Visitors to Camp Couchdale on Saturday would have thought they had stepped back in time to the Middle Ages.
The Society of Creative Anacronism's Gleann Abhann kingdom began the 32nd annual Diamond Wars gathering at the camp, located on Lake Catherine, on Friday. The medieval event, which concludes today, featured period clothing, events such as sword fighting and educational opportunities for visitors.
Diamond Wars is one of two annual events put on by Pilgrims Fount, the Hot Springs group within the regional SCA group Gleann Abhann. Gleann Abhann media liaison Travis Gates said that this year's event is a sort of homecoming.
"We left this site, had gone up to another site, and found that this site was open again for us to be able to come back," he said. "We're extremely happy to be able to come home again."
Gates explained that the SCA is "about 52 years old" and is comprised of about 60,000 participants from all over the world. Diamond Wars drew about 300 players from Gleann Abhann (meaning "River Valley"), which includes the states of Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Louisiana.
Within Arkansas, players from Fort Smith, Benton and Little Rock made the trek to the gathering. This weekend's event is one of many put on in Arkansas, the United States and around the world.
"You can go to an event any weekend in the calendar year," Anita Wilson, who holds the title of Baroness of Small Gray Bear (a group within Gleann Abhann out of Little Rock), said.
Gates said Pilgrims Fount meets throughout the year and participates in events such as Spa-Con and Hot Springs' Christmas parade. He said that the group also puts on events where the players get together to study and participate in medieval arts and sciences.
"Every weekend of the month of every month, there is something going on," he said.
Gates explained that the SCA -- and more specifically, Gleann Abhann -- is made up of dedicated members who study medieval apparel and their families' lineage. He said that every player creates their own medieval name, and that each name is derived from their family's lineage. Gates, for one, played as a friar named James Chapman -- a name and character based on his family line.
"Everything you actually see here -- all the clothing, the hat pieces, the jewelry -- all of the stuff that we actually do is based on reality," he said. "We do the research, and through actually looking through old manuals and manuscripts, find the products."
With such expertise of the Middle Ages come classes and events that are put on by the players at Diamond Wars.
"We have men in armor who are fighting, we have people with horses who are doing equestrian, there are merchants, there are people teaching classes," Wilson said. "Anything that you wanted to learn about in the Middle Ages, they are teaching those classes."
Gates encourages families to visit SCA events, as people "from age zero all the way up to over age 90" are represented. He said that such events are a good educational opportunity for all ages.
"There's virtually not an aspect of family life that we don't intertwine with," he said.
Local on 10/22/2017