Abbey Medieval Festival [BNE] - Early Bird Tickets Ends 30Apr2016

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abbeymedievalfestival.com

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  scorpweb on 27/04/2016 - 13:12

  anyone been before? was it any good?

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    shakoo on 27/04/2016 - 13:22

    personally speaking, i've been 6 times in the past 8 years and i personally think it has gotten better every year. true it's bigger and there are more people but the atmosphere is great. the various shows around the place are fun. and even if you don't get tickets to the joust, you get to watch grown-ups in armour bash each other pretty hard during the various exhibitions/competitions on foot.

    even if you don't buy the early bird tickets, i'd recommend buying them online instead of on the day as the line to buy tickets can get pretty long. and the one year that we didn't pre-purchase tickets, we were in line for over an hour so…

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      scorpweb on 27/04/2016 - 13:49

      whats the food like there? is it just standup and eat or do u have stands to sit in with something and have something fairly substancial?

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        YTW on 27/04/2016 - 14:07

        +1

        Lots of great food stalls, but long queues at lunch time and no-where specific to sit. Just a big grassy area with a few seats dotted around. Most people end up sitting on the ground. Or you can grab your lunch and head over to one of the grandstands and eat on the seating there, and time it so you're watching something whilst you're there.

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        shakoo on 27/04/2016 - 14:43

        @YTW:

        we tend to bring a picnic blanket on one of the days as well as a packed lunch.
        on the other day, we make sure to book the midday joust session and buy lunch to bring in with us to eat while we watch.

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    YTW on 27/04/2016 - 14:14

    It's the best of what it is - people travel from all over Australia to attend and participate in this festival.

    Loads of things to see and do, it just depends on whether you're into that sort of thing or not as to just how much you'll get out of it.

    We thoroughly enjoy the atmosphere but last year found it a bit tiresome fighting the crowds, queuing up for things, dealing with the weather (it's in a field - you usually end up covered in mud or in the blazing sun, or both - depending on the year) and just the general amount of walking we had to do back and forth with two young kids. We're going to skip it this year but will definitely go back when the kids are a bit older.

    They used to have a separate kid's festival which was absolutely fantastic for kids up to about the age of 10, but unfortunately they don't have it anymore (it's been incorporated into the bigger one and other events).

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      OzzyMozzy on 27/04/2016 - 14:16

      Do you suggest both days or just one? What about the banquet? That sounds interesting…is it worth it?

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        YTW on 27/04/2016 - 14:23

        I've never been to the banquet, the tickets are usually sold out pretty quick and we're not that hardcore. There are some VERY enthusiastic people there so I'd imagine the banquet would be quite heavily themed, it could be a lot of fun if you're into that sort of thing.

        We've always found one day enough, but it just depends on how long you want to hang around each thing and how much you want to sit and watch. We don't get that deeply into things so don't spend that long anywhere in particular. A guy I used to work with would spend the entire weekend there making new friends and discussing all sorts of things with the various enthusiasts and felt he never had enough time.

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        shakoo on 27/04/2016 - 14:53

        personally, if you've got littlies i'd recommend going for both days so that it's not all rushed. specially if you're wanting to watch all the shows or even take part in some of the shows/exhibitions.

        i've got two kiddies (now 8 and 5) and they've always enjoyed the festival but don't have enough energy to last the whole day, so being there for two days means we can go early and leave early on one day, and then go/leave late on the other. basically means it's not such a rush between the events/shows.

        just a tip, if looking to get nice/cheap toy weapons/shields for yourselves/kids, get them early as the popular ones go fast.

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      shakoo on 27/04/2016 - 14:46

      they've still got the kids festival leading up to the festival proper
      https://abbeymedievalfestival.com/events-and-tickets/medieva…

      haven't been to it since they cancelled it a few years ago as there'd been a lot of rain leading up to the week and the ground was too wet.
      thankfully, it was relatively dry by the time the weekend rolled around.

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  scorpweb on 27/04/2016 - 13:50

  no idea why i can't vote on this btw. it says its picked upa link to the company. i work for an airline which aren't sponsering the event….weird

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    shakoo on 27/04/2016 - 14:54

    really? that's peculiar. we probably work for the same company.

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  Phoebus on 27/04/2016 - 15:09

  Is there haggis and black pudding for everyone?

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    Tuba on 27/04/2016 - 15:57

    Ye olde authentic… tidbits of swan and hedgehog.

    I looked briefly for a menu but found nadda specifics.

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      shakoo on 27/04/2016 - 18:40

      i can't recall ever seeing a menu online for the banquet. never been to it unfortunately, so can't say sorry.

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        Tuba on 27/04/2016 - 18:50

        Im contemplating the banquet for my Mo inlaw, but no idea whats on the menu makes it too unpredictable for me.