Hear ye! Hear ye! Calling all knights, tradesmen, kings and queens. The Cochrane Public Library is hosting Medieval Day July 27 while also holding a Medieval Day youth writing contest on June 30.
It's the library's fourth annual Medieval Day and it wants you to make it one of the best ever. There will be some amazing free entertainment including knight and viking battles, living history villages, mythical storytelling, magic shows aplenty, dance lessons, music, and so much more.
There will be a cash-prize that will go to the winner of the Medieval youth writing contest, with peoples age 10 to 19 eligible to participate. All forms of writing will be accepted including poetry, short stories, and reports. All entries must use one book and one online source for their work (either research or inspiration), and must be submitted with a cover page that includes your name, phone number, guardians name, guardians signature and date. Deadline for submission is on or before 5 p.m. Sunday June 30.
"I can't even begin to describe how excited we are to be bringing back Medieval Day to the incredible people of Cochrane," said program librarian Andrea Johnston. "Last year's event was such a huge success and we really can't wait for July. We're also extremely excited to be bringing back the youth writing contest back and can't wait to see the submissions we get this year."
Johnston said there were a number of new activities added to this year's event to make the day fun-filled for everyone.
"We're going to have a pony-hop station which, in this librarian's humble opinion, is going to be hysterical. We're getting bouncy ponies in three sizes so children, teens and adults can challenge one another to a pony race," Johnston said. "We're also going to have a safe archery range with foam-topped arrows that families can take part in and Magnus Dumbledore, Albus Dumbledore's cousin will be preforming a magic show for us."
"I am also extremely excited to say we have partnered with the Cochrane Photography Club who will be coming by and setting up a photo booth for participants who come in costume. They may even set up a green screen but there will definitely be opportunities for our costumed Medieval Day-goers to have a professional photo of themselves to remember the day with. Finally, our drama club is going to be performing the play King Arthur: Crisis at Camelot by Geoff Bamber for everyone to enjoy."
"So for new attendees, they should absolutely come in costume so they can get a great photo with the Cochrane Photography Club. They also plan to hang around for several hours as there's going to be so much going on! Viking fights, Knights attacking one another, Medieval dance lessons, magic shows, shopping, food trucks, bouncy castles, Minecraft station, craft tables, photo opportunities galore, and lots of hands-on Medieval games."
"This isn't an event you can just show up to and walk around for 30 minutes and be done. This is an event that aims to really take you back in time and educate you on how life was once lived. Our performers and re-enactors are so wonderful and interact with the public so well that families will walk away from Medieval Day really knowing what the Medieval ages were like. And they're going to have a ton of fun while they're at it."
There was a bit of confusion around town that the Medieval Day wasn't going to be continuing this year, but Johnston cleared the air and said that wasn't the case.
"Absolutely. We really did think that this year was going to be our last as we aren't sure how much longer we'll have use of the adjacent lot (new buildings, new transport hub, etc.) so we were ready to have 2019 be our last hurrah," Johnston said.
"However, we've been in talk with a number of groups including Cochrane Tourism, and we have decided that since Medieval Day has become such a huge and important event here in our Town, that it is something we want to continue to offer and continue to celebrate for many years to come."
Medieval Day will begin festivities at 10:30 a.m. on July 27 and will go until 4:30 p.m.
