Lens-Artists Challenge #360: Found at the Fair/Market

Lens-Artists Challenge #360: Found at the Fair/Market

This week it's Leya's turn to host the Challenge, and her theme is, 'Found at the Fair/Market'

(https://lagottocattleya.com/2025/08/09/lens-artists-challenge-found-at-the-fair-market/). 'We have all been to a market or fair at least once ... I’d love to see some of your memories too!' Leya adds, 'They can be from any fair, Farmers’ market, Christmas market, or maybe a carnival? ... feel free to choose whatever you have in store!'

We don't go to many markets. Apart from foodstuffs they don't sell much of the things we are looking for, and most of the fresh vegetables we get from local producers. There are lots of festivals, though, including medieval fairs, which were really popular across Europe, including Portugal, though I don't seem to see as much news about them since the Pandemic.

They are great fun, with swordfights, and jousting, and the 'knights' vying to prove their worth to the King. The groups who run and perform in these festivals take it really seriously, and a lot of work goes into making the festivals as authentic as possible. There's one medieval festival, at Santa Maria de Feira in Portugal, that takes over a considerable part of the town and is immensely popular.

We developed such a good relationship with the local medieval festival troupe, Viv'Arte, that they invited us to photograph an event honouring one of the main medieval organisers in Europe. This wasn't completely medieval, though, and included a range of acts, from juggling to burlesque. Sadly, Viv'Arte did not survive to pandemic, and dissolved in 2021, with the loss of over 60 artists.

Themes for the Lens-Artists Challenge are posted each Saturday at 12:00 noon EST (which is 4pm, GMT) and anyone who wants to take part can post their images during the week. If you want to know more about the Challenge, details can be found here (https://photobyjohnbo.com/about-lens-artists/), and entries can be found on the WordPress reader using the tag 'Lens-Artists'.

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