Hot stuff from Fiery Jack in The Vale of Glamorgan

9th June 2011

Try your hand at a siege engine, relive the thrills of jousting knights, wander through a medieval market, or just relax and breathe in history during Fiery Jack’s two day festival at Bulwarks Camp, Porthkerry Leisure Park, near Barry.

This educational entertainment extravaganza, supported by CADW and MG Cardiff, takes place from Friday 12th to Sunday 14th August and offers a unique experience for all the family.

The Festival of Historical Re-enactment is organised by Cardiff-based entertainer Fiery Jack. He said: “This is a really fun, family-focused festival with two days filled with a dazzling array of activities, from ferret racing to the vintage fairground, which should appeal to all ages.

“Children and grown-ups will love wandering through the medieval market with its amazing selection of traditional goods and wares. Pete of Swanick will be there, with his battle stories and the only ‘have-a-go’ trebuchet in the UK.

“I have also arranged for performances from the only jousting company in the UK to perform real full-contact Jousting, 15th century style,  with two teams of knights in full plate amour worth up to £25,000 per suit. In between, there’ll be much magic, mayhem and merriment with our three jesters. With them, anything can happen …and probably will!”

Several well-known re-enactment groups – Cardiff Castle Garrison, Cosmeston Medieval Village, Cosmeston Manor Archers and The Tempus Experientia -  will also be on site to re-create the day-to-day lives and historic moments of times long past.

With two full days of rollicking, rowdy, ribald, rumbustuous entertainment and three nights of on-site camping available for all the family, the evenings need to be pretty special too. There is a fantastic and eclectic range of performers which on Friday night includes Cardiff Burlesque’s FooFoo - erotic, comic, cheeky and dark; with comedy from Alf 5 Foot of Fun ; sultry, sleazy swing from 4-piece jazz outfit The Sauce and dance-inducing gypsy folk from Pigfoot; on Saturday night, Josephine Shaker will don top hat, tails and tap shoes;  music will be provided by the Top Shelf Jazz Boys, restoring the era of the monical, whose crooning melodies and rakish banter serve up an exhilarating cocktail of kazoo solos, anarchic misconduct and safari suits!

Sharing the evening with the Jazz Boys, is the rocky rootsy ‘fiddlesome’ band State of Undress from Dorset with their high-energy performance of original music and traditional songs described as ‘a blend of roots, rock, country, Celtic flavourings and a full-bodied melodic musical assault’! Add in one of the UK’s newest and most exciting magic performers, Jasper Blakeley and his alter-ego Kockov, the only performer in the world licensed to play Russian Roulette with colt 45 revolvers producing an unforgettable piece of live theatre; then a performance on Sunday from Under The Driftwood Tree with their alternative percussion instruments and their Bohemian sound, plus Fiery Jack’s own band Fishy Folk and you have all the ingredients for a week-end that is sure to go down in history!

Day tickets are £10, evenings £5. Under 13s are free.  www.firejoust.com

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