Furness Abbey Medieval Fair will take place this weekend

The medieval fair at Furness Abbey will welcome living history groups, craftspeople and stallholders. 

The fair will open at 10am on Saturday, August 31, and finish at 5pm. There will be park and ride buses running to and from the Dock Museum, as parking at the abbey is restricted to blue badge only. 

There will be a wide range of activities to do and events to see (Image: Furness Medieval Fellowship)

The event will bring together re-enactment groups and living history groups such as The Iron Shepherds and York Levy to set up interactive camps showing what life was like for ordinary people in the medieval period. 

Live period-appropriate music will be brought to the abbey by Trovere Minstrels. Silverband Falconry will also bring their bird of prey flying demonstrations. 

The Trouvere Medieval Minstrels performing at the abbey last year (Image: Furness Medieval Fellowship)

"The living history groups also give a chance for members of the public, mostly children, to join in some medieval military training and role play," said organiser Gary Cunliffe.

"But in addition, the abbey site is filled with stalls and craftspeople and demonstrators of traditional medieval skills; basket making, wood turning, spinning and weaving, medieval alchemy, archive materials on display from Cumbria Archives and Greenlane Archaeology and more."

The medieval fair is an annual event (Image: Furness Medieval Fellowship)

There will be activities and competitions for children and refreshments available to purchase from Abbey Mill Coffee Shop and Mansergh Hall Hog Roast. 

Entrance is free to residents living in LA13,14,15 on proof of residency, otherwise, English Heritage entry fees apply. 

To support future fairs, which are funded by the Furness Abbey Fellowship, a donation of £2.50 per adult is requested upon entry.

The car park at the abbey is blue badge holders only, but there will be a shuttle service (Image: Furness Medieval Fellowship)

The Furness Abbey Fellowship, which runs the fair, was set up in 2012 to support English Heritage in promoting the history and heritage of the abbey. 

In May, Gill Jepson, an author and the chairman of the fellowship, said: "We work towards it all year and the event is very popular and well-supported.

The event celebrates the abbey's history (Image: Furness Medieval Fellowship)

"It gives people the opportunity to come to the Abbey who perhaps would not normally."