Malton Museum Roman Festival back in Orchard Fields

Held at Orchard Fields in Malton, this is the fourth year the event has taken place.

Organiser Louise Lewis said the idea for a festival had started a few years ago.

“I moved into the area over 20 years ago now and I quickly realised that Malton had a lot to offer culturally and historically, as well as being a beautiful town. My background is in Heritage education, so it seemed only natural that I gravitate towards our local museum. I’ve been a volunteer for Malton Museum for eight years now.

“The idea for the festival started through an idea one day when we were preparing a completely new exhibition of Roman artefacts and realised that we have a really fantastic and nationally important collection. The Roman history of this area is very under-represented in modern research and texts, so we set out to correct that by highlighting our fort and celebrating Roman life in our community.”

Louise said planning starts right after the last one took place.

“Our re-enactors have very busy diaries, so we get them booked in and then work from there,” she added.

“We have a small volunteer team for the organisation period and then a much larger team of volunteers for the weekend of the festival.”

Louise added: “This is our fourth event and it will be another great celebration of Roman life here in this area.

“I absolutely love our re-enactors, they have such dedication to their period authenticity and their encampment is always the central feature. I also love that we have space for Roman Cavalry demonstrations, many other Roman Festivals can’t have this. It is particularly important for our festival though, due to the evidence found on site that a cavalry regiment was stationed here during the Roman Occupation.

“We have more re-enactors than ever before this year, some great activities for the children and lots of interesting things for the adults to enjoy too.

“There are handicrafts to try, axes to be thrown and games to be played as well as our arena events and of course, everyone’s’ favourite bit – the Kids Roman Army march. With food and drink from the local Taverna, it’s a great day out for all the family.”

Louise said: “The whole event is organised by Malton Museum to highlight the heritage under our feet and by engaging our community with this large-scale event, we give them a reason to be proud of the area they live in.

“It is also a big fundraiser for us and it helps to keep the museum open each season.”

Louise said local companies were sponsoring the festival but they would always welcome more.

“It’s a great way for local businesses to show they are interested in their town. It’s not too late, get in touch if you’d like to help.

“We’d also love to hear from anyone who would like to get involved. You can volunteer for a minimum of two hours for free entry to the festival, however, you must be over 16 years old to do this though.

“The volunteers from our previous three festivals have always enjoyed themselves and come back each year. It’s a lot of fun.

The Malton Museum Roman Festival is on Sunday, 20th July 20, between 10.30am and 4.pm at Orchard Field (the site of the Roman Fort) with tickets £10 per adult and £20 for a family of 2 adults and up to 4 children. Advance tickets can be bought from our website www.maltonmuseum.co.uk

If you’d like to volunteer on the day email [email protected]