Jousting comp to honour castle king

THE sport of knights will be on display at Kryal Castle this weekend with the return of the Keith Ryall Memorial Jousting Tournament.

The annual tradition celebrates the eponymous founder of Kryal Castle and will see nine jousters competing throughout four rounds and a finale match on Sunday.

Kryal Castle CEO Bart Hamilton said the event has been a popular occasion since 2018.

“We invite jousters from all across the country and internationally,” he said. “It’s very A Knight’s Tale.

“We have medieval fight clubs from throughout Australia. They’ll fight in a foot combat tournament which ends with a male, female and group victory at the end of the day.

“Keith Ryall was obviously a visionary. There wouldn’t be this giant castle without him. His widow Joyce will be presenting the awards on the Sunday so it’s a great reminder of his legacy.

“Keith was a jouster himself and loved it so there’s no better way to honour him.”

Of the competing jousters, two will be from the Order of Kryal Castle while four are from the Order of the Star teams.

The two-day event will also include face painting, axe throwing, live performance, archery and potion making.

With an expected 1500 to 2000 people taking part in this weekend’s event, Mr Hamilton said the memorial jousting comp is getting bigger every year.

“Foot combat is the big new one,” he said. “It’ll be like a medieval boxing match with armour and swords.

“Apart from that there’s the medieval pantomime, meat-tasting experience. It’s kind of an extension of what we do but we really hammer home the historical accuracy.”

The Keith Ryall Memorial Jousting Tournament will take place on Saturday, 27 and Sunday, 28 May.

Tickets range from free passes to up to $104 and can be booked at the Kryal Castle website.