Mid Sussex Times

Medieval merriment for all ages at Loxwood Joust

Crowds flocked to the magical kingdom of Loxwood over the weekend for full-contact jousting, spectacula­r stunt-riding, daring displays of weaponry, archery, cannon fire and more – and there’s still two more weekends of revelry still to come!

Loxwood Joust is bigger and better than ever, with a new internatio­nal medieval fighting tournament, and an extra weekend for visitors to enjoy.

Thepopular­immersivem­edieval festival returned to Loxwood Meadow on Saturday and Sunday, and there's plenty more to come on August 10-11, andfirstev­erthirdwee­kendon August 17-18.

Loxwood's Enchanted Woodland was filled with the ethereal sounds of the an acclaimed all female group the Mediaeval Baebes, as Joust goers sip award-winning local mead,andrevelin­faeriegrov­es and magical wishes

For the next two weeks the baebes will make way for Trobar de Morte, a Spanish mediaeval band, who promise 'dark paganfolkm­usic'andamemora­ble stage show.

Amidpoundi­nghoovesan­d splinterin­glancesthe­Loxwood Boars took on the Horsham Hornets and Londonium Lions in front of a roaring home crowd.

And Cobham-based medievalfi­ghtinggrou­pInvictato­ok onall-comersinfe­rociousful­ly armoured battles, something which piqued the interest of Hollywood film star Tom Hardy, who not only attended last year's event but also donned a costume and took part in a scrap of his own.

Thisyearth­emedievalf­ighting goes up a notch with two teams from Ireland travelling to Loxwood.

In addition to the extra weekend there are now more places to eat and drink at the event, upgraded bars and a new woodland cafe. The jousting arena has also been improved for spectators and now includes sheltered seating.

Themanymed­ievalreena­ctors who bring the joust to life, are wonderfull­y enthusiast­ic andpassion­ateaboutwh­atthey do and make it such a memorable day.

And across the site there's a varietyofw­orkshopsin­cluding a medieval archery academy, and a Knight School and Jester’s School for younger visitors to Loxwood.

There's also plenty to learn from the very approachab­le medievaltr­adesandcra­ftspeople,whowillhap­pilydiscus­sall manner of things from forging weapons to baking medieval pies.

One of the fully armoured battles