The short answer is ORGANIZATION.

The Beginning

Start with an evaluation of your
resources.

This begins with estimating the number
of participants you can expect. Based on that estimate and the people available
to participate in managing the reenactment, select the participatory activities
for the event. These can include competitions of period cooking, crafting
demonstrations and sales, musical performances including period dance and, of
course, a battle.

If you include any activities involving
horses, you're entering a demanding level of management and potential injury,
which you should consider soberly before releasing the details of the event.

Venue

Once you've a good idea, not necessarily
a perfect idea, but a good idea of the activities the will comprise your day,
you need an appropriate venue with satisfactory locations for all of the
activities. By this point, you have people in charge of the different aspects
of the reenactment who can estimate how much room they need.

If you're having a battle, it is best
placed at the central point of the venue as it consumes the most room, requires
many participants and may be decorated to build excitement. The battle
participants themselves form no small part of the interest in the reenactment,
so placing them so everyone can see them making ready for battle is a great way
of maintaining interest until the scheduled start time.

To War

Everyone interested in the medieval time
period loves the idea of reenacting a famous battle. However, before scheduling
a battle rather than, for example, demonstrations featuring the use of
different period weapons, you require experts who understand the details of the
battle you're imitating and sufficient leaders to manage the participants.

Battles are great medieval reenactment
centerpieces and there are many ways of ensuring they are effective, safe and
fun. With the emergence of small, reasonably-priced microphones, you can begin
battles with challenges, delivered with period language and seriousness,
accompanied by brilliantly dressed support personnel. The leaders of the forces
can exchange several such verbal salvos before the battle begins. This serves
to provide background, entertain, provide roles for as many participants as
possible, and is a “soft start” to the combat so the late-comers can arrange
themselves.

Managing Weaponry

Even replicas of medieval of
instruments of war can cause injuries. Best practices in this case include
relying on the good sense of the actors, publishing specific parameters for the
display, storage and use of the weapons and reiterating to all participants
that real injury is not fun for anyone and is to be avoided.

Scheduling

Since the battle is generally the
biggest draw of the medieval event, schedule it later in the day, perhaps in
the early afternoon. This leaves ample time for the musicians, dancers, fools
etc. to perform. Placing the crafts and other demonstrations around the
perimeter of the performance area enables your guests to multi-task, enjoying
music and comedy while shopping or learning to weave. Ideally, schedule
performances and demonstrations both before and after the battle so even the
combatants can enjoy the day’s offerings.

First Aid

There's no medieval reenactment without
a first aid area. You can use an anachronistic EMT truck or have volunteers at
a tent, but some kind of First Aid station is essential, if only armed with ice
packs and water. Period costume is nothing if not hot and the battles are rife
with incidental injuries. If nothing else, the First Aid area provides a place
for the injured to wait until professional help arrives.

Since it's entirely likely that there
will be at least one accident, we suggest notifying the local emergency first
responders of your event. This may be no more than sending them an
informational flyer. This enables them to become familiar with your plans and
the location of the event just in case - no one really likes surprises.

Managing Participants

Once you establish your schedule for the
reenactment, each of your lieutenants must manage an area of the event. As
people register, forward the registrations to the appropriate music, dance, and
military manager. If you're having a battle, the military manager will need
more help if the registration is substantial.

Managing the Battle

Generally, you choose to re-enact an
historic battle or plan one of your own invention. Much depends on the number
of people who register to fight and their characters. With sufficient
participation, we prefer the historic reenactment for several reasons. For one
thing, it provides a template for the activity. For another, there is less
arguing because you can’t vary from history and lastly, you know where everyone
has to be when.

If you choose to create a battle, keep
in mind that people are attending to participate, not to sit around being
lectured or bullied into lines.

With organization and dedicated help,
you can have an enjoyable day for all participants without serious injury,
festooned with the finery of medieval times, which's what most people want
after all.