Mixing the upper crust with all the savory characters in between, the "All Fool's Feast" offers a chance to eat, drink and be merry while benefiting the local symphony.

Organizer Holly Lemay has promised to roll out the royal treatment for people willing to don snoods, braces and poet's shirts at the Friday evening feast at Fortress Dublin Square.

The revelry will begin at 6 p.m. with seating for 122 guests available. Proceeds will benefit the Black Hills Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Kevin Weiland, acting as host, will welcome the realm to the medieval event.

"It's not your standard banquet," Lemay said.

The Renaissance evening replaces the medical physicians' fundraiser, "Is There a Doctor in the House?" The feast will offer plenty of good food for everyone-but with a twist. Depending upon the guest's status as a peer of the realm or peasant, different dishes and seating will be available to people portraying different characters. A king and queen will dine on a dais with 20 lords and ladies; 100 commoners will make up the court.

"The better the price of the tickets, the better you're treated," Lemay said.

The lords, ladies and royalty will dine on wine, bread, butter, assorted cheeses and soup at the first remove; Cornish game hen, lemon rice with almonds and cherry potage at the second remove; and pork in spicy syrup and seasonable vegetables for the third remove.

Their tables will have pages, who will carry basins and water pitchers to let the royals wash their hands. Spoons, knives and possibly forks will be placed next to salt cellars on the tables, which serve as status symbols, too.

Meanwhile, serving wenches will serve platters of cheeses, bread bowls, soup, turkey legs, vegetables and cherry crumble to the commoners. All of this hearty food will be washed down by tankards of cider. At the beginning of each course, trumpeters will play fanfares.

"There were no forks at the time. There were spoons and knives; forks came a little bit later. All the commoners will get a spoon," Lemay said of the tableware.

"Royalty did bring their own knives, because the lords were responsible for cutting their ladies' meat. It was also common for people to share cups and plates," she said.

That custom won't be recreated at the feast, but it's something to think about while eating your food from a plate. In medieval times, trenchers were made from bread. The bread was cut horizontally across the loaf, with both halves hollowed out into a bowl.

"They would cut the bread loaf, the upper side going to royalty. That's where the term 'upper crust' comes from," Lemay said.

Since the commoners will finish their meals earlier than the others, organizers have incorporated medieval games into the event.

"One of the games played will be pass the parcel where the person who gets the parcel will either receive a prize or a dare," she said.

Along with the food and dance, the evening also will include music by Going for Baroque, surprise entertainment and foolish revelry by radio personality Freddy Belmont of B102 Radio Station. Besides having a genuinely comedic sense of humor, Belmont also has the perfect accent for the event, Lemay said.

"He's originally from Nottingham, England," she said.

Lemay urges feast fans to reserve their costumes right away at the Black Hills Community Theater costume shop. But for those who missed out on the opportunity, the court hosts will sell or rent head garlands and peasant tunics for nominal fees of $2 and up.

"It isn't the same old food or the same old DJ. People are going to enjoy themselves," Lemay said.

If you go

What: All Fool's Feast, a benefit for the Black Hills Symphony Orchestra

When: 6 p.m. Friday, March 28

Where: Fortress Dublin Square, 504 Mount Rushmore Road

Tickets: $30 for commoners, $60 for lords or ladies and $150 for royalty; call 431-0554.

Renaissance attire available for rent at Black Hills Community Theatre costume shop, 394-6091.