Knight fever: Europe’s largest international jousting tournament is happening right now
A knight works the crowd at Arundel Castle© Julia Claxton
Lovers of medieval re-enactment, horses, the 15th century, castles and/or fancy dress, listen up – because there’s an international jousting tournament happening at Arundel Castle in West Sussex right now. TheInternational Jousting & Medieval Tournament, to give it its full name, kicked off on Tuesday, and this weekend will see four teams of men in full suits of armour compete for glory. The competitors are professional knights (yes, that’s a thing) from across Europe and the USA, who are representing The Kingdom of Poland, The Kingdom of France, The Burgundian Alliance (the defending champions) and The Kingdom of Great Britain. The tournament’s been going since 2008 and is the largest in Europe – and people get pretty into it, to say the least. If past events are anything to go by, this is what onlookers will be treated to this year. Egads!
Horseback hi-fives:
Colour-coordinated human/horse outfits:
Straight-up horseplay:
Excellent hats:
This bloke:
Some horsing around:
A man with the horn:
And these lads:
The International Jousting & Medieval Tournament continues Saturday July 25 and Sunday July 26 at Arundel Castle, West Sussex. Full details here.