Hawks, walks and talks at York's medieval festival

TWENTY-SEVEN venues, an army of experts, re-enactors and interpreters and nearly 1,000 years of history will feature in this year’s Jorvik Medieval Festival, taking place throughout August at venues from York’s city bars and Hornsea’s St Nicholas church, to Knaresborough Castle and Selby Abbey.

“When most people think ‘medieval’, the immediate thought is of knights in shining armour, jousting and chivalry, but in fact, that is only a part of this huge period of our history which stretched from the late 5th Century up until the demise of the last Plantagenet king, Richard III, in 1485 – so that encompasses Anglo Saxons, Vikings and Normans before you get to the 12th Century concept of courtly conduct and chivalry, and few places in the country have as many colourful medieval stories as Yorkshire,” said director of attractions for The Jorvik Group, Sarah Maltby.

In York, the festival’s events are concentrated on the second half of the month, building up to a spectacular day of medieval merriment – including have-a-go archery, falconry, the ghastly Barber-Surgeon and many more medieval treats at the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall on the August Bank Holiday Monday (August 31).

Top of the bill will be Philippa Langley MBE, who will be presenting The Looking for Richard Project at York’s Guildhall on Tuesday, August 25.

Visitors wanting to explore the city's three medieval attractions will once again be able to take advantage of the Medieval Pass.

For more details to to jorvikmedievalfestival.com

Viv Hardwick