Travellers come from far and wide to meet for medieval fun

About 8,500 people are estimated to have travelled from all across the State for the Balingup Medieval Carnivale over the weekend. One such duo was Matilda, 9, and her aunt Sandy O’Doherty, who drove all the way from Albany for the annual event. Matilda found out about the festival through her friends and has now decided to make the trek every year. “This is my first festival and I’m going to come back next year as a mushroom,” she said. Popular costumes at this year’s festival were centred around making fantastic hats, which resemble mushrooms and walking around as sprites of the forest. Matilda’s aunt Sandy said the costumes had inspired the young minds to dress fantastically. “She’s seen all the mushrooms and now wants to come back now she’s realised her people are here,” Ms O’Doherty said. “There’s quite a few Albany people here, we’ve been talking about it for a while.” Matilda said her favourite parts of the weekend were the costumes, the display of various birds of prey, and the combat arena — where she wishes to perform in the future. “I got to hold an owl, I hope I get to do sword-fighting,” she said. “I wish I could do some.”