Hello lovelies,
And here is the video of the medieval market in Eggenburg.
Enjoy!
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Thank you so much!
All the best,
Auris Lothol
Hello lovelies,
another medieval festival is over and it was icy and rainy. I remember 2023 was so hot and we were a puddle of sweat and this time we were ice-blocks.
This year was a bit different because we snatched one of the rare rooms in a hotel for the weekend. At first we just wanted to stay from Saturday to Sunday but the hotel informed us that due to the medieval festival, rooms are only rented out from Friday to Sunday. A cash grab in my eyes but sure. And it was not cheap either for what we got, it was about 400€ for two nights including breakfast. Which, for that location was pretty steep.
But nevertheless, we arrived on Friday, had a quick dinner at the restaurant and then watched schlefaz in the room. The pumpkin soup with the toasted bread was really delicious, my garlic spaghetti were not. It was so bland and I did not taste any garlic. That was such a shame because I love garlic.
While watching one of the worse Schlefaz I sewed on the rhinestones to the dress.
We woke up around 8:15 and got ready. Here is my outfit I wore for that day. It's an older one I made and wore back in 2019 (see here)
The admission in 2025 was €10 for one day or €15 for both days, making it one of the more affordable festivals in Austria.
Compared to other locations like Český Krumlov, both the town and the festival in Eggenburg are much smaller and thus the parade was probably only 1/8th of what the Krumlov parade was, but it was fun nevertheless.
It's not even an 1/8th of what the Krumlov parade was but it was fun nevertheless. The women from the Lace club recognized me and wanted us to join them but we declined. My favourite were the Italian flag-throwing group Sbandieratori di Arezzo. They performed a short set to close the parade, but later in the day they also give a full show. Founded in 1960, they’ve become cultural ambassadors of their region, performing everywhere from Seoul and New York to Versailles and even the Vatican. Their acrobatics, synchronized flag swings, and the sound of drums and trumpets create an unforgettable atmosphere. Plus, their good looks and costumes had many heads turning.
Because of this, the streets and market areas can get very crowded during peak hours. In 2025 it wasn’t too bad, since the weather was less favourable, but on a sunny day, you can expect the festival to be packed.
We went up to the church, took some pictures and then had cake in the gardens of the parish. The prices for water and cake was affordable, and we did not have to pay the usual 7€ deposit for the mugs.
Then we wandered down and had a look around at the boots. We also found my favourite artists Orniello and Wellenkind, who were located near the other church and general area of other artists.
You could buy everything your medieval heart desires from from jewelry and hats to pottery, felted bags and hats, gemstones, fabric, ocarina, bird whistles, baskets, incense, jams, syrup, mead, leather items, clothing, ropes, soap, books, bags, and blacksmith wares.
We ate lunch, I had medieval potato latkes, just kidding...of course there were no potatoes during that time, and meat in a bun with mustard and sauerkraut. My partner got Flammkuchen without cream and it was just a tortilla with vegetables for 10€? Absolutely not worth it.
Afterwards he got Baumkuchen, which at least has a history dating back to the late Middle Ages. The earliest known recipes appear in an Italian cookbook from 1426, and one of the first German-language recipes can be found in Marx Rumpolt’s 1581 cookbook, where it is referred to as Spießkuchen/Spit cake.
The weather was not great and we decided to head back to the hotel around 2pm, we napped for an hour and then I changed into a casual wear and we were off to the festival again.
We watched another show of the Sbandieratori di Arezzo. Too bad we got a bad spot and didn't really say much apart from their heads and the flags that were thrown into the air. Plus, children were running around and some grabbed my hip and pushed me to get infront of me. I was so livid with them and their parents but latter where no where to be found.
I drank a grape juice which was amazing, and we rested at a bench and watched the people.
We also found some of Hias' friends and talked to them and then later met up at another location where I had a bread with raclette. There was no price and I naively thought it would not be that expensive because it's just bread with cheese but I was wrong and paid 8,5€ for this. Eight euros and fifty cents. Absolutely not worth it.
We went back to the hotel at 6pm and stayed there. We were too tired to do anything else and went to bed.
It had rained and stormed during the night and everything was still wet. I was glad I didn't bring the white dresses I intended to wear as I would have had dirt on my seams up to my knee. Instead I brought the blue dress I made and wore the year before (remember?). This time I wore it with a green woolen cape.
We were a bit too late to watch the parade and instead set out to chat with the artists of Orniello and Wellenkind. I bought a ring from Orniello and Hias bought a new hat from Wellenkind.
I realized that I didn't film enough for a video so we basically run around and I made videos of the booths and the artists. During that time we also bought a new Cherry mead which was 30€.
Today we also got two program points: the historical dances from Eulenspiel and the concert from Schandgesellen.
Afterwards we went to the venetian camp and met friends who came with her friend group that had never been to a medieval festival. They were starstruck and excited and the energy was contagious.
We ate some cake at the parish again and it then began to rain. It was annoying but at least we were not stuck outside as the people working there invited us into the building. when it stopped raining we made a few pictures and then grabbed our stuff and went to the train station.
