Loxwood Joust 2026: a medieval summer wrap-up

If you spent any of the first half of August heading out towards the South Downs, you might have caught the tail end of one of the longest-running jousts in the country. The Loxwood Joust 2026 has just wrapped up after a sixteen-day stretch, running from 1 to 16 August over at Loxwood Meadow in West Sussex, and for anyone who missed it, it's worth knowing what it is before next year rolls around.

At its heart, it's a medieval and renaissance festival that leans into the spectacle rather than the museum piece. The main draw is the jousting, obviously, but that sits alongside archery and a spread of period crafts, all laid out across Loxwood Meadow, which is a big, open field that gives you a decent view of everything without feeling like you're being herded. Professional riders and combat performers put on demonstrations of medieval warfare techniques, horsemanship and tournament culture, so it's more of a show than a staged battle, and it's built to be watched rather than just walked past. The whole thing ran daily from 10:00 to 18:00, which is a generous window for a day trip.

One of the things that sets it apart from a lot of other heritage events is how easy it is to do on a whim. There was no advance booking required, so you could turn up for a couple of hours in the afternoon or settle in for the day, which is exactly why it works as a family outing. The August timing, right in the middle of the school summer holidays, was clearly no accident, and the open-meadow setting meant you could wander in and out without much fuss. It's a family-friendly day trip from Brighton, and it's the kind of thing that's easy to drop into if you're already out in the Sussex countryside.

It's also worth noting where it fits into the wider summer picture, because Sussex is surprisingly good for this sort of thing. Earlier in the season, the International Medieval Jousting Tournament took over Arundel Castle from 21 to 26 July, running daily from 10:00 to 17:00 with admission starting at £33 for adults and £14 for children. Around the same time, Henry VIII's Joust was going on at Hampton Court Palace from 12 to 20 July, daily from 10:00 to 17:30, with admission included in the palace entry fee. If you're still after a medieval fix now that Loxwood has finished, there's one more to go: Englands Medieval Festival at Pippingford Park in Uckfield, which runs from 29 to 31 August at The King's Grove, daily from 10:00 to 18:00. That's the last one of the season, so it's the one to catch if you've still got a bit of summer left.

For anyone who wants to keep an eye on the Loxwood Joust for next time, the official site is loxwoodjoust.co.uk, and the organisers can be reached on +44 07866468632. The event has been going since 2015, so it's well established by now, and its sixteen-day run makes it one of the longest jousting events in Britain. If you've never been, it's a simple enough addition to a summer day out, and with the Arundel and Pippingford events around it, there's a decent run of medieval days across the region every year.