POCATELLO — Dressed in regal gowns, twilled billowing cloaks, cute faerie regalia or simple medieval style clothing, nearly 3,400 citizens of the Gate City and beyond graced the Bannock County Event Center this past weekend for the second annual Mystic Realms Fantasy Fair.
As the gleeful attendees assembled at the entrance of the fair and passed into the fantasy realm, they were transported into an era of mysticism and magic.
The smoky scent of a blacksmith’s burning forge carried across the wind and married with the smells of cooking shanks of meat, sizzling skewers and deep-fried delights.
Music drifted across the expanse of the makeshift medieval village, bardic ballads and the soulful refrains of violins, lutes and accordions synchronized in harmony.
All around were the trappings of a renaissance era pop-up town, complete with a wanderer’s camp filled with the enchanted ladies of the Troupe Mystique, who call over curious adventurers to have their fortunes read, foretelling futures with their portents of wisdom.
Nearby, the Mermaids of the Great Salt Lake shifted around in the cool waters of a pool, surfacing to greet the throes of children and onlookers, who dazzled at their shimmering blue scales and long tails.
The large tents and round pavilions played host to the countless vendors selling enchanted looking goods, everything from resplendent crowns and tiaras to hand crafted swords and daggers, medieval era clothing, make-shift potions and, of course, dragons of every shape and size.
Other commodities sold included 3D printed creations, including a colorful tentacled kraken from which a bottle of wine rested in its grip, along with a wide variety of other mystic merchandise such as bone oddities, curios, handmade jewelry and ceramics, art, dice and various other sundries. A few vendors also were available for trinket trading, exchanging small baubles and tchotchkes.
The cheers of an ignited crowd erupted near the mages stage as an announcer’s voice boomed over the fairgrounds. The bustle of onlookers jockeyed for a better view of the calamity playing out before their eyes. A horde of knights, equipped in stunning full plate armor, engaged in a skirmish to the audience’s delight. The sound of their blunted longswords, axes and fiendish butcher blades rattled against the shaped steel of their armor, sending impact tremors through the suits.
The armored fighters are part of a medieval combat sport called Buhurt, a play on an old French word which roughly translates as “to wallop.” Each fighter must follow regulations on the historical authenticity of their kit, guidelines that keep the outfits period accurate to their respective eras. There are also safety measures in place to protect participants during the violent exchanges.
Ethan Watt, president of the Boise Idaho armored combat group known as the Rat Pack, has been involved in the sport for years and spoke about the sense of community these collectives bring to their dedicated members.
“They have jousting and they have melees, which is what we do, and those are the team fights,” Watt said about the medieval combat sport. “They have duels with scorekeepers who keep track of good hits. There’s different weapon categories and you have to match with the same weapon. There’s polearms, long sword, sword and shield, and sword and buckler as the main ones. There are also pro fights or outrance fights, in which there are very little restrictions. Normally you can’t go for the knees, or you can’t fight on the ground or grapple on the ground. That’s a category that allows all of that, so the fight continues on the ground.”
In a general sense these knights engage in duels or mass melee encounters that eliminate players once they have three points of contact on the ground, usually by causing a fall or by a player dropping down in submission and defeat. From there, it’s a contest for the last man standing.
While bashing another person in full plate armor with an authentic medieval weapon seems like it would inflict brutal injuries, most of the difficulties arise from heat exhaustion, fatigue or a lack of endurance.
Passion keeps these fighters returning to the area for glory and victory time and time again, but it seems like it’s the tight-knit community and the support system therein that keeps Watt and many others together.
“It’s just so positive and uplifting,” Watt said. “Everybody is encouraging of each other. It’s different everywhere you go, but that’s what I love about it. It’s been a way of doing therapy. I’ve talked to guys about some really hard stuff they’re going through after practice, especially in the winter. We have a fire we sit around and just chat and hang out. You get into a lot of deep talks and several guys expressed to me that this is really important to them. It’s saving their life because they’re going through something tough, so that’s really why I keep doing it and want to keep spreading the love of Buhurt.”
Other armored combat teams that participated over the weekend’s festivities included the Idaho Falls Peace Breakers and Sandpoint’s Knights of the Deep.
Enthralling medieval skirmishes weren’t the only draw this past weekend, as the daring and enigmatic Archer Flynn delighted audiences with his musical melodies and dashing good looks.
A character created by California native and Idaho transplant Daniel Hamrick, Flynn embodies Hamrick’s devil-may-care attitude and past naughty and rambunctious qualities.
“Archer Flynn is The Balladeer Bard, The Sentinel Rose, The Cutpurse Prince, The Silly Goose of Gitche Gumee, but most that meet him at the Renaissance Fair will know him simply as The Shanty Man, a performer and musician, a juggler and jokester,” Hamrick said.
Hamrick continued, “I’ve only been doing renaissance fairs for about three years now. I grew up doing community theater and learning to play instruments. All of that kind of took a backseat when I joined the military. But after I got out, I started re-exploring my passion for music and performing and started playing on the streets. Eventually I got picked up by a local Irish Pub in Columbus, Georgia, called Scruffy Murphy’s. The owner there, Brita, had me (performing) every week for several months. That was sort of the cornerstone that allowed me to do music as a career full time. Now most of my summers are spent doing renaissance fairs from April to November.”
Flynn is an amalgam that is part Capt. Jack Sparrow, part roguish debonair and a complete fusion of bardic talent. Not only does he have the rakish good looks that enthrall legions of onlookers who adore him, but Hamrick can play over 15 different instruments which he utilizes a portion of during his performances. Hamrick also meddles in a bit of ballroom dance, swing, polka, contra and waltz.
While Flynn always has a wry smile on his face, Hamrick has overcome a lot of contention in his life to arrive at this point. Struggling with suicide while he was in the military and working dead end jobs, Hamrick came to the realization one day that he was unhappy and wanted to pursue something that was meaningful to him.
“Archer Flynn pays my rent but it’s not just about being here when the gates are open and the crowds are around,” Hamrick said. “It’s making connections, growing as a musician by listening to other people play, playing with them and joining sets and having fun. It’s talking to vendors and making friends and really building a community here.”
Firebreathers and sword swallowers, exhibitions of trebuchets and catapults and multitudes of fantasy inspired costumed characters were only a portion of the mythic levels of entertainment experienced this year. Swashbucklers, princesses, Viking brutes, wizards, druids and even the village idiot were all enraptured by the magic that seemed to permeate every corner of the Mystic Realms Fantasy Fair.
The legend continues to grow.
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