Ren Faire - Part 3, The Joust

The centerpiece event of the whole place was the Joust. At several times throughout the day, a pair of "good guys" and a pair of "bad guys" would have a preliminary joust where they would take turns charging at rings hanging on hooks, rings being tossed into the air, and other feats of skill.

Here we have the good guys. We sat on the "good guys" side and were a part of their designated rooting section. The good guys behaved honorably (not shocking).

I have to admit really getting a kick out of these guys in their period outfits, riding beautiful horses. I think I am going to paint a knight in each of these four color schemes just for fun. I also think I am developing a bit of a horse thing... horses are cool!

On the other side, we had the bad guys. Sir Thomas and Sir Malcolm if I remember correctly (although I am actually writing this in mid-October...so I probably don't). The bad guys, predictably enough, cheated every time the good guys weren't looking, much to the enjoyment of their rooting section.

The pageantry of the jousting ring was quite impressive, with a "queen's grandstand" in the back serving as a wonderful backdrop to the whole thing.

At one point towards the end of the prelimaries, one of the bad guys insults the honor of one of the good guys, challenges are issued, and the crowd is told to come back at 6pm for a joust "TO THE DEATH!" They really liked screaming that part over and over again.