Celebrate a Day of Chivalry in the Middle Ages at Getty Center's Family Festival this Saturday, September 20, 2014.

If you have never been to a Family Festival at either Getty Center or Getty Villa, come this Saturday to the Getty Center and be surprised by all you can enjoy on a themed family festival between 10 am. and 6 pm.  Admission to the Getty is always free, but parking is $15 per car and there is alternative public transportation. Trams start running by 9am and you can always pack a family picnic or purchase food in this amazing venue where art, music, story-telling, live demonstrations, gardens, and architecture can be appreciated in a Family Festival.   The schedule below for the day's event allows one to plan your day between performances, art projects, and the galleries.  Don't forget to check out Chivalry exhibit that inspired this family festival.

As a special note, if you become interested in the historical sword fighting in the German medieval tradition after seeing the combat exhibition and other demonstrations by members of the Academy of Arms, check them out at: http://www.academyofarms.com/ and ask the demonstrators for more information.  My son is one of their enthusiastic apprentices and will be one of those teaching lessons at the festival :)

"Chivalry first developed as a code of honor that emphasized bravery, loyalty, and generosity for knights at war in the 11th and 12th centuries. By the later Middle Ages illuminated manuscripts had helped establish chivalry as a system of values that permeated almost every aspect of aristocratic culture. 

This exhibition, which is drawn from the Museum's permanent collection, traces chivalry through its many manifestations—from courtship to hunting to jousting to war. With lavish illustrations celebrating the visual splendor of elite life, these manuscripts played a central role in promoting the tenets of chivalry, many of which have shaped the values of our own culture."  See the nice video introduction from this link:

http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/chivalry/

Let’s remake chivalry for the 21^st century is part of the Chivalry Project.

Check out this digital rulebook of chivalry written by our contemporaries and respond to medieval rules and add a new rule of your own. The next free workshop at the Getty Center will be on: Saturday, November 1, 2014

http://thechivalryproject.org/

Finally, don't forget to bring your address book because Getty Center will post for you any postcard you decorate or write to any part of the world.  Don't miss the hidden cactus garden and have your younger children explore the family room :)

http://www.getty.edu/visit/
http://www.getty.edu/visit/exhibitions/
http://www.getty.edu/visit/center/art.html



The Competition in Sittacene and the Placating of Sisigambis (detail), about 1470–75, Master of the Jardin de vertueuse consolation and assistant. Tempera colors, gold leaf, gold paint, and ink on parchment. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig XV 8, fol. 99

 Chivalry in the Middle Ages

Date: Saturday, September 20, 2014
Time: 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Admission: Free; no reservations required.

Travel with your imagination to the age of chivalry in this daylong festival celebrating knights in armor, ladies of the court and all things noble, inspired by the exhibition Chivalry in the Middle Ages. Listen to tales of Arthur's Round Table and deeds of great bravery through age-old stories and myths. Watch as a master blacksmith demonstrates how to forge a suit of armor, design a family coat of arms, and decorate a goblet for your own royal feast. 

Photo courtesy of Les Enfans Sans Abri

MUSEUM COURTYARD STAGE 

Les Enfans Sans Abri - A Knight To Remember: The Chivalrous Tale of Gillion de Trazegnies
11:15–Noon and 2:30–3:15 p.m.

A tale of a noble knight who makes a vow to his new bride that takes him far from home and the adventures (and misadventures) this promise gets him into. When the two finally meet up again fifteen years later... each has quite a surprise for the other! 

	We Tell Stories

We Tell Stories - The Chivalry of Knights and Samurai
1:00–1:45 p.m. and 4:15–5:00 p.m.

With their signature sense of humor and audience participation, We Tell Stories will examine the chivalric code—Honor, Valor, and Devotion—through stories from the court of King Arthur to the ancient dynasties of Japan. 

STROLLING 

Music of the Middle Ages
Noon–4:00 p.m.
Members from the USC Collegium perform festive songs and dances of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, played on lutes, guitars, recorders, and shawms by strolling minstrels. Featuring the greatest hits of the courtly jousting ear, from "rostibolli gioiso" to improvisations over Greensleeves - the birth of the four-chord progression! 

Tony Swatton

LECTURE HALL 

Jousting and Jesting with David Prather
12:15–1:00 p.m. and 3:30–4:15 p.m.
Chivalry is not dead! Come slay dragons, joust with knights and rescue damsels in distress—fun for the whole family! 

RESEARCH INSTITUTE GROVE 

Arms and Armor
Noon–4:00 p.m. 
Master blacksmith armorer Tony Swatton of Sword and Stone demonstrates materials and techniques used in making arms and armor of the Middle Ages. 

	Photo courtesy of Academy of Arms

MUSEUM COURTYARD

Academy of Arms
10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Don't miss our medieval combat exhibition. Mock duels, weapon and armor displays, historical fencing lessons for children and adults, and much more! 

WORKSHOPS
10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. 
(last seating at 5:30 p.m.) 

Noble Goblets 
Bring the Middle Ages into our current day by making a goblet of visual splendor. Create individualized designs inspired by medieval manuscripts. 

Wave Your Arms in the Air 
Design your own coat of arms on a flag and march it around the Getty grounds. Participants will use traditional imagery and discover the meanings behind these symbols. 

Illuminated Frames 
Using a variety of gold pens and translucent papers, decorate a frame to display your postcard-sized art.