Lipany 1434AD

Next year will be the 580th anniversary of the battle of Lipany, so everyone is expecting that the next year’s reenactment will be much bigger than this year. But even when it isn’t a rounded number it can still be good. All of it, the battle, the historical encampment and everything else was worth visiting. We can even say that this year’s event was preparing visitors for the next, more funded battle.
Last year everything took place next to the Lipany battle monument. Not so this year. Most of the participants stayed on the Český brod ramparts, where the battle took place, and just a few enthusiasts slept near the monument.
When we woke up in the morning it looked like it would be raining. No one was in any hurry to get up, everything was slow and sleepy – the battle is not going anywhere without its fighters, right? When we moved to Český brod, there were more people on the visitors’ side.
There was a huge crowd on the walls, both actors and visitors. Unlike here, where there were many different things to buy, there were just a few kiosks with food in Lipany. But the most interesting thing was the historical kitchen with free tasting. Music performance of the Jagaba group and dance performance of the Naruby group, even an executioner with his torture equipment, were just a little part of the program.
It rained for some small part of the evening and that probably kept a lot of visitors at home, regardless of the nice weather during the main part of the event.
A procession of all the participants in their historical costumes went all around the city before the battle itself. The big plan was to start the battle with the sunset, to have the sun set just over the city ramparts that everyone was looking to, and it was a nice idea. At exactly that moment few dozens of armed men plunged at each other and cannons thundered against the ramparts. Attackers tried to blow off a part of the walls; but instead they set fire to gunpowder store and created a medium sized fireworks display. Even with this catastrophe they didn’t manage to conquer the city and the city walls stand to this day.
Last part of the program was a fire-show performed after the battle and that was the end of it.
Despite this year’s low budget it was a great event and it should attract residents of Český Brod to visit the mound on the Lipany hill next year for a bigger and better reenactment.