ORGANISERS have revealed the Battle of Evesham celebrations will return in 2023 after thousands packed into the town for the greatest gathering of medieval knights on war-horses.
Next year’s date has already been pencilled in after visitors gathered last weekend to watch 500 re-enactors and 30 knights on war-horses cause medieval mayhem and sample the delights of some 140 stalls. The event marks the 1265 Battle of Evesham.
Widely regarded as the largest post-Hastings battle re-enactment of the High Medieval period, last weekend’s festival attracted visitors from around the UK, Europe and the USA.
Spread over Saturday and Sunday (August 6 and 7), the free event remembered the bloody battle fought on August 4, 1265 between Prince Edward and Simon de Montfort.
Events on both Crown and Corporation Meadow took visitors back seven and a half centuries with re-enactment groups from all over the country offering various examples of medieval living.
A medieval festival and camp offered demonstrations of cookery, weapons and medicine, plus the main battle re-enactment with hundreds fighting ‘to the death’ on both days.
The Battle of Evesham Grand Parade, with mounted knights in full armour and a mass gathering of medieval characters, wound its way through the town together with Mayor of Evesham Coun Mark Goodge. He led 32 Mayors and Mayoresses, all in their chains of office, through the streets.
Organisers have already pencilled in the 2023 festival for August 5 and 6.
For more details, visit www.battleofevesham.co.uk
