History will come to swashbuckling, schwinging, clanging life on Saturday, Feb. 10, in Columbia. That’s when Sword Fest, a day-long celebration of the role swords once played in combat, comes to the S.C. Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum. There will be lectures by experts, to be sure, and swords from the museum’s own collections will be on display. But there will also be action, with several live demonstrations of swordplay in both historical and modern sport forms, and special activities for kids. Here’s the schedule: 10 a.m. – Kids’ Demo. 11 a.m. – Allen Johnson, of the “Palmetto Knights” Combat Demonstration Team, talk and demo: From Broadsword to Saber: How Georgian Broadsword and Backsword Systems Influenced the 19th-Century Military Saber. 11:45 a.m. – Gallery tour of swords on exhibit. 12 p.m. – Modern fencing demonstration by the award-winning Columbia Fencing Club. 1 p.m. – Neill Rose, 19th-century military historian, talk: Swords of South Carolina. 1-3 p.m. – Special showing of swords from the collection. 2 p.m. – Joe Long, Relic Room curator of education, talk: Stories of South Carolina Swordsmen. 3 p.m. – USC Aikido Club, Bokken – demonstration of Japanese wooden sword technique.