough' and charged whatever good at 4 times its worth.Even the events were boring. I've been to a couple of medieval fairs and they normally have groups of people, dressed in priestly garbs singing, fighters doing live bouts with real weapons and so on, but this time it just felt stale. The fighters fought with what looked like sticks, the commentator, instead of regaling the fight, droned on about safety, and the fighters, who often fight to give a rose to the princess, fought over a 'princess' who had bright dyed red hair, a brown beard and a transgender flag draped on their waist. If that was a princess, then I may as well be a unicorn.That wasn't even it, while browsing stalls I overheard stall owners or organisers inviting people to join their Discord and be verified to ensure that said Discord remained a 'safe space' and saw people dressed up as anime characters and furries. It feels like the passion that was once had has disappeared, with people now conflating medieval history and culture with anime.Also apparently the belly dancers were overweight, which I suppose is a perfect encapsulation of the event. It was overpriced, negatively subverted expectations and seems like a mockery of an ancient culture.