Medieval Festival Will Draw Tens Of Thousands Uptown: Organizers

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS-INWOOD, NY — Fort Tryon Park in Uptown Manhattan will be taken back to the middle ages when tens-of-thousands of people descend on the neighborhood for the 34th Annual Medieval Festival, the festival's organizers said.

The park will be transformed into a historically-accurate medieval market town — complete with heraldic flags and banners and performers decked out in medieval costumes — on Sunday, Sept. 30, Dennis Reeder of the Washington Heights & Inwood Development Corporation said. The festival is organized by the corporation and co-sponsored by the city Parks Department.

This year's festival will feature entertainment such as authentic medieval music and dancing, performing jesters, a falconry demonstration and magic shows. Professional "re-creators" are told to interact with festivalgoers to create an immersive experience, festival organizers said. The day will be capped off by an epic jousting demonstration between knights on horseback.

"This year's festival will feature at least seven performance areas so visitors can choose between armored knights whacking each other with broadswords, puppet shows, children's stories, medieval, music, song and dance, watch a stone carver or a potter work their craft, join in the fun with impromptu costumed performers mingling with the crowds, eat a turkey leg and drink some meade," Reeder said in a statement. "Visitors are always encouraged to come in costume."

In its 34th year, the Medieval Festival is one of the longest-running annual outdoor events in New York City, Reeder said. The festival draws an average crowd of about 60,000 people from all over the city, and organizers said as many as 70,000 may attend this year. The event is held in Fort Tryon Park in close proximity to the Cloisters, which showcases some of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's best artwork from the medieval times.

Attendance to the medieval festival is free, but patrons will have to cough up some coin if they're intent on chomping down on a turkey leg and washing it down with authentic meade.

Photo courtesy Dennis Reeder/Washington Heights & Inwood Development Corporation