The five of us went to Medieval Times for dinner and to see the show. I was looking forward to this ever since Bev had me reserve tickets. The entertainment concept is: enjoy dinner while watching a show of horse riding, combat, and jousting.
We arrived and were assigned a color combination which designated what section we were to be seated in. Each of the six sections had their own knight/champion to cheer for in the various events. We waited in the front area, which hosted a bunch of gift stores selling all kinds of souvenirs, until they called our section and we filed in.
The stadium area was two long rows of bleachers (with padded seats and tables) facing each other across a dirt floor. We took our seats and the show started with the King leading men back from a long war and deciding the realm needed to host a tournament so the finest champion could wed the princess. While this was going on, our food was brought out and it was a very large meal: soup, drinks, spare ribs, roasted chicken, bread. No utensils - the servers said you eat medieval style, with your hands and fingers! At least we had plates. ;)
The various Kingdoms attend the tournament.
After this, each Kingdom filed in and was officially welcomed to the tournament. They started off with a show of horsemanship, where trainers came out and gave a demonstration of various skills: trots, dressage... ok I forget all the terminology but the horses would do the classic rearing up on its hind legs, and then also jump up while kicking to the rear. These were apparently real moves used in those times as a way to either instill fear in the enemy, or defend from attacks. Part of the horsemanship involved a team of four moving around in formation, sometimes having the horses almost dance at an angle and moving sideways.
Of course there was also combat, as each Knight would compete for the hand of the Princess. The show had weapon combat and of course jousting, but also included some skill contests such as collecting metal rings with a lance. The combat proved quite popular, and the audience was quite bloodthirsty, screaming for their respective champion. Our section was the Kingdom of Perella and our colors were red and yellow, so we could cheer when the Red and Yellow Knight took to the field.
As it turns out, there was a traitor in the King's service - his guard who organized the tournament was insulted he was not chosen to compete. Fortunately, the Red and Yellow knight won the tournament, defeated the traitor, and gained the favor of the princess. I guess we were in the lucky section picked to win this evening's event.
I enjoyed myself immensely - the horsemanship, the skills contests, jousting, was all very well done and fun to watch. Plus the costumes looked really good too.
Posing near a suit of armor.
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