Hi! It’s been a while. I hope you’re having a good summer in the circumstances.

We have a better picture now than we did last March of how COVID-19 is affecting our lives, and our activities. There are still a lot of unknowns, and things can of course change at any time depending on government requirements and public health advice.

We’re keen to get back to our activities, but we’ll be doing so with all the particpants’ health in mind. So, following the public health guidelines, we’ve been working on plans for the rest of the year, and we’d like to share them with you.

Here’s where we are as of mid-July 2020.

Combat practices

Our venue for Fencing practice is reopening, and we’re currently looking at how we can restart this feasible and safely. If things go well, we hope to be able to make an announcement about resuming, possibly as soon as next week.

We’ve been running online Armoured Combat practices throughout the spring and summer, and also joining in online practices run by our friends in the UK and elsewhere. We’re now starting to run some informal outdoor/backyard practices, including one this Sunday. The best place to keep an eye out for these is on our Facebook group.

We’ve nothing to announce on Archery or Arts & Sciences yet, but we’ll post as soon as we do have something.

Harvest Tavern

We’re designing Harvest Tavern as an event for the COVID-19 era. It’s fully outdoors at a spacious venue, with comfortable tents, the facilities to cook your own food, and room to interact safely with others when you want to.

We see this as a chance to reunite, for those who feel comfortable doing so. Many of us won’t feel able to do this just yet. And while we might have a small number of visitors, we’re not promoting this event internationally.

As we get closer to the event, we’re paying close attention to the public health rules and advice around what we’re doing, and we’ll make the changes we need to make that work (which, as with any event at this time, still includes the option of cancellation, though we hope that won’t be necessary.)

Cruinniú Arís

We postponed Cruinniú to October once it became clear that we weren’t going to be able to run it on its original date. There are still a lot of unknowns around this one (including whether our special guest will be able to travel) so we’re working on a number of plans. One option we’re looking at is moving the event to the same venue as Harvest Tavern, which would make it much easier to maintain distance.

Those who have registered for Cruinniú should expect to receive a survey next week asking about whether you expect to be able to travel, and how some of our plans might affect your decision. Keep an eye on your email.

Yuletide University

We’ve been holding off on making any big decisions, but it’s Dun in Mara’s turn to run Yuletide University this year. This event, focused on arts and sciences, usually takes place in or around early December. We’re keeping our powder dry on this one for now, but we haven’t forgotten. One option we’re looking at is moving the event online this year. We’ve seen a number of University-type events run online this summer, and it could allow us to open the event up to an audience (of both students and teachers) that wouldn’t normally get to participate. Nothing concrete for now – we’ll have more to say in the autumn.

And beyond that…

…there is a lot of activity still happening online with our friends around the Kingdom. The Drachenwald Calendar typically has a series of online classes or events that anyone can tune in to, so it’s a tab worth keeping open in your browser.

So while things have been quiet, physically, for the past few months, we’ve been busy, and we’re looking forward to (hopefully) meeting up and (certainly) sharing that work with you over the rest of the year.

All the best,
Sal, Aodh, Aoife and the rest of the officers.