Summer and Medieval Festivals, Part 2; Mutton and Mead

As you remember my last post dealt with the New York Capitol Renaissance Festival, this past weekend, I visited the Mutton and Mead Festival in Montague, MA.  Attending these types of festivals has given me a chance to promote my novel, "Legend of the Mystic Knights".

I had never visited this festival before, and I had to rile on my old GPS to get me there.  The way there took me one way, while it navigated a different way when I returned.  Either way I had a spectacular view, for on the way there I went through woods and next to rivers and lakes and was lucky enough to have a bald eagle fly over the car.

On the way back, my GPS had me travel over the Hoosac Range, which is a part of the Appalachian Mountain chain. It was near Whitcomb Summit that I saw the most spectacular view over a valley I have ever seen in my life. I am planning a trip back to that area, just to go sightseeing.

Now back to the Mutton and Mead Festival.  This yearly event is not put on as a faire to entertain people, it benefits local causes.  It hosts a food drive for The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, and alos raised money for the Montague Common Hall.

I noticed when I first got the fair that the parking was set in a large field, and it was completely full. Having this many people at a two-day medieval festival is rather impressive, and I soon found out why.

As many of you know, I have attended numerous types of medieval and renaissance festivals in recent years. Without any reservation, I can say this was the most fun I have ever had at one of these types of events. I was totally impressed with how this festival was run, and the entertainment, and vendors at this show.

The following are performers, or demonstrators and vendors, at this faire which deserve mention:

The Brotherhood of Arrows and Swords- This is a group which dedicates themselves in the living aspect of medieval history. They do demonstrations to educate the public about this era in history.  I was privileged enough to see one of their demonstrations, and they are very informative and educational. You can find more about them on Facebook.

CIRQUE DU SEWER- Is one of the funniest and entertaining shows I have ever seen. Melissa Arleth is the performer of this show, along with her trained RATS. As she stated in this show, “Her rats are probably the most accurate part of a renaissance faire.”


If you have ever get a chance to see her show, you will be impressed with her comedy, agility and flexibility, along with how talented and smart her rodents are.

I was lucky enough to get some pretty good leather at the faire, at a very reasonable price from Tandy Leather.

The vendors for them were Theodore Hinman and Armene Margosian.  The leather I purchased will be used by me to create one of my new wrestling costumes, maybe even something I could wear at these medieval faires.

The Mutton and Mead Festival is very impressive, and the promoters of this faire should be proud of what they have accomplished.  This festival has a large following and attendance, great vendors and performers; the patrons of this event should extend this faire to more than one weekend a year. With some planning and a couple extra of weekends, this faire could rival those that run all summer long.