Balingup Medieval Carnivale exeeds expections with over 8000 people in attendance at the annual event

Balingup turned back time on Saturday and came alive with the its highly anticipated annual medieval festival.

Up to 8000 people came in full dress to experience the wonders and joy of the 26th anniversary of the Balingup Medieval Carnivale that featured eight hours of reenactments, live music and dancers, and scrumptious food and drink in full supply.

The Sisters of Corn kicked off the festival with their whimsical tunes, followed by the Queen’s speech and the Knighting of the Knights. Kids found their fun at the Kids Tent and in the Arena where there was Tug-O-War and Hobby Horse Jousting, while the adults enjoyed tastings of locally produced wines, ciders and mead, and enjoyed the reenactments.

Camel rides and archery were popular activities but it was the Grand Parade that had the entire carnival buzzing with anticipation as it made its way through the site at 1pm.

Wait times to enter the carnival got up to 30 minutes but that did nothing to sour the mood with many people in line already begininning the festivities with photoshoots, costume demonstrations and excited discussion.

President of the Balingup Medieval Carnivale Fran Wilshuen said the festival exceeded the event management’s expectations, selling double the anticipated number of entry tickets.

“We sold up to 5000 tickets which totals to about 8000 people,” she said, “That’s more than twice the number of people we expected to have.”

“We had a few challenges around food stall lines but the vendors were amazing, shutting down for a period to restock and then were back at it through the rest of the afternoon.”

Ms Wilshuen said the volunteers, who are mostly members of the local community, did an amazing job on the day of the event and in the lead up to it.

“Balingup has been doing this for nearly 30 years but I am still constantly amazed at the dedication and determination of the community.

“Overall, we felt the event was hugely successful.”

Ms Wilshuen said this year turned out to be a great opportunity to take the carnival back to its roots and proved to be the ideal comeback after COVID affected the last two years of the carnival.

“This year was a fabulous base to build off of for next year which will go back to a two-day event.”