Open Air Business March 2017

Castle and put them on with some
jousting and other attractions, but
the whole event took on a life of
its own and was hugely successful
from the start.
Where do you hold the event?
The Loxwood Joust is held at
The Loxwood Meadow in West
Sussex. We ran a very successful
joust festival at Berkeley Castle in
Gloucestershire for six years until
the 2007 flooding wiped out the
site, which meant we had to find
a new home. We spent three and
a half years looking for the perfect
site and eventually found and
purchased the 30-acre meadow
and woodland site.
How did you find applying for
permission to run the event?
We found applying for permission
easy but had to obtain a premises
licence, which we found very hard.
We thought that a family day out
event that ran from 10am until 6pm
would not be controversial, but it
was. We initially had some strong
opposition from a few locals and a
few members of the parish council,
who thought that the festival would
potentially be the next Glastonbury.
We had to attend a licence
hearing at the district council and
eventually got our premises licence.
But now we have run the event for
a few years and people have seen
how amazing it is they have no
objections and we feel that the local
area benefits greatly from it.
How have you planned the layout
of the event and what structures
do you use?
The festival is sited over three
areas - two meadows and a
“ON THE
BATTLEFIELD,
SEVERAL
DISPLAYS
TAKE PLACE
INCLUDING
THE BATTLE
AND CANON
DISPLAY”
woodland. The first meadow when
you enter the event is the living
history field, which is home to the
re-enactors and the battlefield.
On the battlefield, several displays
take place including the battle and
canon display. You then approach
the enchanted woodland, which
houses the stage, witch wood, the
executioner, some traders and
demonstrations. The final meadow
is home to the jousting arena, which
hosts several shows throughout the
day, including the joust and birds of
prey. On this meadow, we also have
more traders, learning zones, the
children’s kingdom and food.
The site plans are still drawn out
by hand and a measuring wheel. I
find that the most important thing
to do when you first arrive on site
to set up is to mark everything out.
We use traditional marquees and
medieval tents, making sure they
are in keeping with the festival.
Because we own the site we have
some permanent structures, like
a wooden jousting arena, royal
seating pavilion as well as the
wooden stage, which really helps in
keeping it all medieval.
How did you research and
source your marquees and other
infrastructure?
Our ethos has always been to try
and find and use local suppliers as
much as we can. We believe that
all events should help, support and
benefit their local communities.
With this in mind, we searched the
internet to find local suppliers and
also started talking and networking
with local people to find what we
needed. If we can’t find what we
need locally we have to go further
afield.
What entertainment do you offer
and how did you source it?
We offer a lot of entertainment
at the festival, and like to think
we offer the best entertainment
there is in the medieval world. We
spend every opportunity going
to other festivals and events to
see what we can discover. Our
entertainment includes jousting,
battle re-enactment, canon
displays, learning zones with fun
educational talks, the Mediaeval
Baebes, falconry, have a go archery
and sword school, pelt the peasant,
music, characters including Devil
Stick Peat, Lancelot the Bald, The
Witches, The Executioner, The
medieval Housewife, and much
more.
What provisions do you make for
power, lights and sound?
Because the festival takes place
during the day, we do not use
lighting. We have to bring in
temporary power as the site
does not have enough power to
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