Out & About in Switzerland: Village celebrates Middle Ages

There'll be plenty of Medieval fare served up in Attalens. Keystone / Werner Getzmann

The village of Attalens in canton Fribourg is going to be decked out in its Medieval best on September 9. Storytellers, minstrels, market stalls, and archery displays will bring the 15th century back to life in and around the Attalens castle.

The organisers of the event say there will be something for everyone: “men and women, soldiers and servants, the humble and the mighty”.

Visitors will be able to sample Medieval fare and stroll through a market as it was during the Middle Ages. The stalls will be a beehive of activity with glass-blowers, illustrators, potters and saddlers selling their handicrafts.

No Medieval festival would be complete without its own ragged band of minstrels, storytellers, jugglers, magicians and acrobats. A herald will preside over the proceedings, accompanied by the Hunchback of Attalens.

The festival gets underway at 9:30 in the morning with the firing of a culverin – a 15th century handgun. But it won’t be the only shot fired during the day. There’ll also be demonstrations of arquebuses, crossbows, falconry and jousting – just in case you thought, wrongly, that Medieval Switzerland was a peaceful place.

This chapter of history will end with a grand medieval banquet costing SFr80 ($46). Entrance to the festival is SFr5 – a princely sum in the 15th century.

swissinfo

Out & About in Switzerland is updated regularly to keep you informed of upcoming events, which may provide a different insight into the country and its people.