The first medivial market I ever visited was the Gaudium Poingorum in 2005. I happened upon it, because it was very close to my home and I got curious because of some advertisement posters. The festival was organized by the medivial reenactment group Falkenklinge in the town of Poing and always held in late spring.
Unfortunately, the town of Poing was unable to provide space for the festival this year, so this year it was in the town of Markt Schwaben, which is still close to here, but there isn't the same amount of space where the festival could be held so everything would be more cramped. The official occasion for the festival was to be the 600 year anniversary of the Markt Schwaben crest.
Though that was true, it wasn't so bad as I feared. Although some shows where held in less than optimal spaces (the fights) and some attractions couldn't find a place anywhere (like an archery range). The two most important stalls however, found their place so everything was fine: The Barbarenspieß and Met Amensis.
Lo and behold, the Met Amensis Tavern. Unfortunately, I was there by car, so I couldn't drink as much as my tongue demanded. For those few who don't know, LARP means "Live Action Roleplaying" and means a hobby, where you act out fantasy stories and also engage in a few sports-like activities with sword, where a cool-looking leather armor is always a nice touch. That's what this stall mostly sells. A extremely nice leather armor - skirt combination. 50 % of the protection offered comes from distracting male opponents :-). Not for sale, I guess, this stall nevertheless had this medivial punishment instrument on display. Probably to dissuade customers from stealing and employees from being lazy. A selection of amulets. A selection of magic potions for every need. That is, if your every need is to get drunk ;-). One guy walked around with a small cat sitting lazily on his shoulder and looking around. And I thought I had seen everything. The show of the group "Claymore" spotted some small tavern stories as background to the swordfights this time. Here a tavern brawl with metal in it is in action. Jewelry and probably decorative weapons. A witch and her daughter. Unfortunately the big magic feathery staff completely hides the witch herself in this picture. Standing in line for our second Barbarenspieß. The line was really long and the place with the food stalls got quite crowded. But the staff from the Barbarenspieß stall worked quite efficiently and so we didn't have to wait too long. Another impression of how busy the festival was in some places. Oh-oh. Of course, whereever there are people, HE is too. Whaaa! There he is again and he is looking at me! Pfuuuh, he went on. To the right the witch again vanishes behind her staff. At this little lake in the middle of town, every year there is a theatre festival in summer, where a play is performed under the starry midsummer night. Unless it rains, which it frequently does. A view from the floor above the Met Amensis tavern. "Fatzwerk" played there before. This was a group of drummers in late medivial/early renaissance costumes. The Templar court show. Everyone likes a good tar-and-feathering :-). A look at the vendors lane from the bridge of the entry. Same look as before to the other side of the bridge. It was already 18:00 and still people were not only walking around but many were still coming. Certainly the festival could be counted a huge success, even though it was on the same weekend as the still-running Oktoberfest.