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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 2017)
Polk County Living Polk County Itemizer-Observer • September 13, 2017 7A Lords and ladies gather in Kings Valley Photos by STEPHANIE BLAIR/Itemizer-Observer By Stephanie Blair The Itemizer-Observer KINGS VALLEY — On Saturday and Sunday, Kings Valley was flooded with people in and out of costume, looking to enjoy the end of summer with some good, old-fashioned fun — or rather, olde-fashioned. The Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire was host to dancers, musicians, food and goods vendors, archers and jousters. The faire is more than two decades old and continues to ex- pand and welcome new faces each year. Vendors sold all kinds of goods under the shade of colorful tents — from corsets and magic wands to handcrafted blades and honey. For food, villagers were presented with choices from around the world, including Mediterranean, African, English and American delicacies. Following tradition, each day had two jousts in which four riders would compete in games of skill as well as traditional jousting matches. The games required riders to perform tasks on horseback, such as smashing apples along a fence line and collecting small hoops around the arena using a jousting pole. The crowd was separated into sections to cheer for the dif- ferent countries that the riders represented: Wales, Germany, France and, of course, England. For more on next year’s event: shrewfaire.com. Lady Edith, representing England at the Joust, got her section of the crowd riled up and cheering to help the judge decide the winner of a tied event on Sunday. Cascade Mounted Archery, a Mongolian mounted archery troop, gave its final performance on Sunday at the faire. The archers shot arrows while riding their steeds around the arena. Across a small footbridge, under the cover of Friar Tuck’s Forest, more vendors, two performance stages and an additional tavern were waiting to be found. At the firing range, faire-goers had the opportunity to shoot a traditional bow and arrow. Honeystone Candles gave villagers the opportunity to buy wax candles, honeycomb and honey while educating them about the inner workings of the hive which their products are harvested from.
