Trial By Fire:  Food, Arts and Fighting

2026-09-25 @5pm to 2026-09-27 @ 12pm

Activities 

Cooking, the Trial by Fire Competition.

Martial Activities

             Archery

            Thrown Weapons

            Armored Fighting

Bardic

A&S Challenge

Cooking:

Trial by Fire 2026

The Challenge: To create a period dish under the conditions found at the PENNSIC WAR.

The Categories:

1)    Best Main Dish (Includes fish and shellfish)

2)    Best Vegetable

3)    Best Grain (Includes Bread)

4)    Best Dessert

5)    Grand Champion – This prize is to be awarded at the Judges’ discretion.

The Rules:

1)   The recipe must either be:

1. a) Published between 650 and 1650 AD. (For the empirically inclined Apicius will be accepted.)
2. b) Have all ingredients and cooking methods documented in period. *

2)   Recipes must be brought to the competition. Please bring at least three copies.

Do not label these with your name as judging is blind.

3)   Competitors must bring all ingredients to site and prepare the dish in situ. An ingredient requiring more than four hours preparation is acceptable ONLY if it is an ingredient and not the entire dish. **

4)   Dishes must be prepared under conditions as found at PENNSIC. No electric appliances.   Acceptable examples: Grill, Smoker, Dutch oven, battery-operated tools, or Spit over an open fire.    If you have questions, please ask.

5)   You must bring all cookers, pots, pans, utensils, dishes, etc. necessary to prepare your dish.

(NOTE: Please mark all your utensils, dishes, etc., so that the orphans left behind can be reunited with their loved ones.)

6)   Dish must be sufficient to serve 8 to 10 healthy adults. (No penalty for making more.)

7)   Each competitor may enter only one dish per category but may enter as many categories as desired.

8)   All competitors must register by 3:00 pm on the day of the competition with the Registrar.

9)   The site will open at 9:00 a.m. for set up and registration.

10) Preparation and cooking will begin at 12:00 noon.

11) Dishes must be completed and ready to serve at 4:00 p.m.

The Judging:

Judges will be chosen from impartial Notables present. Judging will be blind and will use these criteria. 

1)   Presence of and completeness of Documentation. ***  (do not place your name on your documentation)

2)   Taste

3)   Texture

4)   Presentation

5)   Bonus points based on the judges’ experience in the field of period cooking. For example: if a dish has been religiously copied from a period source despite complexity or cost or if a dish displays notable creativity within a recipe, etc.

Please contact the Bright Hill’s Cooks Guild if you have questions or need an ingredient verified. Please put “TRIAL by FIRE” in the subject heading.  (Mistress Jeanne Tenneur de Bec- beckyritterhouse@yahoo.com)

* “Food” by Waverly Root will be used as the final arbiter for periodicity. There will be a copy on site.

** No advance preparation is permitted, UNLESS the recipe clearly states that the step requires more than four hours. Documentation is required.

*** Minimal documentation should include***

 (1) The original recipe

 (2) Your redaction

 (3) Tell us why you chose this recipe, a bit about the ingredients, what you changed and why 

      and is there anything you would do differently?

Please do not label either the documentation or the recipes with your name.

 Guidelines  

The Bright Hills Cooks’ Guild sponsors this Challenge. The challenge is to create a period dish under the conditions found at the PENNSIC WAR. This is an opportunity for all those interested to come and cook and compete and socialize. It is also that rare opportunity to recognize that Cooking is a Spectator Sport!

Things to bring:

1. Your recipe (3 copies) and any additional documentation. (NOTE: Minimal documentation should include (a) the original recipe; (b) your redaction or translation; and (c) any notes related to changes you made in the recipe and why, information on the dish or ingredients, the cooking method, etc.)
2. All your ingredients.
3. All the pots, pans, utensils, etc., necessary to prepare your dish. This includes knives, cutting boards, serving dishes, etc. NOTE: please mark what you bring.
4. A table or other surface on which to prepare and cook your dish(es).
5. Chairs (if you wish to be seated).
6. Appropriate cooking accessories – your grill, Coleman stove, smoker, hot pads, towels, etc.
7. Your favorite liquid refreshment (the Guild will provide ice water).

Things to remember:

1. This competition is open to all.
2. Spectators are welcome.
3. Garb Please!
4. Any medications you need (bee sting kits, allergy, and asthma supplies, etc.)
5. This is an outdoor event that includes camping. Dinner on Saturday night will be a combination of leftover contest entries and pot-luck dishes. Plan to make a dish that will feed 8-10 individuals.

