Welcome to Templecombe

‘This is the right path?’

Nervously the wayfarers looked at each other and at their guide.

‘Yes, yes. This is the path. Don’t worry. It’s not far.’

‘But night is falling and…’

Lights flickered in the distance. Sounds carried on the mild summer breeze. Sounds of music, laughter. Glasses clinking.

‘Oh.’ ‘As I promised – the Midsummer Tavern – and the good folk of Thamesreach. The Midsummer festivities.’

The travellers pace increased as they came close to the Tavern. They could see camps of other traveling lords and ladies, knights and squires, and good people on the field at the Tavern.

A roaring fire in front of the Tavern called them to join in the dance and merriments.

All seemed peaceful and jolly – but why where there these fortifications?

‘Don’t mind the old fort. It’s been here for ages. It is rarely needed…’

About the event

CATERING

This is a semi-catered event. Our wonderful kitchen team have produced a wonderful menu based on medieval recipes and sources.

The catered meals are:

Friday evening (Supper)

Saturday morning (Breakfast)

Saturday evening (Buffet style)

Sunday morning (Breakfast)

Outside of these mealtimes, please arrange your own food. Although we may be providing some alcoholic beverages, please bring your own.

For purposes of immersion and minimising waste, please try to minimise plastic and packaging, and please keep it out of sight.

SITE & ACCOMMODATION

The event is being hosted at the Medieval Pageant site at Templecombe.

This site has a wonderful purpose-built tavern, as well as a small fort. There is a modern kitchen and toilet block.

There will be space for period and modern camping. At this event, we are aiming for the highest achievable level of immersion. Therefore, we ask that only medieval-style tents go in the period area, and plastic tents, bell tents and others in the modern area. The modern area is no more than a moment's walk away from the game area.

PROGRAMME

Steel fighting, baton fighting, field archery, playing at the ball, eating, drinking, singing, dancing and mumming

Exact timeline and programme will be listed closer to the event...

Frequently Asked Questions

What sets Sumer is icumen in-Midsummer (k)nights apart from other SCA camping events?

“Sumer is icumen – Midsummer (k)nights will be a highly immersive, atmospheric, relaxed medieval camping event with separate period and modern camping fields, partially catered with exciting period food the whole weekend. This is the event were you can really play and live your period persona.

When can we arrive?

Arrive any time after 3pm on Thursday 20th of June 2024 and on Friday 21th of June until 6pm.

The site address is:

In the Pageant fields, East Street, Templecombe. BA8 0JX

When will the game start?

Official start, where we expect all participants to be in period gear will be 8pm on Friday. There will be an event briefing at 7:30pm.

To create the best immersion into a medieval life we would appreciate it, that participants wear period gear as much as possible when on the period camping field, in the tavern or at the kitchen seating area. You can be in any modern outfit when you are on the modern camping field.

When will be the Friday wayfarers meal ?

The wayfarers meal will be served as soon as possible after 8pm, but be mindful if you may need to have to source your own food to keep you going until then.

What do I need to bring?

- Your lovely self!

-Eating utensils. A Bowl, plate, knife and spoon. We do not have spares to lend.

- Tent, bedding and any other camp stuff you would normally bring for a weekend long event.

-Period blankets and/or cushions. While the weather is expected to be mild, we have some night-time activities outdoors planned (if the skies are clear). For this and for general comfort, feel free to bring any of these to sit on and/or wrap up in.

-Lighting, lanterns and candles. We are aiming to light this event as much by candlelight as possible, but if you have any immersive battery-powered light sources, feel free to bring those too.

-Fighting gear. Organised combat will be arranged, but feel free to bring any weapons with you if you are likely to enjoy in-character sparring and/or training.

-Any other medieval set dressing and accoutrement you may have.

Can we use fires/firepits?

-There should be a firepit on site. There will be a safety briefing before time in to run through health and safety including fire usage. If you wish to bring your own, feel free!

Is there running water?

-Yes. The toilet block and modern kitchen will have running water.

Is there power?

-We may be able to arrange some power access. This will be limited to the kitchen.

Are there any shops in the village?

Templecombe has a Co-op shop close to the train station.

Can I bring my dog?

Yes, the site is dog friendly. But dogs must be kept on leads and under control at all times, as the surounding fields may have lifestock grazing.

COVID precautions

If you feel ill, please don’t travel. This is never a nice situation, but we’ll soften the blow as far as we can, and we’ll be very grateful to you for doing the right thing.

If you feel ill, or are a close contact of someone who’s become ill, let us know by the MONDAY. We will refund your full event fee, no further questions asked.

Please consider getting travel insurance that would cover you if you have to cancel for COVID.

We will not ask to see COVID test results, but encourage you to take one before arriving on site. Please be cautious if you think there’s any risk.

CANCELLATION Policy

This policy will apply to this event run by the Shire of Thamesreach. It may be waived at the sole discretion of the Event Steward on a case by case basis. This policy is necessary to make sure that we can pay our food and site bills for events!

You may cancel your attendance before the 6th of June 2024, with no penalty.

If you cancel your attendance after the 6th of June and before the 16th of June 2024 half the booked price must be paid.

Attendance cancelled after the 16th of June 2024 will incur full costs.

Cancellation emails should be sent to the Event Steward as early as possible.

Contact us

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Location

Templecombe Medieval Pageant, In the Pageant fields, East Street, Templecombe, BA8 0JX ,

site entrance what3words location: ///gentlemen.starts.fermented

TICKETS

There’s something important about pricing for this event that we’d like to note.

You may be aware that our affiliate organisation, that arranges our insurances, had to make some changes this year to make sure that we’re covered. In particular, we need to pay a daily insurance surcharge for non-members to attend events. Now that’s fine; we’ve already been working like this for a couple of months, and we have a good system in place to make sure that any SCA member, of any affiliate, is covered.

Here’s the thing: for this event, the surcharge we’d have to add for non-members is almost as much as the cost of joining SCA UK/Ireland for a year. We don’t feel great about just adding that charge without offering the benefits of an annual membership – not to mention that, by omitting it, we can make reservations a lot simpler for everyone.

So our thinking is that we’ll ask everyone attending this event to be an up-to-do-date, paid member of the SCA or any affiliated group.

If you’re in the UK or Ireland, you can join at https://membermojo.co.uk/scauk for £15. Links to the affiliates for Finland, Sweden and elsewhere are at https://www.sca.org/join-us/.

All tickets listed are for the duration of the whole event from Thursday 20th June 2024 until Sunday 3pm, except Day tripper tickets.

The ticket includes camping on site (unless otherwise stated) and the following catered meals:

Friday evening (Supper), Saturday morning (Breakfast), Saturday evening (Buffet style) and Sunday morning (Breakfast).

PRICES:

SCA member : £ 110.00

CONCESSION: £ 90.00 (unwaged/student)

CHILD 8-17 years : £ 80.00

Offsite Accommodation event fee : £50.00

DAY Trippers, Saturday ONLY, no food included : £20

Children under 8 are free.