Historical triumph as Hildale’s first medieval fair sees good morrows with excellent attendance

Written by Nick Yamashita
October 2, 2022

HILDALE — The first medieval fair for the Hildale and Colorado City areas on the Utah and Arizona border saw success for the event on Friday and Saturday.

The Medieval Days Renaissance Faire happened for the first time in the Short Creek area, Hildale, Utah, September 30, 2022 | Photo by Nick Yamashita, St. George News

The event saw a couple of hundred attendees on Friday but more than double that on Saturday.

With multiple attendees in costumes, ranging from knights to wizards, elves to pirates, kings to queens, Robin Hoods to friars, and dragons to even a Donald Duck, they found something to do at every corner and center of the park. The costume which drew a lot of attention was William Wallace, Braveheart, who happened to be event organizer Alec Cox.

The costumed attendees were able to experience a wide range of activities, including sword fighting, archery, axe throwing, live entertainment, climbing, forging, and more.

One such event was the “Touch of Fire” provided by the Blacksmith Adventures of Kanab. This workshop has participants learn how to make a duplex nail into a miniature sword. The workshop was perfect for all people ages 5 and up and helped them understand the art of blacksmithing and forging.

Another area of the park was designated for live-action role-play, where participants could role-play different characters and even had knights fighting for the praise of the king and queen, as well as the affection of the princess. While that took place, the sword in the stone was nearby, and the youth tried to pull the sword out of the stone to no avail. A couple of knights who were successful in pulling the sword from the stone on Saturday won prizes.

They had multiple performance groups, such as the Salt Lake City Crusaders, in which all members regularly compete in Armored Combatives. Armored Combatives is a sport involving full contact such as might be found in sports like MMA. However, unlike in MMA, the competitors fight in full armor suits and use real weapons.

A young newly knighted warrior fights the Blue Steel Knight at the Medieval Days Renaissance Faire in the Short Creek area, Hildale, Utah, September 30, 2022 | Photo by Nick Yamashita, St. George News

Each competitor wears a full suit of armor, which weighs approximately 75-100 lbs. and is hand-forged or custom-made to fit the competitor. The competitors competed in a series of competitions, including 3×3 melee, one-on-one duels with weapons, team melee, and even a grappling match of knocking each other off their feet to win.

The competitors included veteran knights and two new knights, Alex and Tallon. The Crusaders, earlier in the month of September, recently won a gold medal in the national competition for the sport and for Armored Combat Worldwide. The Black Knight, an armored combative sports veteran, relayed how he missed the tryouts day for BYU football and found the Crusaders organization, changing his direction in life from there.

The knights consist of both men and women. Among the Crusaders is two knights from Southern Utah, known as Nick Hostility and Eliza Dragonslayer.

They also had the Knights of Mayhem, a professional group of jousting knights. This group was led by “Sir Charles” Mason Andrews, a 12-time reigning World Champion in Heavy Armor Full Contact Jousting. Andrews also has his own show on the National Geographic channel with the title same as his group. The Knights of Mayhem television show has been going on since 2011.

Their entertainment shows were the main attractions between the Salt Lake City Crusaders and the Knights of Mayhem.

Austin “The Blue Steel Knight” of the Crusaders, took time to converse about the new event and explain more about their group. They also have a YouTube Channel which teaches as well as introduces everyone to the sport of being a knight.

“As far as being a knight and fighting in armor, it’s very difficult fighting in the sun, but luckily today, the weather is beautiful… and we are really able to really show our stuff as we are trying to make sure the crowd is able to have an authentic experience,” the Blue Steel Knight said.

A family of fair maidens and mighty lords took time to enjoy the Medieval Days Renaissance Faire in the Short Creek area, Hildale, Utah, September 30, 2022 | Photo by Nick Yamashita, St. George News

The majority of the attendees were from Southern Utah. Most youths reported they wanted to see the knights and dress up. However, on Friday, several mothers and youth reported they were there for school as all explained they were homeschooled and saw this as an opportunity to learn the history and culture of medieval times.

On Friday, there was a family from southern California present. They just saw social media posts about it and were traveling through, so they stopped to check out the fun.

The first medieval-themed event for Hildale was a success, with multiple vendors and entertainment providers already making plans to attend next year’s Medieval Days Renaissance Faire, including the Blue Steel Knight and the rest of the Salt Lake City Crusaders.

“It has been fantastic being here in Hildale. Everyone has been extremely kind and welcoming,” Austin the Blue Steel Knight said. “This is our first time coming down to the Hildale area for an event, and we definitely want to come back next year.”

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nick Yamashita has extensive experience reporting for small town media, covering a variety of subjects and events for The Virgin River Times and The Progress in Southern Nevada. Before a career in journalism, he worked a variety of jobs in criminal justice systems. Yamashita holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and a master's degree in interdisciplinary studies from Southern Utah University. He is an award-winning photographer and writer. He has been published in scholarly articles and poetry compilations. In his spare time, he practices and teaches martial arts.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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