The story
The story of Horsens largest recurring event
The first steps
In 1992, Horsens celebrated its 550th anniversary celebration with a number of events, where the main attraction was a Medieval Market on the main town square. The medieval market took place on a frosty day in November, and it was a huge success with around 20,000 guests.
The medieval festival continues to grow
After three years and some other large scale events, such as Europeade in 1993, it was decided that Horsens should have its very own festival. With the town’s own experiences from the Medieval Market in 1992, it was decided to launch a new Medieval Festival. In 1995, the first official Festival was held with great success. It became an annual event in Horsens City Centre that grew steadily.
The Medieval Festival moves
After 18 years, the Festival developed into one of Europe’s largest Medieval Markets. But the space in the city centre was getting tight. In September 2012, Horsens Town Council unanimously decided to move the Medieval Festival near FÆNGSLET, the imposing former State Penitentiary.
With FÆNGSLET as a backdrop, the Festival had a fantastic opportunity to create the illusion of a castle with a large medieval market with all that accompanies it such as music, knights on horseback, jousting, jugglers, food stalls, merchants and craft stalls.
In August 2013, the first Medieval Festival was held at FÆNGSLET with great success and approximately 60,000 guests.
In 2020, we look forward to celebrating the Festival’s 25th anniversary.
The values of Horsens Medieval Festival
Horsens Medieval Festival aims to create a festival across all ages, cultures and social groups – locally as well as nationally. The festival does this by ensuring quality, edge, atmosphere and community.