Choosing Your First Event

Practice, Event or War?

There are generally three types of SCA events: practices, events, and wars. Some people find that they prefer starting small, attending a few practices to make friends and learn skills before they feel ready to attend a larger event. Others find that attending a large event is a great way to jump in; you get to try a little of many activities, and then decide which things appeal to you enough that you’d like to attend practices focused on them.

Practices

Practices are informal gatherings of a local SCA branch where people learn and teach various activities. They might include fighter practices and dance practices where you can participate in physical activities, crafting circles or bardic circles hosted at a community member’s home, heraldry or calligraphy meetups in cafés or libraries, classes on topics from poetry to blacksmithing, social nights or volunteers’ meetings.

Locations: They’re often held in public spaces like parks. If the event is hosted at someone’s private home, you might need to contact somebody on social media to obtain the address.

Cost: Practices are often free, though sometimes you might be asked to chip in a few dollars towards the cost of space rental or food. Generally there’s no extra charge for a non-member.

Time: Practices in most groups are usually on a week-night evening, but some groups host practices for a few hours on a weekend.

Requirements: You usually don’t need any experience to attend. It’s usually completely fine to wear your normal modern clothes. There’s usually no obligation to actually participate – it’s fine if you want to sit and watch for your first time. There will often be loaner gear available for newcomers who don’t have necessary items (armour, bows and arrows, swords, crafting tools) - but check before you rely on this.

Activities: The activities available will vary by group. Some groups host ‘combined’ practices where you can try fencing, armoured fighting, dancing, crafting or bardic – all in the same space. Other practices will be focused on one specific activity, eg. a scriptorium (calligraphy-focused crafting time), melee practice (where fighters prepare for big battles by learning unit tactics) or sewing circle (focused on textile arts).

Events

Events are more formal gatherings, often involving tournaments and competitions and a “court” where awards are given out.

Locations: You may need to travel a bit further to attend an event, as they’re often at campsites and rarely metro-accessible. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your local group to ask about carpooling; it’s not always available, but often people are willing to help.

Cost: There is usually an entry fee, and sometimes a formal meal called a ‘feast’ which may cost extra. Depending on your kingdom, expect to pay between $10 and $30 for a single-day event, and $15-50 for an overnight camping event. If you need to book a hotel room, make sure to keep that additional cost in mind as you plan your budget.

Time: Sometimes events are for a single day, with activities often running between around 9am and around 6pm. Some events will focus activities on Saturday, but have the option of arriving Friday night for some socialising and leaving Sunday morning (which allows you to talk late around the campfire on Saturday) – but don’t expect actual activities on Sunday. Others will be true all-weekend events with activities across Friday evening, Saturday all day and Sunday all day. Check the event’s website for details on the schedule. It’s almost always fine to arrive for only part of an event – so you might choose to only attend Saturday, even if there’s also activities on Friday and Sunday.

Requirements: You should wear an attempt at clothing from before the year 1600. It does not have to be a good attempt, but it must be an attempt. If this presents a hardship for you, reach out to your local group to ask about Gold Key (loaner clothing). You do not have to be a member, but you will generally be charged $10 extra as a non-member, so it’s worth getting a membership if you plan to attend more than a few events. Certain activities will require more preparation to participate in; for example, you won’t be able to fight unless you’re authorized (which means attending some practices first to learn the rules and skills) and you may need to bring your own gear (bows, arrows, crafting supplies) to participate in other activities. Most events will allow you to pay at the door, but a few will require you to book in advance and some will give you a discount for booking in advance; check the event website.

Activities: Check the event schedule before you attend an event to see what activities will be available. Some events will have a little bit of everything – you can watch fighting tournaments at 10am, attend an art class at noon, hit the archery range at 2pm, participate in a singing circle at 4pm, then go to court at 6pm. Other events will be focused on a few specific activities; a battle-focused event might not have many opportunities to attend classes, and a University may not allow any fighting.

Wars

Wars are much larger events. They are often inter-kingdom, meaning that you will meet people from a much wider area than your local SCA branch.

Locations: You may have to travel a long distance to attend a war. Think of it like going on holiday; you might travel to another state or country to have a great experience for a week.

Cost: Wars are usually more expensive than regular events. You may spend $100-300 on the entry fee, before taking into account the costs of food, camping/hotels, and any equipment you need.

Time: Usually a week long, but sometimes a long weekend. Pennsic is two weeks.

Requirements: You should almost always register in advance; some wars may let you pay at the door, but there may be downsides (for instance, you might not get any allocated camping space or might be unable to stay with your group). You must wear an attempt at clothing from before the year 1600. Some groups or campsites might have other requirements, like bringing a tent that looks period; you should check with the group you plan to stay with. You will usually need to bring your own gear for some activities (eg. bring your own bow and arrows to the archery range) and others may have more stringent requirements – for example, if you want to fight you should plan on attending other practices and events first (to sort out your authorization paperwork, learn skills, check your gear works, and find a group to fight with).

Activities: There’s usually a massive variety of activities available to participate in. You can often take classes on a variety of topics, go to bardic circles or other performances and shows, compete in tournaments, or attend social events and meetups. Martial activities are likely to include several different options like armoured fighting, fencing, equestrian, archery, throwing weapons and sometimes experimental forms. You definitely won’t be bored – but you might find that you’d enjoy some activities more if you’ve previously attended enough practices and events that you have friends to do the activities with, appropriate gear, and/or authorization to compete.

Activities in the SCA

Arts & Sciences

Arts & Sciences is often abbreviated “A&S”. Participating in A&S can mean a variety of different things; you might attend classes, teach classes, recreate pre-1600s items to give as gifts (“largesse”), research and write papers, enter competitions, show off your work at an A&S display, or simply create items for your own personal use (such as clothing to wear).

