King Lewis the Wise returned to his realm Friday at the Nile Garden Medieval Faire.

He’s been the supreme ruler of the event since its inception years ago.

King Lewis is better known as Nile Garden Elementary School teacher Tim Lewis, the coordinator of the 28th annual Medieval Faire at the Manteca Unified campus.

“We survived COVID and reconstruction and are fully up and running again,” he said, referring to the past two years.

During the pandemic, Lewis had to scale down the event that recreates life in the Middle Ages.

One such challenge, he recalled, was conducting the Medieval Faire during the time of distance learning.

For the first time since 2019, the memorable year-end event had it all once again – singing, dancing, juggling, jousting, fencing, costumes, music performances, and new decorations.

The medieval parade kicked off the festivities followed closely by the crowning of royalty.

That honorary title went to eighth graders’ Thalia Labrador and Micah Marquez.

They were voted, respectively, queen and king by seventh graders of the school. Queen Labrador said that one of the perks of royalty was sitting in the shaded Garden of the Nile tent.

The Nile Garden Medieval Faire consisted of 24 girls and 17 boys who paid homage to life in Western Europe during the 9th and 15th centuries.

The school has accumulated its fair share of costumes from the event over the years.

“Most of the students provide their own (costumes),” Lewis said.