The return of Castle Cornet’s medieval day
Castle Cornet’s Fete d’Etai is to be held for the first time since 2019.
15 August 2022
The Fete d’Etai (Guernesiais for ‘summer festival’) is to be held on Sunday 21 August between 10.00 and 17.00. The Castle’s medieval history will be celebrated with guided tours, children’s activities, live music and living history.
Members of Jersey’s group The Duke’s Leopards return to the Castle for the first time since the pandemic. They will be setting up a small medieval camp with a cooking area, games and more. There will also be a chance to look at the recipes and ingredients of those days.
For the more active, there will be a chance to try out archery in the castle with the Bowmen of Guernsey between 11.00 and 15.00. The young (and young at heart) are invited to join in with Knight School at 10.45 and 12.10, where they can show off their talents of chivalry, bravery and strength.
The live action role play group Tol Galen will once again be providing entertainment in the form of sword fights and displays of weapons and armour. This will be accompanied by the gentler activity of art & crafts. Visitors can learn about popular plants of the Middle Ages and make a model of a mangonel (medieval catapult) to take home.
There will be tours of the medieval castle at 10.30 and 14.00. For music lovers, there will be live performances throughout the day in different locations.
Jo Dowding, Access & Learning Manager says, ‘we’re over the moon to be holding this popular day again because it’s a chance to appreciate the ancient part of our Castle’s past. Just like in previous years, if you make an effort to appear in medieval dress, you will be admitted free of charge’.
Fete d’Etai takes place on Sunday 21 August from 10.00-17.00. Normal admission applies: £10.50 for adults, £3 for children and free of charge for under 7s. Discovery Pass holders and accompanying children enter free of charge.
