The Ottawa Medieval Sword Guild is hosting the 8th annual Ottawa Medieval Camping Weekend from Friday, July 30th through Monday, August 2nd, 2009. As always, this is a family camping event welcoming people involved in WMA of all ages.

The camping weekend is being held on John Woods' Farm, just north of Spencerville, Ontario. John has spent much of the summer converting a portion of his 76 acres into a campground for the event.

From its beginnings, the OMSG has strived to learn the ways of a 14c man-at-arms, martially and otherwise. We wanted to host an event that reflected our idealogy and so a gathering of men-at-arms and their families, their helpers and smiths, their hangers on and their horses, minstrels, and fools, all getting together in a field seemed a likely occurance. And so, for the eighth year in a row, we are hosting the Ottawa Medieval Camping Weekend.

The campground John has designed allows us space for lots to be going on throughout the weekend. A large camp area with a common cook area is adjacent to the activities field. Here we have shade tents, weapons racks, a list, and plenty of training area as well as a throwing stump and an archery range set up. There are various walking trails to explore on both the Woods and McKee properties (ask John about the variety of wildlife that can be observed in the area). We keep the young people active with various activities and projects and for those traveling from afar, our nations capital (that'd be Ottawa) is a half hour drive away for a nice day-trip.

As always, the weekend is intended to be a generally informal family-oriented camping holiday. However, the focus is on our European Medieval Martial Arts and there will be a great deal of sparring, discussion, and spontaneous training activities.

The centrepiece of the weekend is the pas d'armes, a challenge to all comers issued by John Woods. Each day, several times a day, John will enter into a duel of several bouts with various weapons against accomplished fighters from the Ottawa Medieval Sword Guild and the Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts.

Of course, each night attendees are encouraged to gather around the bonfire to tell tall tales and drink copiously of the beverages of their choice.

Sunday evening will officially close the final night of the event with a grand banquet held under the roof of the great hall.

To assist us in planning this years activities we'd like folks to register in advance as soon as they can by contacting us through the Contact Us Page. This year we are asking CA$75/attendee and CA$25 for spouse/guest/friend/any grown-up attending the feast.

Fresh water will be available on-site for cooking and cleaning. Guests will also have access to drinkable water. There are no shower facilities for the campsite, but a private, enclosed area will be set up for use with portable "camping" type showers.

Access to the event is via the Woods Farm on Groveton Road (as per directions below). A parking area will be set up near the main access point. We expect to also have vehicle access to the main campsite to allow guests to drop of their equipment, however, if vehicle access is unavailable (due to weather conditions) a shuttle service will be made available. We ask that all vehicles be kept at the main parking lot (camper vans & trailers not included).

The main campsite is located in a shaded area on the Woods Farm. The site allows easy access to both the McKee Farm as well as the guest parking area. A number of large canopy/shade tents will be set up for cooking and other activities. There is also a huge fire pit and fire wood at this site.

Two freshly build outhoses will be located in close proximity to the main campsite for everyone's use.

The Drummond's Gas Station & Store is located in Spencerville. Ice and other supplies can be found here (there's also an LCBO/Beer Store outlet inside the Drummond's). A number of other stores in Spencerville include a small Grocery Store and a Home Hardware. More ameneties can be found in Kemptville (a ten-minute drive north from the Farms), including grocery stores, several restaurants, and two motels. The Connell Rose Bed & Breakfast is also located just minutes from the Farms. Ottawa is only a half-hour drive north on Highway 416.

• Water storage containers
• Bottled water (for drinking)
• Citronella candles/torches and insect repellants
• Portable camp-shower
• Anything and everything "medieval" (weapons and armour would be good)
• In addition to the usual WMA gear (i.e. swords and gambesons) think longbows, crossbows, spears, throwing axes, shields, and siege engines!

• Citronella torches/burners/candles
• Oil lanterns
• Cirtonella oil
• Lamp oil
• Tarps (medium and large sizes)
• Rope
• Garbage bags
• Wrought-iron hooks, stands, and hardware
• Toilet paper

These directions assume that after you headed off you ended up driving east along the 401 to get to the Ottawa area. There is also a Google Maps link following the directions if you are more comfortable letting Google give you directions.

1. From Hwy 401, take exit 721 - Hwy 416 North to Kemptville/Ottawa
2. Take exit # 12 Leeds & Grenville Road 21 (Spencerville)
3. Turn LEFT at "T" onto Road 21 (follow sign to Spencerville)
4. Turn RIGHT at "T" (follow sign to Spencerville)
5. Pass through the town of Spencerville - note the Drummonds Station & Store
6. Travel approx. 3km out of town - turn RIGHT onto Ventnor Road - cross the over-pass
7. Turn LEFT (immediately after crossing over-pass) continue on County Road 44 (follow sign to Kemptville)
8. Turn RIGHT at the sigh for the village of Groveton (it's basically just that intersection with no town-like buildings)
9. The Woods Farm is the farmhouse on the left appearing through the treeline. You can be sure you are at the right place if you see a skull hanging from the mailbox.
10. The street address is #267 Groveton Road (approx. 3 km from last turn)