MeeFog Adds to Drama at Medieval Times Events

	"A sweeping musical score and brilliant light and fogging effects provide a fabulous backdrop for this spellbinding experience," says Agnew.

Medieval Times, which combines dining with tournament spectacles at venues around the country, uses the MeeFog system from Mee Industries of Irwindale, California, at many of its venues to bring an immersive atmosphere to its performances.

"A Medieval Times event brings together a complex collection of lighting, coloring, mist, music, and costumes to create scenes that are pure fantasy, almost dreamlike, which aids in entrancing the guests with our beautiful horses," says Chris Agnew, sound and lighting manager at Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. "Fog effects are one of the most valuable assets we have. Fog creates a more dynamic stage within our sand pit that allows for a fantastic depth of field for our guests."

Agnew adds that the MeeFog systems have operated reliably and well for many years and that they require minimal maintenance.

"A sweeping musical score and brilliant light and fogging effects provide a fabulous backdrop for this spellbinding experience that blurs the boundary between fairy tale and spectacle," Agnew says.

The Myrtle Beach castle can hold up to 1,200 guests within the arena.

To immerse the audience in the moment, Medieval Times uses fog effects at many points during each show. Most recently, fogging units have been added around the tunnel entrance; thus, the knights now emerge from a curtain of fog.

"Fog is one of the most valuable assets we have," Agnew says. "It works together with our lighting, gobos, coloring, costumes, and beautiful horses to create dreamlike scenes of pure fantasy."

Mee Industries designed nozzles that can spray pressurized water to create tiny droplets. As the size of each droplet averages less than 30 microns, they form a fog, as distinct from a mist, which is comprised of larger droplets, and is less effective at capturing light. A fog creates a smoky, white appearance in natural light and develops interesting special effects when used with the colored lights employed in Medieval Times events.

The water used in MeeFog is pumped under extremely high pressures -- anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000lb per square inch. The orifices in the nozzles are extremely small, approximately six-thousandths of an inch. In moving toward open air, the water is forced past a tiny needle that does the atomizing in combination with the nozzle aperture. The droplets formed in this process are 20 microns in size on average -- less than one tenth the width of a human hair.

The original fogging system in Myrtle Beach was installed in 1997. Units are placed at different locations around the arena. Each unit is fixed, and some have cooling built in to keep the fog on the ground. "As great as that system has been over the years, our fog lines suffer a lot of wear and tear between horses kicking and knights throwing lances and weapons," Agnew says.

The original system used PVC lines between the fogging units and the fog nozzles. These PVC coverings suffered damage over the years. The old lines, pumps, and nozzles were replaced.

"The new lines are better protected, and the system is designed for our needs to minimize maintenance and run as intended for years to come," Agnew says. He adds that Mee Industries has been quick to send replacement parts and advise Medieval Times on how to improve fogging effects and keep the system running properly. Agnew added that the new MeeFog units are easy to operate. Routine maintenance consists of regular checking of the pressure, replacing filters, and occasional oil changes.

"MeeFog has been amazing both as a product to use as well as a company to work with," says Agnew. "We encountered nothing short of professionalism, expertise, flexibility, and a strong desire to figure out the best way possible for our line to be set up to help our show come to life for decades to come."