June 28, 2001
Surely you joust!
Medieval Fantasy Fair offers a trip to the past
By Christine Brucker
Entertainment Editor
FREMONT-- Hear ye! Hear ye! Welcome to a time where women were maids and ladies and the men were chivalrous.
The Medieval Fantasy Faire opens this weekend in Fremont. The same wooded glen that provides thrills in the autumn night as the Haunted Hydro becomes a piece of history in the summer sun.
In their second year in operation, the Medieval Fantasy Faire offers food, drink and entertainment of the Renaissance period along with the sort of hi-jinx we have come to expect from at the Hydro.
Festivities will begin at 9:45 a.m. Saturday morning with opening ceremonies. Visitors will be able to visit the 45-acres at their leisure. The grounds include open meadows, a jousting field, a 3-acre sand beach on a pond of spring water and 15 acres of forest along the Sandusky River.
Featured performers include man-powered games and rides for children, fire-eating, juggling, musicians, jesters, swordswallowers and magicians.
Featured in three daily performances are the equestrian talents of Noble Cause Productions. Led by owner Bryan Beard, the performance will feature four mounted knights and a squire.
Beard has been performing in renaissance fairs since 1987.
"I have always like to read," Beard said of his start in the practice of jousting. "I've always like stories of heros and knights. I blame my dad. He got me reading all the classics."
Born and raised in Dallas, TX, Beard played football in high school and was involved in drama. He earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. After graduation, he began attending renaissance fairs.
"I started as a street performer," he said. "I was the white knight."
He went on to train with Richard Alvarez of the International Action Theater, Kent Shelton of the Hanlon-Lees, and Tino Brana of Medieval Times.
He formed Noble Cause in 1995 and has been busy ever since.
The production at the Medieval Fantasy Faire will feature Beard on Maximus, an 8-year-old Missouri Foxtrotter and a second rider on Leopold, an 11 year-old Appaloosa. The two men will perform skills such as lancing rings, grabbing swords from the ground at full gallop, and the jousting competition.
"The horses are running at about 30 to 40 mph," Beard explained. "During a joust, that is two horses traveling toward each other at nearly 70 mph."
The men perform in period costumes with colorful heralds on themselves and the horses.
Beard is quick to point out that they are not re-enactors.
"We are actors portraying a time period," he said. "We are trying to show people what it was like, but not claiming to be historically correct."
Along with the regular performances, each weekend will have special features. Patrons can receive $3 off admission with the donation of paper products July 7 and 8 during Robin Hood Weekend. July 14 and 15 features Fables, Fantasy, Faeries and more, July 21 and 22 is the Romantic Rendezvous Weekend and July 27 and 28 is dedicated to the Weekend Warrior.
In celebration of the opening weekend, children under twelve will be admitted free with a paid adult.
The Medieval Fantasy Faire runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through July. Admission is $10 for adults and $6 for children 5 to 12. For more information, call (419) 333-2450 or visit their website at www.medievalfantasy.net.