Agenda

These four highway bandits are…..on probation.  Set free for good behaviour (or perhaps they escaped from jail), they’ve become musicians.  Since then, Tiresac (Bag puller), La Pince (Pliers), L’Assassin (the Assassin) and Le Prince de l’arnaque (the Prince of Scams)  roam towns and villages telling stories of their past misdemeanours and their wanderings as ex-convicts. They do all this through music, song, dances and above all good humour.

A fascinating chance to discover the beehive and its inhabitants with the help of clever, interactive animated models, humour, philosophy and delicious stories.  Honey and beeswax have been used for many things throughout the centuries – in the home, in cookery and for medicinal purposes -  and you can discover the amazing properties of these resources. You’ll find out everything about the produce of the beehive. Enjoy to your heart’s content!  

Candle-making workshop for kids: an opportunity to make a  beeswax candle, a lovely souvenir from a practical learning experience! (the children can take their candle  with them when they leave).

Participants in the workshop will learn to draw a logo in the form of a medallion on paper, then they’ll engrave it on unbaked clay. Next they’ll make a mould of the engraving in casting sand, and then the apprentices will cast their object in tin using a crucible (food tin, with a melting temperature of 96 degrees).  They’ll unmould it and do the necessary finishing, and finally they’ll polish it.  The budding casting artists will be able to take their creations away with them.

Please note that places are limited ! Don't forget to register directly on site !

Traditional Norman dances and songs accompanied by a hurdy-gurdy.

A  storyteller plunges us into the tale of William the Conqueror, who became King of England. It’s a tale of two countries, like that of the storyteller, who gets the story of the Duke of Normandy mixed up with traditional  tales from Burkina Faso. In Africa, stories are not used to get children to go to sleep, but to arouse the interest of adults.  This is a cross-cultural look at the life and times of the most famous figure of Norman history.

In case of bad weather, show postponed to the Halle ô Grains

Like the town criers of olden times, these three spread the news from towns to villages and entice you from square to square with their prowess, juggling, music and wit. Watch out,  criers are there to be heard !

You’ll hear the ringing of anvils from a distance and smell the characteristic whiff of coal that’s burning and making the iron glow. Come closer and watch us beating it with a hammer to create a variety of forms according to what we want to make: tools, weapons, jewellery…..blacksmith, edge-toolmaker, farrier, maker of parts for wheels, nail-smith, chain-maker, bronze-maker... Don’t hesitate to come and meet us, we’re not as forbidding as we look !

Exhibition of a 1/72 scale model of Bayeux Castle from east to west in the 13^th century, a castle mound and its enclosure (fortification from 10^th to 12^th centuries), and a model of the castle of Osaka in Japan. A display of intricate craftsmanship ! 

The Kassgueul Tribe have come from a faraway land, very far away indeed, and create pandemonium as they light up the Bayeux Medieval Festival with their joyful , unrestrained and  fiery antics!

This unique ‘roundabout’ is original, environmentally friendly needing no external power source, and is ‘home made’ using recycled materials. It is  powered by the parents operating the arm of the press. The attraction is accompanied by specially created music and presented  by an actor who greets the children and settles them humorously and gently into a fantastical, poetic world  inspired by legends. A different kind of  ride!

Potters have been using wheels since about 2500 BC.  In the Middle Ages potters’ wheels that were operated with a stick and by the feet were both used. Mikaël turns the wheel with the strength of his arms, using a stick. He makes his pots in the same way as in the Middle Ages, sharing his ancestral knowledge in an interactive and enjoyable way, with a smile, a touch of humour and a sprinkling of teaching. 

From Lord down to rabble soldiers and hangers-on, from peasants to clergy, this group of travellers presents aspects of life as it was at the end of the Hundred Years War, through sketches and  activities involving the audience. You can watch demonstrations and take part in all sorts of activities: medieval dance, archery, weapons, fighting, artillery, military manoevres, cookery, torture…

Go and discover  different kinds of medieval food, just as you would at a market.  The performers at Ars Culinae will introduce you to the flavours of the past – roasted meats, soups and sauces, breads and cheeses. There will be demonstrations and tastings all day long!

As you find out about the cooking methods and techniques, you’ll be diving into the heart of societies of the past, their customs and how they functioned.  The actor-cooks – the baker, the hunter, the cheese-maker, the spice seller, the cook and the seller of Hypocras - will be telling stories that will let you learn more about History.  

Traditional wooden toys and games for all children.
Discover the rich heritage of play with various games of shuffleboard, bowls, skill and balance - games that are always fun for all generations.

A gaggle of itinerant acrobats, making too much noise to be ignored, clatters across the cobbles of one of the town’s squares, under the direction of a  leader whose authority is clearly in name only. Six joyful mischief-makers who know how to do “almost” everything: juggling, acrobatics, music, magic, anything so long as it doesn’t involve putting themselves in danger. A topsy-turvy medieval world where clowns are kings...

In case of bad weather, show postponed to the Halle ô Grains

A glass spinner and his family from Ribe in Denmark encounter a ship’s carpenter from Norway. They decide to set off together to explore the world and do business. They make a stopover in Birka, in Sweden, to take on provisions, and they meet other travelling companions including a blacksmith who shows them a trade route that goes through Rus (Novgorod) in order to reach Constantinople, the gateway to the East.   

Still just as funny and facetious, the red jester presents “The Ship of Fools” in a street theatre version. Will you be able to keep up with it ?

The Wanderers are eternal nomads from lost worlds who one day met a dragon on their travels, possibly the last one of his species. It seems they developed a strong bond with the creature. Ever since then, they have been the dragon’s guardians,  Or perhaps it’s he who has become their faithful guardian? But be careful not to get too close, and keep very quiet, or you could get burned…

Skilled  craftsmen and journeymen share their ancestral know-how in building: blacksmiths, stone masons, sculptors, carpenters…..

La Nef des Fous (“the Ship of Fools”, like the famous  painting by Hieronymous Bosch) is a sequence of sketches by Zebulus, a hilarious jester, actor and musician with the gift of the gab and a tendency to sermonise. It’s also an introduction to the tools of ordinary madness, demonstrating the jester's skill and the art of discourse, all wrapped up in laughter and facetiousness.