LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Medieval mayhem and merriment were in evidence at Tuscan Village, home of Terrill Cellar Winery, in Lower Lake during the sixth annual Lake Renaissance Festival.
Sword-fighting knights clad in full armor, fair maidens dressed to the nines, barbarians with maces, prisoners in shackles, scalawags, peasants and noblemen converged on the village for two days of artistic fun.
The Memorial Weekend event featured stories of old, costumed actors engaging with guests, time tradition music, magic and medieval contests of strength and humorous and historical performances.
Lake Renaissance Festival Founder Tom Wilsey said the event is more than just fun.
“We are teaching history and history is important. These are great stories that actually happened,” he said. “Hopefully, we can give (our guests) a taste of history, culture and fun.”
Wilsey said history was abundant at every turn and performances were spectacular, especially the duals, which he said included the participation of a swordsman who earned a gold medal for the US Team in Spain.
Throughout the quaint village, artisans peddled wares from hand-tooled leather masks and warrior gear to decorative gourds, healing stones, jewelry and renaissance attire.
Hungry guests feasted on sausage and sauerkraut, steamed artichokes and turkey legs big enough to satisfy the most barbaric of appetites.
To quench the thirst, Jose Rodriguez, a beekeeper from Willows, offered chilled cups of mead, which is wine made from fermented honey instead of grapes.
“Many scholars believe that mead is the ancestor of all fermented drinks, predating event the cultivation of soil,” he said, adding that its history dates back about 30,000 years. “It may have been accidentally discovered when old tree stumps serving as homes for bees were flooded during the rains and the fermentation process took place naturally.”
Rodriguez said, according to legend, the term “honeymoon” comes from the ancient tradition of drinking mead for a full cycle of the moon.
“Due to belief in its magical and health generating properties, the newly married couple were to drink mead for the first month of their marriage to ensure that the union would be a fruitful one,” he said.
Rodriguez said he has been participating in renaissance festivals for about four years; however, his participation at the event in Lower Lake was his first as a vendor.
“Tuscan Village is ideally suited for the renaissance festival. I like the smaller faires. The bigger faires are too commercial,” he said.
Brad Terrill, venue and winery owner, opened his cellar to guests for wine tasting as well.
He said he appreciates the opportunity to welcome the renaissance festival and envisions Tuscan Village as a place to stimulate art and culture in Lake County.
Wilsey and his wife, Lisa, who coordinates events at Tuscan Village, said the venue will host the Black Magick Metal Fest July 5 and 6. The event will feature a selection of local and Northern California underground metal bands.
Also planned is a harvest/reggae festival in October.
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