Everyone has experienced it, that moment at an event where the modern world just melts away and you are completely surrounded by and enfolded in another time and place. Creating an environment where it’s easier for this to happen is part of what each of us strive for – from our clothing to our feast gear to the décor of the location of the event. The Perfectly Period Feast Project strives to create as authentic an environment as possible by focusing on a complete re-creation of a feast in a specific time and place.

The Perfectly Period Feast Project was started in the Kingdom of the West in 2005. Its mission was to focus entirely on the “artifacts (linens, furniture, ceramics, cutlery) and historical practices of table service and entertainment” of a specific place and time during our period of study. Since then, the PPF has taken place three times in the West and just this past spring, the Kingdom of An Tir hosted their first PPF. Each PPF has focused on a different time and year; 1480 England, 1420 Catalonia, 1580 Ferrera, and 1487 Tuscany. The Æthelmearc PPF will be focused on Spain in 1520.

Planning for a PPF takes years, in this case, several months of planning went into determining whether or not appropriate facilities were available and just how much planning and coordination would be required to hold just such an event. Once that was determined, choosing a time frame far enough in the future to allow for the creation of the more complicated aspects of this feast like the tables, chairs, linens, and glassware/crockery. Because of the all-encompassing nature of this kind of enterprise, there is something that nearly every discipline can do to contribute. Are you interested in medieval furniture? Are you interested in medieval decor? Are you interested in pottery? Are you interested in table textiles? How about medieval glassware? There is something that you can do to contribute to the Perfectly Period Feast.

There is a facebook group where the various workgroups are being put together. Please join and let us know where your interests lay so that you can be part of this amazing event. If you have questions or would like more details, please contact Meesteres Odriana vander Brugghe at jenn.strobel@gmail.com.