 Martial

Archery:

Lady Darby will offer a themed course to challenge and delight all archer regardless of skill levels. 

Thrown Weapons:

Master Fergus of Hanna will be doing Throwing Weapons Range

Armored Activities: TBD

Arts and Sciences:

Static Competition:

Shaped by heat and marked by flame, some Arts are inexorably tied to the fire. In this competition we challenge you to display something that requires fire or heat to make and explain to us the process in which the high temperatures were applied. This competition will be judged using the standard Atlantian judging form.

Active Competition, “Forged in Fire”:

Do you yearn to test your mettle in a rapid fire competition meant to test your ingenuity alongside your skill? Forged in Fire is 3 two hour rounds of crafting on-site, each with their own secret ingredient that you must incorporate! The first round is Divers Arts, allowing the entry of any art you are capable of. The second round is Fiber Arts, requiring your entry to at least mostly count as a fiber art. The third and final round is Bardic Arts, which will give you two hours to come up with an original piece to submit for judging. Judging? How does that work!?! It’s Baronial judging with the only documentation required being the ability to answer questions that the Baronage asks you about your project. Each round is scored and the best total score wins!

Bardic: TBD

2026 Trial By Fire Schedule
All times subject to change
(Please check in with troll before setting up personal spaces; if closed, please do so as soon as it’s open)

Friday, 25 September
                5PM   Troll (Gate) opens (by flagpole)
                8PM   Troll closes

Saturday, 26 September
              8AM    Troll reopens
                           Registration opens for Cooking opens (Under Pavillion)
              9           Archery inspections begin (tent diagonally right of big grill)
                           Open A&S drop-off (Inside clubhouse)

              11:00         Martial Activities Begin
                           Bardic Competition Starts (Under tree to left of clubhouse)
              11:30    Registration ends for cooking
              12:00     Cooking competition begins

                3:00     Bardic competition ends/Martial Activates End/ Troll Closes/A&S ends, please pick up displays
                  
                4:00     Cooking ends, please prepare dishes for Judging
                4:15     Judging begins
                5:00     Evening Court
                6:30     Clean up
                8PM   Fire Pit Bardic by camping

Sunday, 28 September
                12PM   Site Closes

Site Info

Site Name:

Baltimore Bowmen, 10301 Harford Rd, Glen Arm, MD, 21057

Directions:

From the north and west: From I-695 E, take Exit 31A for MD 147/Harford Road towards Parkville. Turn left at the light at end of ramp onto Harford Road N. Continue on Harford Road approximately 2 miles to Graham Memorial Park entrance on right. Go past the equestrian center and through yellow gate, downhill to parking.

From the south and east: Via I-695 N, take Exit 31B for MD 147/Harford Road towards Carney. Turn right at end of the ramp to Harford Rd N. Continue on Harford Road approximately 2 miles to Graham Memorial Park entrance on right. Go past equestrian center and through yellow gate downhill to parking.

Please note, the entrance to the Bowmen is obscured until you are right on it, and you will need to slow down to make the right-hand turn into the driveway. The driveway is gravel, filled with potholes and shared with the equestrian center, so please observe the 10 MPH speed limit.

Restrictions:

Site restrictions: no alcohol is permitted on the archery range.
Pets are permitted but must be leashed and waste picked up.
No smoking or vaping in public areas.

Accessibility:

Site Accessibility: Site is primitive, unpaved and hilly. Handicap accessible parking and porta-potties. There are no charging stations available.

Event Steward

Master Lewin de Partone lewindepartone@gmail.com

Reservationist Name:

Clara von Wonsiedel

Reservationist Email:

exchequer@brighthills.atlantia.sca.org

Checks Payable To: Barony of Bright Hills, SCA-MD, Inc.

Cost for day trip

Adult, Member Discount Event Registration    $20.00

Adult, Event Registration                                  $30.00                           

Youth (5 – 17)                                                     $5.00

Child (0-4)                                                         Free

Camping is free

Event Cancellations/Refunds:  

Reservationist:
Please send all reservation requests to Michelle England, 219 Grindall Street, Baltimore MD 21230.  Email: brighthillls.exchequer@gmail.com

All Mail-in reservations must be post-marked by Friday, 11 September.