Bearden’s Latin Club introduced its first annual Marco Madness last year; held in March, the event was a play on the NBA’s March Madness.

This year, the event is taking place in January and has undergone a name change, now sporting the title Medieval Day, hoping to better inform the public about what the day is really about – capturing what it was like to live in the medieval times, and how the history of that time period is similar to how we live today.

The event will take place on Saturday at Bearden in the West Mall from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The event is a combined effort of Bearden’s Latin and History Club, but they will also be receiving support and help from the students from the UT Marco Institute.

Guests will find many fun and educational activities to participate in on Saturday, including henna tattoos, calligraphy lessons, artifact history and more. There will also be lessons in Latin, medieval arts and crafts, and the Black Death.

“The most enjoyable aspect of the event has been the complete synergy between [History club and Latin club] on the one hand and the SCA (Society For Creative Anachronism)  people and the Marco Institute [professors],” Latin Club sponsor Mr. Sandy Hughes said.  “Those guys are pros and they study the Middle Ages every day, and having them lend their time and expertise to an event has been huge.”

Sophomore Hiba Jahangir also looks forward to the festivities of this Saturday.

“I am really looking forward to the music and the Maypole dancing, where a circle of people dance around a pole, and each person has a separate ribbon to wrap around the pole,” Jahangir said. “It sounds strange, but it’s fun to watch and looks really cool.”

The Latin Club has been preparing for this event since August and hope that their hard work and dedication will be evident when it comes to the day of the event.

The goal for this year was to get the word out and urge more young people to show up who might be interested in history or want to get more involved in history.

“We hope that students walk away with a newfound appreciation for how important and relevant the middle ages were to history and today’s current events,” History Club sponsor Mrs.Tammy McKibben said. “We want students to have fun and enjoy entertaining talks.”