By Greg Higgins

The WDM takes guests back to medieval times with annual feast

Jan 29, 2018 | 11:00 AM

All the lords and ladies were out in costume Saturday night for the annual medieval feast hosted by the Western Development Museum (WDM).

The majority of guests dressed up for the occasion, as requested, and those that weren’t certainly felt out of place when Queen Shelly Flanagan put them on the spot for wearing such strange attire. She made those dressed out of place, or anyone who she deemed misbehaved, recite poetry, do a dance and even sometimes sentenced them to time locked in the stocks.

Flanagan said she was a tough, but fair queen and had quite the back story as to how she gained her place on the throne.

“My reign is going very well,” Flanagan said. “I’ve doled out some punishments and some rewards. My husband, sadly, ate some poison mushrooms and I inherited the crown from him.”

All joking aside, Flanagan really pushed for her seat at the royal table this year after working last year’s feast.

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“Last year I was a serving wench, so I’ve come a long way,” Flanagan said. “It is really a great event. You never know what is going to happen or what you are going to see.”

The WDM tried to be as historically accurate as possible. The royal table was the only one with salt and anyone who wanted seasoning had to perform a task for the queen.

This year, the museum really stepped up the entertainment with two stilt walkers in character from Sapphire Circus. Shirley Maze, rental and catering manager with the WDM, said the stilt walkers were a real home run.

“The stilts that they’re on are on springs so they are pretty buoyant,” Maze said. “They interact with the crowd so that’s really nice too. This is the first year we’ve had them and they are a great addition to the show.”

Maze added there may not have been as many guests this year as last year, but still felt it was a big success. She said the fact everyone in attendance was from the area was good because it created a better mingling atmosphere.

Maze promised next year would be bigger and better.

greg.higgins@jpbg.ca

On Twitter @realgreghiggins