After their knockout success at Catton Park in 2013, BLOODSTOCK FESTIVAL have invited full-contact Medieval fighting squad, Battle of the Nations Team UK to return to the event this year. Expect even bigger and more explosive bouts of historic violence, including plans for the current World Champions, Russia to compete.
Full-contact Medieval fighting is huge in Eastern Europe and Russia, where the sport originates from. Although small by comparison on our shores, interest in the UK is growing all the time and has skyrocketed recently with the premiere on BBC3 of ‘Knight Club’; an hour long documentary following the stories of four young fighters as they prepared for the 2013 World Championships in France.
Team UK, although competing for the first time in 2013, won the ‘Best Team Debut’ award and finished a respectable 8th out of 44 overall in the ‘five-versus-five’ bouts. As they were eventually defeated by the victorious Russian team, there is a matter of honour to settle when Russia and the UK meet once again on the battlefield.
Fresh from the 2014 Championships, Team UK will be carrying out fight melees across all four days of BLOODSTOCK, ensuring more metal heads get the chance to experience this full-contact combat event that is unique in the UK festival calendar. UK Team Captain Mark Annable informs, “Team UK are more fired up than ever following the huge response to ‘Knight Club’ and the chance to better our result last year. A sequel must be better than your debut to keep your fans happy and we aim to please, both in Trogir 2014 and when we return to BLOODSTOCK”.
BLOODSTOCK festival director Adam Gregory comments, “2013 was nuts! We didn’t know what to expect to be honest, but we were blown away by what we saw. The guys and girls were completely crazy and put on what can only be described as ‘300 meets Metal’. I’m sure 2014 will be even better with a far bigger crowd. I for one can’t wait!”
Tickets for BLOODSTOCK are available now priced £130 (plus booking fee) for a 4-day Thurs-Sun weekend pass with camping. VIP tickets and upgrades are also now available, as well as the very popular ticket deposit scheme, which helps make ticket purchase a bit more manageable, breaking the payment over three months. Look up all the ticket options over at the BLOODSTOCK 2014 website, www.bloodstock.uk.com.
Bohurt Dodgems video – Bloodstock 2013:
Bloodstock fighting footage 2013:
Keep up to date with the very latest info on BLOODSTOCK’s official sites at
Team UK website: http://battleofthenations.org/
Teal UK Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BattleOfTheNationsUk