Ritterfest’s first weekend was an exercise in weather extremes, but, as it might have in 12th century Germany, the hearth was warm all weekend. Those willing to brave the cold on Friday were treated to a fantastic pork dish, the unveiling of this year’s special beer and lively music. Saturday was completely different. The fantastic weather and knight fights drew an enormous crowd. I visited Schulz Bräu’s medieval festival and ate delicious food, shopped vendors, and saw armored knights in combat. With one more weekend left, you have a chance to enjoy the festivities today through Sunday, April 18- 20.
Schulz Bräu off Central Ave is a restaurant and brewery set inside a medieval-style castle, complete with a portcullis and traditional Biergarten, complemented by a modern interior and large brewery. Seeing a castle in the heart of Knoxville is always a pleasant surprise for me. Ben Oliver, general manager of Schulz Bräu, gave me a tour and the history of Ritterfest as they celebrate the festival’s third year.
Oliver said that “Ritterfest, for me, is really close to my heart.” He came to Schulz Bräu around three years ago looking for a fresh start after a divorce. Oliver told me that “me and the owner, Nico, were sitting here for a movie night, and we had watched A Knight’s Tale. It was the scene where Heath Ledger is doing his sword fight in the rink. And we were just like, this is so cool. I wonder if we could do this here, right? Like, we have a castle, could we do it?” From that evening, Ritterfest was born.
The team “backwards engineered” a festival starting with knight fights, connecting the event to medieval German culture. After some research, they discovered Ritter-fest at Kufstein Castle in Germany. The management wanted to make the event unique. Oliver said, “There are Ren Faires around here, but they’re very varied. I mean, it’s pirates, renaissance, medieval fairies. You know, it’s everything, and that’s cool. But we wanted to do something medieval. We wanted to set ourselves a little apart and make this festival about 12th, 13th century Europe.”
The team reached out to a Nashville Armored Combat, an AMMA (Armored Medieval Martial Arts) group to provide knight battles that first year, which have attracted larger crowds over the past three years. The group will provide the battles during the second weekend. The Schulz Bräu team dresses in medieval attire, including Nico, head brewer and one of the owners, who dons a suit of armor with a sword. Oliver called it a fun time where adults can live out their medieval fantasies.
Food and Drink
Schulz is cooking up special dishes both weekends. Andy and Robin Barré smoked a hog, nicknamed Sir Sooey of Oink. Andy gave me a sample of pork right off the grill, and I found out why Barré is a world-class hog smoker. He’s competed at the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in Memphis since 1993. The pork dish with potato salad and rye roll was my choice meal on Friday…