Last weekend we had a beautiful day at the Faire! Mutton and Mead is an annual celebration in Western Massachusetts with a casual and merry mood. It is one of the few proper “Medieval Festivals” in the area, similar too, but not to be confused with, a Renaissance fair. Essentially the same in activity (shopping, beholding, drinking), but the theme and costume is of an earlier time. Fair season for me is an excuse to celebrate the outdoors and humanities’ former dependence on the seasons and the abundance of nature. A way to spend the day living inside the art, culture, and war of the past, when man had more reverence for natural processes.
The weather could not have been more perfect for the time of year: high 70’s and only a few clouds. In past experience this fair is usually sweltering. Heat waves and unrelenting sun are the norm, so I planned for the worst with a hat, full sleeves, and a high neckline. It’s too early in the season for a sunburn.
I wore my breezy middle-ages farmer’s tunic, and rustic harem pants which were surprisingly cool, and carried an axe, knife, canteen, and a cross-body drinking horn. Jake was in his gray viking pants I made from cotton sheets, and a shirt and breastplate ordered online. He had to wear leather bracers despite the heat all day just so he wouldn’t stab himself on the two axes he carried along with a water pouch and drinking horn.
We saw birds of prey, acrobatics, mock battles and sparing, and a bit of the knight’s skills competition. We ate cider donuts, mutton, pot pie, and drank smoothies and rum. We should have gone for the mead earlier in the morning when there was no line. By the time we were ready to start drinking in the early afternoon, the line was no longer worth the wait. We spent more money on the dog than on ourselves in the shops, which is typical for us. She thoroughly enjoyed the moose shed we brought home for her. If you have a chance to attend the fair yourself, I highly recommend walking through the enchanted forest for a place to cool off and recharge, and seeing the Wheel of Death as is it quite a dangerous spectacle.
