Inaugural Townsville Medieval and Fantasy Festival a big hit

Greg Oliff made sure to polish and dust off his armour before venturing on his quest from Ingham down to the inaugural Townsville Medieval and Fantasy Festival where he joined thousands for the sell-out event.

Townsville Medieval and Fantasy Festival 2024 at Cluden. Greg and Shannon Oliff from Ingham. Picture: Evan Morgan

Greg Oliff made sure to polish and dust off his armour before venturing on his quest from Ingham down to the inaugural Townsville Medieval and Fantasy Festival where he joined thousands for the sell-out event.

He is a Historical Medieval Battle fighter (HMB) and fought in tournaments for both Queensland and Australia but for the past five years his armour has been sitting in storage at home collecting dust.

But he made sure to get the Brasso out to give his helmet a good polish and shine, with help from partner Shannon, before today’s event.

“I’ve been in Ingham for about five years, and it’s definitely collected a bit of dust and rust in that time,” he said.

“We spent all day yesterday trying to tidy it up, get it ready and it’s been a long time since I’ve been in a tournament but it’s great to get back in the kit.

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“I used to go overseas and fighting. I fought for Queensland. I fought for Australia. I would go overseas and do big battles in world tournaments over in Prague, Spain and Croatia.”

He and partner Shannon said they were impressed with Townsville’s medieval and fantasy festival.

“It’s fantastic. It’s great to see something like this up here. I’m originally from Caboolture, near the Abbey Medieval Festival and I used to go that religiously.

“So it’s great place to have another home to go to have bit of fun.”

Graham Hone and his family business Hone Events put on the festival and he said he could believe the response from the community with people coming from Charters Towers, Ingham, Bowen, Cairns and Mackay and stallholders from Brisbane.

“We’ve got about three and a half 1000 people coming today and everybody’s having fun and a great time with lots of characters, lots of fantasy and lots of medieval.”

He said the event would definitely continue next year.

“We want to do a bit bigger and better festival next time.”

Originally published as Inaugural Townsville Medieval and Fantasy Festival a big hit