Many, many arts are possible: some of the arts not listed below include woodworking, leatherworking, baking, blacksmithing, brewing, metalwork, perfumery, painting, ceramics and forestry. If you are interested in a specific craft, check the schedule of the event you are planning on attending; not every event will have classes on every craft. You may be able to participate in a display, where you bring an item you’ve created alongside “documentation” (a print-out explaining what you made, how you made it, how you researched it, and how the item might have been made or used pre-1600) and leave it on a table for others to admire. You may also be able to participate in competitions.

A few examples of other A&S opportunities:

Bardic: “Bardic” in the SCA can refer to all sorts of performance arts – including singing, storytelling, poetry, instrumental music and comedy. The most common bardic event is a “bardic circle”, where each person sitting in the circle gets a turn to perform something. You may also find opportunities to perform pieces at feasts, or perform background music during other activities. At larger wars, bards sometimes walk from campfire to campfire, offering each group a short performance before moving on – often in exchange for a snack or a drink.

Calligraphy and illumination: Calligraphers and illuminators have a special role in the SCA, as they create the award certificates – called “scrolls” – which are generally given out to people being recognised for their skill and contributions. They often base the scrolls on beautiful medieval documents like the Book of Kells, Codex Manesse, Golden Haggadah or Winchester Bible.

Cooking: There are numerous opportunities for cooking in the SCA. Events may have ‘feasts’, which are usually multi-course formal meals based on pre-1600 recipes, and you can generally learn the craft through volunteering to help in the kitchen. Many groups also provide hospitality or dayboards, which are tables of free food and snacks which you can help create. You can also often enter cooking competitions, particularly with less-perishable work such as baking or cheesemaking.

Dancing: Dancers in the SCA often recreate historical dances based upon historical manuscripts, often paired with historical sheet music. At larger events you may find balls or “hafla” events where you can show off the dances you’ve learned at practice. Some balls may teach the dances as they go, or host a teaching session earlier in the day before doing the real dance in the evening.

Fibre arts: Fibre arts include spinning, weaving, sewing, nalbinding, embroidery, cord braiding, lace-making, felting, dyeing and more. Many people in the SCA create their own garb (pre-1600s outfits), but it isn’t a requirement. You can also attend classes on fibre arts and enter competitions.

Forestry: Some members practice historical survival skills such as starting fires without lighters, creating shelters without modern tents, hiking with medieval backpacks or medieval shoes, foraging for food, cooking over campfires, navigating by the stars and more. Most SCA events do not involve this sort of wilderness survival – paved paths and modern tents are important accessibility features for some participants – but you may have a local Forestry guild who can inform you about how to participate more.

Heraldry: Heralds in the SCA perform a wide variety of volunteer roles. Some help make announcements at events, such as when lunch is ready or when a tournament will begin, in a period fashion – using vocal projection rather than loudspeakers. Some help individual members research appropriate names for the culture and century they are portraying; someone portraying an Anglo-Saxon might choose to go by Æthelræd or Sigismund, while someone portraying an Ottoman might go by Selçuk or Gülpaşa. Some help members to design and register their own coats of arms, or help maintain the online database which records the unique name and armory of each member. Some help to run ceremonies and pageantry during “courts”, the SCA’s award ceremonies.

Martial Activities

Archery: Target archery generally uses longbows, crossbows or recurve bows shooting arrows or bolts with sharp points. You generally score points by hitting targets, but some competitions will focus more on speed or accuracy. Historical people shot at a variety of targets, so you won’t always see the traditional five-ring target and might shoot at cardboard paintings or foam statues. Some competitions may require specifically wooden bows or period-style bows, and most won’t allow ultra-modern styles such as compound bows. There’s also combat archery, where you can shoot foam-tipped arrows at other fighters during a battle.

Armoured combat, AKA heavy fighting: Fighters use rattan weapons and wear armour. They fight using the honour system; a fighter says ‘good’ when struck by a blow that they believe would have killed them if the blade had been sharp, and can say ‘light’ if they believe a blow would have been ineffective against their armour.

Equestrian: There are a variety of equestrian activities, from mounted archery to jousting to swordfighting on horseback. Some riders joust at targets like rings or quintains, while others ride at other equestrians using special foam-tipped lances. Some activities involve using foam weapons to ensure that fighters don’t harm the horses.

Rapier combat, AKA light fighting, AKA rapier: Fighters use blunt steel swords. They do not wear armour, so striking each other gently is important for safety. They fight using the honour system; combatants declare when they have been killed. Depending on the kingdom and the style of fencing, fighters may only count thrusts or may also allow draw cuts or push cuts. There is also “cut and thrust”, where fighters are allowed to slash at each other. SCA fencing is quite different from Olympic fencing; fencers can move in any direction, a variety of things (from small shields to daggers to cloaks) may be used in the off-hand, and some melees allow rubber band guns to simulate 16th century firearms.

Siege: Siege weapons such as trebuchets, catapults and ballistae are allowed to shoot foam or foam-tipped weapons at armoured fighters. Siege is often only available at larger events or wars – check with your local group to see what your options are.

Thrown weapons: Throwing weapons can be one of the SCA’s most accessible martial activities; some events may allow you to just show up and throw javelins, without needing to bring your own gear or practice first (though not all – check the website). A variety of weapons are allowed for use against targets; axes, knives, javelins, slings and other interesting medieval and ancient weapons like plumbata. Foam-tipped versions of most weapons can also be used in armoured combat battles.

Youth combat: Young people have their own rules for SCA fighting; for safety, they fight with foam weapons or foils rather than rattan weapons or rapier.