Popular medieval fun day to return to Chesterfield town centre for first time in three years

The town centre event – organised by Chesterfield Borough Council – will return on Tuesday, July 26 from 10.00am to 5.00pm. There will be activities for the whole family to enjoy including a fun fair, stalls in the market and medieval re-enactors.

The medieval fun day was last held in July 2019, having been cancelled in 2020 and 2021.

Ian Waller, Chesterfield Borough Council’s service director for leisure, culture and community wellbeing, said: “Chesterfield medieval fun day is a really popular event and always draws large crowds to the town centre. It’s fantastic that we can finally bring this event back this year – it’s a fun day out for the whole family and a great opportunity to learn about our town’s medieval past.”

The popular Thomas Stanley Retinue reenactors group will be setting up their encampment in the grounds of the Crooked Spire. Attendees will be able to find out more about life as a knight in the medieval period, and the group will be re-enacting skirmishes before marching through the town to the Market Place in full costume.

The dragon that battled with a knight in the town centre in 2019 will be making a comeback and entertaining audiences in the Market Place.

A medieval surgeon will be on Burlington Street to give you all the details about grisly medieval medicine including common diseases, surgical procedures such as trepanning and amputation – and will even be bringing along his own leeches.

The Medieval Maniax will bring their show, and for a charge, tower tours will be available at the Crooked Spire. There will also be a ‘hunt the sprite’ trail where families can search the church for sprites – a supernatural creature from medieval folklore.

Members of the council’s museum team will be on Burlington Street, teaching people about medieval life.

The day also features appearances from walkabout characters including the damsels in distress, goblins and other medieval characters.

There will also be prizes available for the best dressed trader. Stalls can be booked by traders, charities and community groups on the council’s website.

Full details of the event, including timings, will be available on the Visit Chesterfield website.

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