"Fête Médiévale" at Nanteuil En Vallée

Witches, Gandalf, Knights, Maidens, Trolls, Wizards, Peasants, Soothsayers and even Shriek were all present for last weekend’s fabulous ‘Fête Médiévale’ in Nanteuil En Vallée. 

Nanteuil itself is a beautiful 12th century village which, in recent years, has attracted several house buyers with its lovely architecture, two restaurants, commerce and of course the old Abbey and its grounds where the festival took place. Lovely village to own a holiday home too.

Rolling out over the Saturday and Sunday there is always plenty to see. Performances, by both young and old, are scheduled at various parts of the Abbey grounds and the performers do so in full medieval costumes taking you back to the dark ages and a fairy tale world. There really is a family/fairy tale feel to the event with entry for children being free. Medieval skills such as stone masons, blacksmiths and embroidery are on show and several stalls selling local craft and delicacies add to the festival atmosphere. 

I arrived early on the Saturday evening (my daughter having to be there to prepare for her show) and took a quick video as the atmosphere was starting to build up CLICK HERE. The Abbey gates opened at 17h00 to the public and the performances rolled out shortly afterwards right through until the midnight finale of the amazing fire jugglers. Between performances there were several taverns to eat and drink, in fact I was served a round of beers and cider by Shriek and Princess Fiona!! (could be confusing to anybody having had one too many later in the evening). We took our own picnic and ‘grazed’ throughout the evening on one of the several wooden tables. This was not the first time that I have been to the Medieval Festival and I would certainly recommend giving it a try next year if you never have done so…….just don’t have nightmares.