Smaller children will get the best views down the front. Stock up before you grab a place in the stand, ready for the start. Get to your time slot early because queues can build up at the concession stands, especially the one selling ice creams and bottled water, particularly during sunny weather. There are marriage proposals spurned and accepted, good guys turned bad, and just as peace is brokered, war has a nasty habit of breaking out all over again.įor those in need of a clue: Richard’s “a horse, a horse – my kingdom for a horse” doesn’t end well. Throughout the action, a carefully scripted family-friendly play is acted out, telling the story of the enmity between Lancaster and York, and the events which led to the Tudor dynasty. You choose which side to support, and take your place in the appropriate stand. They’re cheered on (or booed) by the families in the grandstands erected on the castle’s river island.

Watch those shields splinter as things get up, close and personal. They up the ante with horseback battles between riders, swashbuckling sword fighting and head-on charges. There are jousting contests as riders from each House test their skills, spearing hoops (some of them on fire), whacking mace-wielding knight models and riding up, on and under their mounts. Re-enactors from The Knights of Middle England tell the tale in an action-packed half hour boasting spectacular stunts, tricks and showmanship, plus the odd puff of smoke machines.

It’s 1455 and the House of Lancaster holds the English throne but King Henry VI’s crown is challenged by the House of York, and the rival houses clash in battle and bloody war. And, hey, it’s educational too.Īfter a year in pandemic exile, Wars Of The Roses Live returns to historic Warwick Castle tomorrow (Saturday July 24) for a summer season of noisy mayhem, squeezing the 32-year conflict into 32 minutes. IT’S joust the job for the school summer holidays – a chance for the kids to watch knights on horseback knocking six bells out of each other.

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