Medieval Camp and Renaissance Fair "Spectaculum Worms"

Every year since 2002, "Netzwerk Lebendiges Mittelalter Worms" have been staging a mediaeval spectacular with a market and a camp in the meadows and woods of the Rhine plains in the south of Worms.

Some 24,000 visitors come to experience three days of mediaeval re-enactment in the nature. In a large camp with more than 50 different groups, the time from the year AD500 to AD1500 is reenacted.

Usually the spectacular is opened on Fridays with the ceremonious entry of the participating groups, starting a long see-and-be-seen weekend full of adventure and atmosphere, with plenty of occasions for shopping, feasting, fooling, gambling, ambling, watching, listening, and much more.

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11th Worms Spectaculum from May 18 to 20, 2012

This year, the re-enactment festival will take place from May 18 to 20 in the “Wormser Wäldchen” (municipal woods). As in the previous years, and like at a real medieval market, visitors can stroll along more than a hundred stalls, savour exciting “authentic” food and drinks, watch all kind of shows and roam about a large campground. While the finest of medieval music and a bustle of medieval life will revolve around fools and jesters this year, all friends of the Middle Ages really look forward to the revival of the spectacular field battle.

Field Battle Resumed
‘After a year’s suspension, we are especially happy to see the revival of the field battle’, says Uwe Hildenbeutel, Marshal of the Retinue. ‘Many re-enactors, but also visitors to the fair regretted that this sporting tournament was missing in 2011.’ When last year a courtyard festival show was mounted to celebrate ten years of Worms Spectaculum, the battle had to be suspended because of claims to meet with special requirements regarding environmental protection. This year’s fight will be staged on Saturday and Sunday at 14:30 under the elaborate rules of the codex belli.

New Campground Design
‘We always coordinate the overall organisation of the Spectaculum with the parks department,’ says Volker Gallé, coordinator of cultural affairs of the City of Worms. ‘The municipal woods are not a dedicated venue, that’s why we must reconsider year after year what we can do and what we cannot.’ For example, as the festival starts in good time before the start of the nesting season, the field battle was being approved. However, the tavern area has to be relocated this time. ‘The lawn and, above all, the tree roots need to take a breather,’ added Ulrich Mieland, managing director of the Kultur und Veranstaltungs GmbH. Nobody has to die of hunger or thirst, though, as the tavern area will be moved to the large meadow between market and campground.

The Fair’s Heart: The Market
The Spectaculum’s heart is the colourful market with more than a hundred stalls, demonstrations of traditional craftsmanship, and join-in activities such as archery. On this year’s market, the local heritage society of the Fishermen’s Guild will show visitors the art of tying nets for the first time. A charcoal burner has also promised to perform.

Persons of all ages are invited to come and marvel, experience, watch, and join in. The whole fairground will be dotted with storytellers, puppeteers, musicians with medieval repertories, jugglers, and stilters.

This Year’s Theme: Fools and Jesters
In Germany, the number 11 is known as the ‘fool’s number’. That’s why the 11th Spectaculum is a celebration of fools and jesters who will be showing their tricks all over the place and pull people’s legs??? (ich kenne die Bedeutung nicht, OM). In the Middle Ages, jesters wielded enormous influence at court, enjoying the exclusive right to hold up a mirror to their masters – thus confronting them with their shortcomings – and go unpunished.

A Timeline of Camps
All those who like a rest from the hurly-burly of the market are recommended to take a stroll through the camps. Arranged along a ‘timeline’, they give ambling visitors the chance to explore developments in fashion, achievements in tool making, and advances in weaponry from 500 to 1500 AD. The particular camps are showcased in a spectacular lineup held at the traditional opening of the fair on Friday evening.

Spectacular Evening Music Shows
The 11th Spectaculum has also plenty of music to offer. Cultus Ferox and Corvus Corax, two top-notch neo-medieval bands, will make the Middle Ages rock. Corvus Corax appeared in the lavish telefilm version of a medieval novel. In their Saturday evening appearance at 20:00, they are likely to attract fans galore from near and far. On Sunday afternoon at 16:00, Cultus Ferox are fusing the force of medieval bagpipes and drums with elements of rock and electronic sound – a danceable blend synthesising the Middle and the Digital Ages.

First-Time Re-enactors Contribution
The admission fee for the whole weekend is €3 for re-enactors and €5 for plain-clothed visitors. Children smaller than the gate guard’s sword length are free. This means prices remain lower than those of comparable festivals. ‘This was an important objective for us; after all, we have always wanted to be a family festival,’ says Berndt Findt, the Market Bailiff. Still the organisers had their reasons for the introduction of an admission fee for re-enactors, as project manager Markus Reis explains: ‘More and more people put on a costume every year. That’s fantastic for the atmosphere, but then of course the revenues go down as well. At the same time, organising an event of such dimensions – we are talking about 24,000 visitors on three days! – entails a steady increase in expenditures.’

The Worms Spectaculum
1,000 re-enactment enthusiasts – including some 150 volunteers, more than 100 stall keepers and 50 camping groups – took part in the 2011 Spectaculum, with 24,000 visitors strolling the municipal woods. This would be unthinkable without the Netzwerk Lebendiges Mittelalter Worms (Worms Living Middle Ages Network). The market thrives on the passion and commitment of thousands of local and regional re-enactors and is actively supported by the City of Worms.

Further Information
For details of the programme and general information on the festival, visit www.spectaculum-worms.de or the Spectaculum’s Facebook page www.facebook.de/SpectaculumWorms.

Images:

... gallery "Spectaculum Worms"

more: www.spectaculum-worms.de (German only)

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Getting there

For a pdf city map directing you to the Spectculum, please click

… here (PDF)

Parking

Usually great numbers of visitors flock to the Spectaculum in the Wäldchen, the city’s recreational forest. Hence you are strongly advised to leave your car in one of the city’s official car parks (preferably, "Am Dom" or "Ludwigsplatz") and have a 15-minute stroll to the venue, following the Spectaculum signposts.

Organisers

Spectaculum is organised by Kultur und Veranstaltungs GmbH Worms in ccoperation with  "Netzwerk Lebendiges Mittelalter".

Contact

Kultur und Veranstaltungs GmbH Worms
Von-Steuben-Straße 5
67547 Worms

Katharina Fehlinger
e-mail katharina.fehlinger@kvg-worms.de  

Markus Reis
e-mail markus.reis@kvg-worms.de  

phone +49 62 41 2000 310
fax +49 0 62 41 2000 399