Medieval Festival at Ft. Tryon Park 2013

It’s that time of year again when September/October rolls in and I get very happy: autumn begins and ushers in the great weather and fall colors, and the Medieval Festival in New York City’s Ft. Tryon Park kicks off. I’ve been going to this festival since I was a teenager and here I am, over thirty years later bringing my own family to this cherished event.

I’ve been taking pictures for years of this festival but this time around I decided to play around with my Nikon 7100’s video capabilities. I snapped a few pictures in between but I was also able to get some decent stills from the video for this post.

This festival begins in either two ways: you take the tour through the park and climb to the top or you face the packed crowds and take the one of three functioning elevators to the top.

My friend Katia gets an unexpected tutorial on stick juggling or whatever this is.

Some elves chill out perched on rocks playing instruments.

Puppet show against the backdrop of the beautiful Hudson River and the Palisades.

These two dragons made their first appearance this year. I’ve never seen them here before.

“King” and “Bishop” of today’s living chess game.

My daughter decided to wear one of my t-shirts I had ordered online. It’s a take on Dunkin’ Donuts coffee logo.

My daughter commandeered this shirt shortly before leaving the house.

To her surprise, she was a big hit among the crowds as she got looks and compliments. Even the cosplayers involved in the living chess game invited her to participate in their public game. She kindly declined, refusing to be just a mere pawn in their schemes.

The Bishop called many of her friends over.

This woman had a fully articulating dragon on her shoulder, powered by some secretly hidden cables…

This was a “slinky” like I’ve never seen before.

For the rest of the day we walked in the park, ate and did some light shopping. I usually stick around until the ending, after the jousting at 5pm but we decided to leave a little early and avoid the masses leaving the park. Until next year!

I can only assume there were record crowds this year attending the medieval festival.