This years’ Æthelmearc Arts & Sciences Faire and Queen’s Prize Tourney will be hosted by the Shire of Nithgaard (event details) Saturday, April 29, 2023. The format will be, as has been in the past, to have room for all who choose to display their works as well as enter in the Queen’s Prize Tourney. This sure will be a day to celebrate the artisans of our Sylvan Æthelmearc!

To show her appreciation to the artisans entering the Tourney, Her Royal Majesty Kallista will honor her favorite entry with the Queen’s Prize.

And by special request of our ÆthelBrewers, we were able to find a site that is dripping wet this year! You have no idea how excited and happy I am to accept alcoholic beverage entries on-site at this (any!) event – parking-lot car trunks and off-site hotel rooms are *something* but ideal it’s not!

How does the A&S Faire differ from traditional competitions?

In contrast to the Kingdom A&S Championship as well as regional A&S competitions, the Æthelmearc A&S Faire is not a judged competition. It does not include judging rubrics nor a populace vote. The A&S Faire and Prize Tourney is set up with two components: an A&S display for anyone to share their amazing work with our populace and the Queen’s Prize Tourney, where, in addition, entrants are offered an opportunity to meet face to face with a panel of advisors. The A&S display is open to anyone who likes to showcase their work. No requirements, no theme, no pre-registration required.

The Queen’s Prize Tourney is intended to provide a platform for anybody to receive constructive feedback on their work in a friendly and non-competitive environment and to stimulate enthusiasm and motivation within our A&S community by sharing our art. It is an excellent opportunity for up-and-coming artisans to show their work and get to be known by more experienced artisans, as well as an opportunity for more experienced artisans to gain meaningful feedback about their projects.

Sponsors

Participants in the Queen’s Prize Tourney must register ahead of time and must be sponsored by a Laurel or Fleur (or the equivalent to the Fleur from another kingdom), who should provide meaningful mentorship to the entrant. This can take many forms, and is dependent on the entrant and their sponsor. Some entrants seek a mentor who is much more engaged, with regular check-ins leading up to the Faire. Some entrants may not feel the need for in-depth engagement. This should be discussed before a sponsor/entrant agree on the sponsorship.

If an artisan wishes to enter but does not know of a sponsor to approach, we are glad to help match them up; likewise, if anyone would like to be a sponsor and is seeking an artisan(s), we will work to pair folks together.

Each sponsor is asked to bring a gift for each entrant they sponsor, so that each entrant receives a prize.

Entrants

Queen’s Prize Tourney entrants are allowed up to three items which should show a cohesive body of work. Entrants will have one or two groups of reviewers, scheduled for one hour each, who will ask questions about the item(s), documentation, the research process, etc. After each review session, the entrant will receive feedback forms from each reviewer. Written documentation is encouraged, but not required. To facilitate multiple advisors per review session, we ask that entrants bring three copies of their documentation. We encourage entrants to sit with their display for most of the day to give Their Majesties and the populace a chance to chat with them as well. We ask you to register via our online entrant form and to securely upload some basic info, some photos, and your documentation.

Youth artisans are highly encouraged to enter the display and/or the Queen’s Prize Tourney! The comment sheets for youth entrants will be different from those for adult entrants, designed with their age group in mind. Ideally, a youth entrant should be able to express how much of the project they did alone and how much they had help with, what the project is, how it works, and what they believe they learned throughout the process.

Advisors

We will need advisors for a successful A&S Faire. Advisors must be Fleurs or Laurels and are expected to spend a good part of the day in face-to-face advising of the entrants. In order to prepare for the day and match advisors with entrants, we ask that advisors preregister. Likewise, we ask sponsors to sign up via our form.

Feel free to approach us with any questions you may have by email or by finding us online. The registration deadline for in-person entry, advising, and sponsoring is April 27. The registration for online entry, advising, and sponsoring is April 20.

We hope to see many of you at the Arts & Sciences Faire and Queen’s Prize Tourney!

In service,

Hrólfr and Elska
Kingdom Ministers of Arts & Sciences