Greetings, Thank you for your interest in the 2011 Hoggetowne Medieval Faire! All artists and craftspeople are royally invited to display their finest medieval talents and wares in the bustling marketplace of the 25th Annual Hoggetowne Medieval Faire. This increasingly popular event will be held at the Alachua County Fairgrounds and will enchant Gainesville, Florida for two consecutive weekends, January 29-30 & February 4-6, 2011. This highly anticipated annual event, produced by the City of Gainesville’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, has gained a reputation as one of the best medieval Faires in the country. The 2010 Faire brought in 50,000 visitors, and this year we are hoping to again, break our attendance record. More than 160 artisans and craft makers will join a troupe of actors, musicians and street performers for a journey back to the days of brave knights and fair maidens.
Participants must follow Faire guidelines: dress in medieval garb, decorate their booth in the medieval theme, and be prepared to interact with visitors in appropriate medieval style, language and manner! Education, as well as entertainment, is important to us, and we encourage merchants to demonstrate their skills and explain their medieval significance to Faire visitors.
Help us celebrate the colorful culture of our medieval village, Hoggetowne, at festival time. Skilled artisans will sell and demonstrate time-honored arts and crafts such as weaving, blacksmithing, leatherworking, pottery, woodcarving, jewelry, and clothing. The aroma of mouth-watering turkey legs, bloomin’ onions, sweet potato fries and pastries will fill the air.
We hope you will be able to join us at our Faire this year. We hope to create the kind of atmosphere that makes coming to our Faire a truly enjoyable experience that you anticipate year after year. If you have any questions, please contact Linda Piper, Faire Coordinator, at (352) 393-8536 or e-mail her at piperlr@cityofgainesville.org. The application deadline is November 15, 2010-- we look forward to hearing from you! Hoggetowne village is known the rest of the year as the Alachua County Fairgrounds,
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The Faire will be held on Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., and on Friday, Feb. 4th from 9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. Friday is School Day at the Faire and features half-price admission for the general public. School Days bring in more than 7,000 curious and energetic students who are eager to experience the Middle Ages. Merchants have commented that our students on School Day were the brightest, best behaved, and most pleasant crowd of children they have encountered. 
Hoggetowne’s nine theatres feature continuous live revelry -- a medley including gypsy dancing, a variety of music, juggling, puppetry and acting troupes. Crowds will cheer armored knights as they joust on horseback, charging head-on at a full gallop with only a lance and shield to defend themselves. The Tournament Field will host a living chess game. Watch as King Arthur, Queen Guinevere and Merlin the Magician match wits with the forces of evil in a human chess game on a living chessboard. Also featured will be displays of full-flight falconry and armored combat, as well as two daily processions led by the Royal Court.
Children will enjoy the exhilaration of human-powered push rides and live animal rides. Visitors will be challenged with medieval feats such as archery, battle-ax throwing and tests of strength. Strolling villagers and minstrels add to the medieval atmosphere, as do face painters and fortune tellers. The theme for the 25th Annual Hoggetowne Medieval Faire is 
