Mid Lenten Feast

Hosted by

The Shire of Hartwood (Nanaimo, Campbell River, Courtenay, Port Alberni, BC )

Event Summary

Event Main Contact (Event Steward): Aine ui Reachtabhair
Date: March 25 , 2006
Site opens at: 12:00 AM on March 25th 2006
Site closes at: 12:00 AM

Event site:
Nanaimo Bay Scout Hall
Comox Road Nanaimo, BC

Shrove Tuesday has faded into distant memory, and three weeks of the austere and ascetic season of Lent have passed.

Three up, three down, three left.

Three long, boring weeks filled with meatless, eggless, milkless food.

Are you tired of the endless gruel? Sick to death of salt cod? Desperate at the ban on marital relations during this self-denying season? Depressed by boring evenings spent by the fire with only the local priest reading out the begats and the book of Deuteronomy for entertainment?

Then have we got a feast for YOU! (You’re on your own with the marital relations, though).

Hartwood’s Mid-Lenten Feast
Date: March 25th, 2006 (the Fourth Saturday of Lent)
Time: Doors open at 3:30; Site closes at midnight

BONUS! Every attendee will receive a piece of the true cross!

Cost:
Earlybird tickets (until March 1): $10
Regular tickets (on sale until March 18/Daffodil): $12

BONUS!! Earlybird ticket purchasers will be eligible for one free indulgence, endorsed by our own Brother Azrael. Further indugences will cost you.

Tickets available from the autocrat (atkinsona at mala dot bc dot ca) or the deputy autocrat and Tsk Mistress (sca_maria at hotmail dot com)

Here’s what’s “on” for the evening:

1) An Extraordinary Feast!
The challenge for cooks, for the mid-lent feast, was to make the very best of what was both available and “spiritually” acceptable in the way of food (no meat, no milk, no eggs, and not much else either). The cooks leaped at the challenge, with some extremely tasty results! Come out and see how very tasty food can be, and thumb your nose at the church’s rules of abstinence!

2) Astonishing Entertainment!
As for the priest and his begats, the way to shut him up is to learn another story and tell it better than he does. These stories need not be limited to biblical subjects and the lives of the saints (though there are some rip-roaring stories in both those genres!). The feast isn’t on a Sunday, so secular stories are fair game!

Sing some songs you know, and learn some you don’t.

Sit round the hearth with friends nearby, and experience the bardic circle.

3) Most Excellent Fun!
Gambling is not likely to be smiled on during Lent (in fact, the church looks askance at gambling pretty much all the time, until Bingo is invented, which isn’t until much later). However, the hall is large, and running about is a great way to keep warm on chilly evenings. Come and play games, mingle with your neighbours, and meet that hunky/hot son/daughter of that family to the east of you. You know, the one who isn’t married yet. And while you’re at it,

4) Let’s Dance!
Dance will be led by Hartwood’s very own Dancemistress of Awesomeness, Lady Tita the Wanderer, Etoile d’Argent!

5) And What’s More . . .
It can’t be fun, fun, fun all the time. Or can it? Have you ever wanted to learn to spin? To knit? To embroider? To figure out how a warp-weighted loom works? How about card weaving, or an inkle loom? Find out how to keep your hands busy while the singing and storytelling is going on . . . because idle hands do the devil’s work!

Contests Contests Contests!
Dance:
Tita, Dancemistress of Awesomeness, will be sponsoring two dance contests at the event. She’s not telling us what they are, so you’ll have to come out and dance!

Games:
Best New (to us, but period) Game:
Find a group-participation game that not many people know how to play. It can be fairly energetic, but must be “do-able” indoors. It needs to involve a minimum of 4 players. Sponsored by Lady Maria. Prize is a Kubb Game!!

Best Subtlety:
Best food that looks like something other than what it actually is. Taste is not an issue here, but it does need to be edible–and conform to the dietary restrictions for Lent (no meat, milk, or eggs). Sponsored by the lovely Ann Coke. Prize is a lovely mould for your next subtlety!

Bardic:
BEST-TOLD story of a saint’s life OR best-told story from the Bible: Ever heard of Saint Walpurga? Saint Radegund? Saint Scholastic and the big storm she prayed up? In keeping with the season and the theme of the event, this contest asks you to make the dreary season fun, and explore freedom within boundaries. Find out how bloodthirsty, magical, romantic, and subversive saints can be!