At first glance, an event called The Magical Medieval Fayre may not seem the likeliest place to find a group of die-hard AFOLs (adult fans of LEGO®) displaying their love of the iconic plastic brick. But when you add zaLUG’s castle and fantasy special interest group (SIG) into the mix – along with a couple of Technic aficionados – you have a match made in heaven!

On Saturday, 3 June 2023, a small group of zaLUG members descended on Greensleeves Medieval Kingdom in Sterkfontein near Krugersdorp for the annual Magical Medieval Fayre at the invitation of the event organisers, Alter Egos. Braving extremely brisk weather, the team arrived early to set up in the great dining hall, a prime location. The display was set up at one end of the hall on a raised platform which normally accommodates the lords’ and ladies’ table – as opposed to the tables for the lowly peasants and other riff-raff! (This despite the fact that our members were dressed up as an eclectic mix of lords, ladies, knights, peasants and even one lowly – erm – dung shoveler.)

Ten members of the castle and fantasy SIG contributed to the modular display as well as three freestanding models, namely, the LEGO® ICONS™ Lion Knights’ Castle, the LEGO® ICONS™ The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell™ and a beautiful castle MOC (my own creation).

Our Technic members entered into the spirit of things by displaying specially built catapults along with the popular crowd-pleaser, Sarel the dragon, who is no stranger to zaLUG events. For this display, his front limbs were balanced on grey rock elements that were cunningly constructed from purely Technic elements. The display was rounded out by a floral arrangement of LEGO® Botanical Collection elements.

The display was a huge hit with visitors to the fayre who, interestingly, included a large number of serious LEGO® fans. As the day wore on, the atmosphere became increasingly convivial with ale and mead flowing liberally. (Fortunately, none of it flowed on to the LEGO® although once or twice we thought some of the buildings may unintentionally become surrounded by their own moats!)

zaLUG would like to say a big thank you to Alter Egos for inviting us to display at the event and to Greensleeves for hosting us. It was an amazing day and we’d love to be invited back again next year!