We were home around 3pm and I was so happy to see my cats again. It was a long and expensive weekend, I was cold most of the time but it was fun. But, next time, we will not stay at the hotel.
If you enjoy this blog and want to support it, consider leaving a small donation via PayPal. Every bit helps keep things running and lets me keep creating more content just for you. You can donate by clicking the link below:
Thank you so much!
All the best,
Auris Lothol
Hello lovelies,
after a year break, we went to the school of old handcraft congress again. The last one was in 2023, read the post about it here.
We were glad that the event took place in July as we were freezing cold in November 2023. But our joy didn't last long because when we saw the temperatures the week before, we couldn't believe our eyes. 5°C to 15°C plus rain? That's so cold for July, even for this region. But, we couldn't change it and therefore packed warm clothes, a coat, scarf and blanket. And boy oh boy, did we need them.
The weather was okay when we left Vienna and it started raining, or rather pouring.
It rained so hard when we arrived that we just sat in the car for 10minutes and hoped it would get better soon.
As for the location, it was a true downgrade from the amazing monastery but I later found out that the monastery as location cost 8000€. And for such a tiny event that was truly too much. Papstin, where the event was held, looked and felt like a big beer tent built right next to a wooden lodge. I was very happy that the classes were held in the wooden lodge because it was freezing cold in the tent. But all of the poor vendors had to stand in the cold for three days, I'm happy I declined the invitation to vend at the event because I would have gotten sick.
We stayed for the opening speech from the organizer and the mayor of the town. There were maybe 30 people in the room, not a great start to the event.
My partner and I booked classes to attend and while his straw hat class was cancelled, the reason for this will be mentioned later, mine took place as planned. Friday in the afternoon and Saturday in the morning I had medieval embroidery and Sunday in the morning I had fingerloop. Hias switched to Sashiko in the last moment and he really enjoyed it.
The medieval embroidery was purely done with silk thread. I came to really hate those slippery bastards. Silk is just a pain in the butt to work with wether it be fabric or thread. But at least my progress looked nice. And in typical medieval fashion, the pattern is just a weird guy with a djin- like body.
All stitches were made as a split stitch which was an interesting choice.
After the congress we drove to our hotel. We stayed at Hotel St. Lambrecht again and the owners recognized us again. We had this amazing view from our hotel room and I marvelled at the low hanging clouds.
I continued working on my medieval jin-man in the evening until the light vanished. Eva-Maria, my embroidery teacher, told us that the medieval guilds had very strict rules. Embroiderers were usually male and they were forbidden to embroider when the light is gone. Which means he could stop working in winter around 3-4pm (?) but had to work overtime in summer. Rules that I thought were pretty modern.
We rushed to the location of the congress again Saturday in the morning after breakfast as both of our classes commenced at 9am. Definitely not my time of the day. I wore my rabbit tooth dress as it was super comfy and a warm cardigan. :
And that is my whole progress in 7 hours and two days lol. But at least it looks like I'm halfway through? So maybe another 7-10 hours and then I'm done.
In the afternoon Hias and I sat at the lectures and it was icy. We both wore thick cloathing, and I also had a small blanket but it didn't really help.
Then Lydia talked about Reenactment and Living history, and the later on, she also held the stays lecture but only because the lecturer got sick.
The flowers in the hotel were also super pretty, I just had to take pictures.
But in the end I managed to make three different designs and I was really proud of myself. Nevertheless, it's not really my technique and I think Hias would have thrived much better in the class than I did. At least it was an amazing work out as we had to stand and us our arms to tighten it.
Hias was done with his classes on Satuday and he finished his Sashiko piece: look at his amazing work!
The ring is from Wizart and is an amethyst in a copper socket.
So, and now to the hardest part of the story. What happened that made us weary to go and even think about cancelling the event entirely?
Nazis, because Austria is Nazi ground zero. Or at least, a publishing company that is on the far right of the spectrum. They were announced to have a booth there but, at least, not to sell their Nazi trash, only old handcraft books. You see, they are one of the only small publishing companies willing to produce a small number of books in the niche of old handcrafts. One artist found out and decided to cancel her class and boycott the event. But before she could send out word explaining why and her side of the story, the organizer sent an email saying it wasn’t as bad because the publishing company wouldn’t actually have a booth there and wouldn’t sell their books. But the can of worms was already open, and in our eyes, she didn’t think it was such a big deal. In my eyes, it was. I do not want to attend an event where Nazi books or books from a far-right publishing company are sold. We later found out they had to sell the books at the event because of a contract with one of the vendors who was there. The contract stated that if they were at the event, they also had to sell the books (if I remember correctly). But that was not the information given to us. So it was a huge mess, but we did learn from it. Now we know the name of the publishing company, and if they have a booth again in 2027, we will not attend.
If you enjoy this blog and want to support it, consider leaving a small donation via PayPal. Every bit helps keep things running and lets me keep creating more content just for you. You can donate by clicking the link below:
Thank you so much!
All the best,
Auris Lothol