The demo began late, due to the need for the Fair to bulldoze the equestrian arena and prep area. Sir Brand deus-Leons, KSCA, OP, was a great chatelaine, chatting up the assembled audience, one bleacher at a time, while everyone was waiting for the show to get underway. Once the bulldozer finished, the demo kicked off with a processession onto the field led by Countess Sinéidin Baroness Aquaterra and the other riders and followed by Baron Steinolfr, the heavy fighters, and the support crews, on foot.
Field heraldry was a bit unusual, as the layout of the venue was rather too large for the crowd to hear a voice herald from the field. It did, however, have an announcer's booth with a public address system. Still, I spent the heavy demo with a walkie-talkie to communicate with the announcer's booth as needed. So, in the best tradition of functional heraldry, I facilitated communication between the combatants, the announcers, the Baroness, and (later on) the equestrians.
All in all, there was a pretty good crowd, not packed, but sizable. Several people were quite eager and interested.
There were eight heavy fighters who participated, at first, taking turns with one-on-one scenarios, then after taking a break to talk to the audience and show them their armor and weapons up close, a grand melee.
After the fighting demo, we had an equestrian demo, with a few riders jousting at quintains, then at successively smaller rings.
Overall, the demo was a success, although neither highly organized, nor without injury. (One lady was taken by ambulance after her horse was spooked.) Still, we had fun, the audience seemed to enjoy it, I expect the fair will want us back next year, and we now have the experience to know what to do differently next time.
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