Making medieval mainstream

In 2014, Ku-ring-gai Council added a new event to its calendar – the St Ives Medieval Faire. Our job was to get people there.

Steeped in history, the Faire would be an immersive celebration of medieval times, complete with real life solid lance jousting on horseback. Since 2014, our job has been to promote the Faire and grow ticket sales year on year.

But medieval things aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. How do we capture the attention of a broad, modern Australian audience for a niche event?

Embrace our country’s love of sport and bring jousting back from the Middle Ages. With medieval shows like Game of Thrones dominating popular culture and sport entrenched in the Aussie way of life, Bite brought the Faire’s hero characters– the jousters – to life and established them as the focal point of the communications program.

We secured the first live broadcast of solid lance jousting on Fox Sports, delivered extensive national and international media coverage and created a digital ecosystem that drove ticket sales for more than 10,000 visitors to the Faire each year.