Call to Arms Australia 1470 is not your average military reenactment based in the Middle Ages – it’s an immersive, four-day historical simulation set in the heart of Armidale’s state forest.
Designed to emulate life as a professional soldier in 15th-century Europe, the event will be fantastic, according to organiser Luke Binks.
Returning to Armidale from Thursday 2 October to Sunday 5 October, the four-day event gathers reenactors from across the country.
Call to Arms Australia 1470 is not run by a single group, but by a collective of reenactment groups from around Australia. Mr Binks, who also runs a Brisbane-based group that specialises in medieval jousting, said the event was born out of a desire to create something uniquely immersive.
“I’ve done a lot of travelling throughout Europe and been to a lot of events,” he said. “In Australia, a lot of reenactors were feeling like they couldn’t perform or do the same sort of quality recreations, and I wanted an event that just showed them that that was possible.”
The event is held in the Armidale State Forest, which Mr Binks said has a long history of working with reenactors.
“The forestry department has worked with reenactors in the past, focusing on the Dark Ages and Viking period reenactment events,” he said.
Call to Arms 1470 is structured as a military simulation.
“Over the four days, we run the event as a military simulation,” Mr Binks said.
“There’s a narrative that leads up to it, and there’s missions and objectives throughout the event. The commanders of the different companies must actually make strategic and tactical decisions.”
There are strict rules against spectators, and the event is not open to the public.
“We’re trying to create a historical living history event where every aspect of it is emulating history as much as possible,” Mr Binks said. “And there were no spectators in the past, everyone had a job to do; the people and the animals all had a purpose.”
For the event, participants live in historically accurate military or civilian camps and even use replica medieval currency.
“Everyone gets paid based on their work,” Mr Binks said. “We run a medieval economy with medieval currency throughout the event, and that money is used to purchase food and other things.”
To take part, participants must hold reenactor insurance and be approved to take part in combat.
“You need to be approved to be able to fight people,” Mr Binks said. “Safety is a primary concern for us.”
While it’s not a public event, Call to Arms Australia 1470 continues to grow in reputation, with interest coming from around the world.
“We actually have a lot of interest from overseas,” Mr Binks said. “We’ve had people from as far as the Czech Republic and America who have asked to come.”
Call to Arms Australia 1470 runs from 2 to 5 October 2025 in the Armidale State Forest. Reenactors interested in participating are encouraged to reach out to the organisers through the event’s Facebook page, Call to Arms 1470 – Australia.
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