The Twenty-Fourth Tournament of the Golden Swan
Oct 10th - 13th, 2008
Appledore - Oliver, BC
Autocrat - Sevrin Lord de Savage
Co Autocrat - Sayid Abd'al Hakim al-bahr ibn Da'ud al-Ghazis
Judging Coordinator - HL Olwen Pen Aur
University of Tir Righ Coordinator - Sevrin Lord de Savage

The good shire of Appledore invites one and all to join the estimable Ladies of the Golden Swan to celebrate scholarship and persona development during this long weekend event.

Golden Swan is a persona development challenge for female personas. The purpose of Golden Swan is to foster knowledge of the lives of women in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. A successful Golden Swan has acquired a level and depth of understanding of what a woman's life was like in a given time period that may be unequalled even in the highest academic circles.

Prospective candidates must enter 12 categories. Eight are mandatory: Persona Development, Skills & Technologies, Costuming, Needlework, Calligraphy, Everyday Life, Courtesy & Etiquette, and Inspirational Behaviour. The candidate must also choose 4 out of 6 of the following: Games and Pastimes, Bardic, Dance, Survival Skills, Habitat, Food. (Please note that all categories are open to anyone as individual contests.)

From Saturday morning until Court on Sunday, Golden Swan Candidates are expected to remain in persona, and will be subject to judging during that time. All other attendees are asked to respect the candidates and do their utmost to enable them to maintain their period personas. The best way to do this is trying to remain in persona yourself whenever you are near!

University of Tir Righ
There will be a University of Tir Righ session during the weekend. Details on classes and fees will be announced closer to the event.

Tournaments
On Saturday there will be the traditional Pas d'Arms for Armoured. The traditional Barrier is resurrected, the ribbons will be available to all Ladies present in the gallery, and the Tournament will be a mix of issued challenges. On Sunday, there will be a Harvest Champion Tournament for Armoured fighters.

For Rapier, on Saturday there will be a prize Tournament and on Sunday the Autocrat will host the first annual Cob's Championship Tournament.

Feasts
There are two Feasts at Golden Swan; The first is the formal catered Feast on Saturday evening created and messed forth by Appledore's own Mu'allima Habibi bint Macahara with the Honourable Lady Keinna de Savage assisting. PLEASE NOTE: The Feast Hall can only accomodate 80 people by the Fire Marshal's order, so PRE-REGISTRATION is highly recommended.

The second Feast is a potluck on Sunday evening, when the Golden Swan candidates can relax and have fun without the stresses of Judging. This feast also features the Jawbone of the Ass competition, in which good nobles compete in the telling of tales heavy with the art of the pun - a fine Appledore tradition. The winner is the crowd favourite and will receive the actual Ass' Jawbone to proudly display until next year's competition.

Site opens at 4 PM on Friday, October 10, 2008 and closes at 4 PM on Monday, October 13th, 2008.

Site Fees
Adult: Non-Member - $16.00 -- Member (discount) - $13.00
Youth (6-18) - $9.00
Under 6 - Free
Family Cap - $44.00 (+NMS if applicable)

Adult Day: Non-member - $12.00 -- Member (discount) - $9.00
Youth Day: $6.00
Under 6 - Free
Family Cap Day: $30.00 (+NMS if applicable)
(Discounted Member fees reflect the NMS which is in effect for this event)

Feast Fees (Saturday evening)
Adult Pre-Registration: $12.00 - After October 1: $15.00
Youth (6-18) Pre-Registration: $10.00 - After October 1: $12.00
Under 6: Free
(Contact HL Keinna de Savage to pre-register for Golden Swan and the Saturday evening Feast. PLEASE NOTE: Only 80 Feast Tickets are available due to seating capacity.)

Directions
Site address: 34231 91A St., Oliver, BC.
Directions: Make your way to Oliver on Highway 97. From the south, turn right at the first traffic light (south end of the mall, 346th St.) Stay on 346th through the big S curve as it goes past the RCMP station and new fire hall, then around the end of the airport. At the second right, turn right. Go straight along one side of the airport and through a 90 degree turn to the left. Just past the turn, slow down. You'll see a street sign and some SCA directional signs right in front of you. You MUST TRUST that there is a real road here, because there is. You just can't see it until you're already committed to it. Doing this will put you onto a very short but steep road. It's about a ten percent grade, but it's paved. Immediately at the bottom of the hill, turn right into the driveway. This is the site. Proceed between the two houses to the troll gate.