Camelot Vineyards transformed into a village from Medieval Times Saturday as it hosted its fourth annual Medieval Fair.
The Archduchy of Connacht, an Okanagan nonprofit organization dedicated to the study and recreation of the culture and history between the years of 1066 and 1603, was once again on hand to provide battle and weapon demonstrations to hundreds of guests in attendance.
Robert Young, owner of Camelot Vineyards, said he became connected with the Archduchy of Connacht when some of its members were visiting the winery a few years back.
The group has been the main act of Medieval Fair ever since.
“They eat, breathe and sleep medieval stuff when they’re not working. They bring all their medieval gear here and set the whole place up like a village…they give you a lot of history to find out what it would be like to be alive back then,” said Young.
This was the fourth time Camelot Vineyards has put on the festival and, according to Young, it has grown every year.
“I think our attendance was around 150 people the first year; we’re pushing close to 400 people annually now.”
Camelot Vineyards began as an orchard and was developed into a vineyard and winery in 2006.
“We moved up here in 1970 when I was a small kid—my parents had bought the place. It was an apple orchard and unofficially my dad always called it: Camelot Orchards.
“When we decided to redo the place as a vineyard, we kept the name and just sort of revamped it.”
wpaterson@kelownacapnews.com
Twitter: @PatersonWade
