The tournament, explained
Six knights, two colours: how the Castillo San Miguel tournament works
Why you're seated by colour, what the two teams actually do, and how a night that starts as dinner theatre ends as a genuine tournament.
See Castillo San Miguel tickets on GetYourGuide ↗The two colours
| Team one | Team two | |
|---|---|---|
| Colours | Green, yellow and blue | Red, black and violet |
| Knights | Three riders | Three riders |
| Your job | Cheer, and mean it | Cheer, and mean it |
| The prize | One champion, by the end of the night | One champion, by the end of the night |
Two teams, six knights, one champion
The Castillo San Miguel tournament is fought between two teams of three knights each, distinguished by their heraldic livery rather than by name — one team rides under green, yellow and blue, the other under red, black and violet. All six knights take part across the night's rounds of jousting, dressage and sword combat, and the tournament narrows down to a single declared champion by the final bout, rather than running as a series of unrelated demonstrations. Knowing this structure ahead of time makes the evening easier to follow — you're watching a competition build to a result, not a sequence of separate acts.
Your seat decides your side, not your choice
The banquet hall is divided into sections by colour, built around the sand arena so every table has a clear line of sight to the action, and which section you're seated in is settled when you arrive at the gate rather than at the point you book online. From that moment on, the three knights riding your colour are the ones you're there to support, and the rivalry between the two halves of the room — not just between the six knights in the arena — is a genuine part of what makes the evening work. Couples and families are generally seated together, so you'll share a colour with the people you came with.
Knights work the crowd, not just each other
Between passes in the arena, knights will often ride directly toward the section wearing the opposing colour to provoke a reaction, and popcorn thrown back and forth between the two sides of the hall is an established part of the ritual rather than a mess anyone apologises for afterwards. If you arrived expecting to watch a polished show quietly from a fixed seat, recalibrate before the lists open — you are an active participant in this tournament's atmosphere, not a spectator at a safe remove from it, and the knights are actively performing for your section specifically.
What the tournament actually involves
The programme moves through mounted jousting with lances across the roughly 50-metre sand arena, a Spanish horse dressage display, a falconry exhibition with birds of prey, and a closing round of sword combat, all performed by professional stunt riders and combat performers rather than amateur enthusiasts in rented armour. It is staged and choreographed, as any show involving live horses, open flame in some routines and real edged weapons necessarily has to be for safety, but the pace and the physicality of it are real — this isn't people standing in a courtyard reciting lines.
How the champion is actually decided
The tournament builds from the opening joust through to a closing round of hand-to-hand sword combat, and a single champion knight is declared to bring the show to a close, at which point the whole hall — win or lose — moves through to the ballroom for dancing. Which colour's knight takes the title varies from night to night rather than following any obvious pattern that favours one side, so there is a genuine result at stake rather than a scripted outcome, which is part of why the shouting in the final rounds tends to be louder than earlier in the evening.