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Knights of Valour bring history to life at Fairgrounds

May 12, 2017   ·   0 Comments

By Mike Pickford

Close to 1,000 area residents were treated to a unique night of captivating, bone-crunching entertainment on May 5 as the Knights of Valour brought their ‘From Bronze to Steel’ medieval nobles feast and joust event to Orangeville.

The internationally-acclaimed troupe rolled back the years and took those in attendance on a historical adventure like no other, with performances and competitions from the Hellenistic era, Roman Empire and Middle Ages taking centre stage.

The brainchild of the man many regard as the founding father of modern day jousting – Shane Adams – the Knights of Valour provide a perfect mix of laugh-out-loud entertainment and edge-of-your-seat competitive action perfect for all ages.

While the lighthearted medieval and renaissance era themed entertainment may have lured people into thinking the night’s festivities were all about fun and games, the latter portion of the evening will have quickly changed people’s minds.

While they are keen to entertain, the Knights of Valour are, first and foremost, the world’s most competitive full contact jousting outfit.

Speaking to the Citizen prior to last Friday’s event, Mr. Adams, who grew up in nearby Acton and attended high school in Erin, revealed what it was like riding a 2,000 pound “war horse” into battle.

“Jousting is, by far, one of the most insane things anybody can ever get involved in,” Mr. Adams said. “It’s just an incredible rush, riding down at 30 kilometres an hour with 142 pounds of armour on your pack… It’s a crazy rush, and then wham!”

He added, “There’s no bumpers, no seatbelts, no airbags… You’re taking 100 percent of that roughly 5,000 pound force impact directly on your breast plate.”

Having almost single-handedly redeveloped the sport of jousting himself over the course of the past 20 years, Mr. Adams has established himself as the name in the industry. He hosted his own TV series, Full Metal Jousting, which ran for one season on the History Channel in 2012 and boasts several world championship victories on his resume.

While he still regularly suits up for war, Mr. Adams says his main aim now is to spread the word that the sport of jousting is here to stay.

“For me, this is all about education now and letting people know that competitive jousting is a real thing,” Mr. Adams said. “We travel all over North America and have associate groups in Europe and Australia. Jousting is the real thing and I’m incredibly proud to be able to put on events like this right here in Orangeville and not only entertain hundreds of people, but maybe help them learn a thing or two as well.”

He concluded, “For me, Knights of Valour is the culmination of years of hard work, pain and determination – it’s a real dream come true. Growing up as a child, living on a horse farm in rural Ontario all I ever wanted to be was a knight in shining armour and now, here I am today, some 30 years later living that dream. It’s awesome.”

For more information on the Knights of Valour, visit knightsofvalour.ca.

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