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The Ducal staff have planned the following competitions for your participation and viewing enjoyment. Competitions other than the ones listed below may be added if we (or an attendee) get a bright idea. If you have ideas or think we’re missing something please contact the Autocrat to let us know!
- Heavy fighting: Sword & Shield List, Barroom Brawl Melee, Cat's Cradle Melee, Superhero Melee, Lava Fight Melee, and Pandybat Melee;
- Rapier: Single Sword, Tipped Cup, Lava Fight, Zombie Melee, Daisy Tourney, and Street Fight;
- Archery: Eagle Shoot, Wand Shoot, Old Coin Shoot, and Ring Shoot;
- Thrown Weapons (Sunday afternoon);
- Wrestling (Monday morning);
- Games: Hunkerhauser, Water Balloon Toss, Amazing Race (scavenger hunt/obstacle course), Drag Races (family friendly, please!), Stick Horse Races, Bucket Brigade (mixed age teams), and Three-Legged Race (mixed age teams);
- Bardic: Filk - By The Numbers, Original Work in a Period Style (not a sonnet), Son of the Bad Sonnet; and
- Culture: Shady Hats, Ceremony Re-dux, Adaptation of a modern item for SCA use
A is for Adaptive (Culture) – here’s your chance to show off your peri-oid adaptions. Entrants sign up in the competitions shade and the winner is determined by populace vote (ballots provided when you sign in at gate).
Amazing Race (Games) – combination scavenger hunt and obstacle course for adults.
Barroom Brawl (Heavy) – sword and something found in a barroom in the off-hand. Item must be "field appropriate" (as determined by the Marshall-In-Charge).
C is for Ceremony (Culture) – so you think you can do it better? Write (or re-write) an SCA ceremony for our listening pleasure. Entrants sign up in the competitions shade and will present their entry during Saturday evening. The winner is determined by populace vote (ballots provided when you sign in at gate).
Cat’s Cradle (Heavy) – fighters start in a circle and have a rope strung through their belts so that the rope limits/entangles your movements.
Daisy Tourney (Rapier) – fight with a daisy in your off hand (we provide). If the daisy breaks or either hand is disabled you are out of the fight.
Filk: By The Numbers (Bardic) – Filk a song with a number in the original song/band name.
Lava Fight (Heavy, Rapier) – remember jumping from stone to stone as a kid to keep from falling in the “lava”? We replaced the stones with (larger) shapes, but the theory is the same.
Original Work in a Period Style (Bardic) – just what it sounds like!
Pandybat (Heavy) – enter the fight with a weapon more dangerous to yourself than to your opponents. Please note that all weapons must meet SCA weapons basic construction regulations.
S is for Shade (Culture) – bring your best shady hat to show off. Entrants sign up in the competitions shade and the winner is determined by populace vote (ballots provided when you sign in at gate).
Single Sword (Rapier) – This will be a double round robin format, with each contestant holding the field against all the others, with the two combatants with the highest number of kills fighting best two out of three for the finals.
Son of the Bad Sonnet (Bardic) – a reprise of last year’s amazingly popular “Bad Sonnet” competition. Entries should meet all of the technical requirements for a sonnet but the worse the rhyming scheme, the better!
Street Fight (Rapier) – Fight your way around obstacles such as “buildings” and “pedestrians”.
Superhero (Heavy) – pick a “superpower” to fight with or let us auction the choice to someone else!
Thrown Weapons – please wear closed-toe shoes for this activity. Targets and equipment will be available for learning and practice. Children from 14 to 18 have to have their parent or guardian sign them into the range and remain somewhere on the event site. Children under 14 must have their parent or guardian present.
Tipped cup (Rapier) – timed fight with a (water) filled tankard in your hand (we provide). If you lose all the liquid or either hand is disabled you are out of the fight. Whoever has the most liquid left in their tankard at the end of the fight wins.
Zombie Melee (Rapier) – Zombies are trying to take over the Ducal field! Can your fighter be the last man standing and uninfected? Maybe if you help him by throwing severed zombie heads at his opponents.