Medieval Carnival to Stage Jousting Match

Transformed temporarily into a magical, make-believe village called Dragonvale where warring knights clash in furious combat, the Los Angeles Equestrian Center is hosting a two-day medieval-themed carnival beginning today.

“I enjoy just stepping back in time for a while,” said promoter Diana Bayhylle, a Calabasas bookkeeper who has been staging the festival for three years. This year’s event is titled the Medieval Horse Tournament of the Rose.

Featuring arts and crafts, exotic food, games of chance and a variety of live entertainment, the festival will also include demonstrations of a Japanese form of combat known as shinai. Headlining the show will be an authentic jousting tournament held twice daily under the direction of James Zoppe of Zoppe’s Wild and Wonderful World of Horses, a professional troupe of jousters.

“Everybody regards it as a really dangerous sport,” said Zoppe, a 13-year jousting veteran who performs as the “Red Knight.” “It’s an adrenaline rush.”

As a child, Bayhylle was fascinated by mythology and fantasy. As an adult, staging the festival provides a window on that world.

“There’s something that just pulls on me,” she said of the Middle Ages, “a longing for it.”

The Medieval Horse Tournament of the Rose takes place today and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Equestrian Center, 480 Riverside Drive, Burbank.

Admission is $7.50 for adults, $4.50 for seniors and students with identification and $3.50 for children 6-12. Children under 6 are admitted free.