Anyone who’s ever dreamed of being a knight in shining armor or a princess in a flowing gown can find a temporary home in Des Moines this weekend. The Salisbury Faire offers visitors a trip back in time to the Middle Ages and the golden age of the Rennaissance. Ann Pross is associate director of the Salisbury House, the aging Des Moines mansion modeled after the King’s House in Salisbury, England. Proceeds from the weekend Faire go toward renovation of the historic structure. Pross says there are wandering re-inactors at the event who will interact with passersby. She says there’s even a King, Queen and their court. Pross says one of the big attractions is the jousting competition which features knights in armor racing toward one another on horseback, trying to knock each other off with long poles. She says it’s a professional troupe of “knights” who duel for a living on weekends. The Faire is being held at Water Works Park in Des Moines from 10-to-7 today and from 10-to-6 tomorrow.
