Welcome / 2018 Calendar of Events:
Tournoi Track-Set-Sunday, August 5, 2018, 8:00 am
Tournoi Rider Qualifications – September 9, 2018, 1:00 pm
Tournoi Children’s Pageant – September 8, 2018, 9:00 am
Tournoi Queen’s Pageant – September 8, 2018, TBA
Tournoi Championship – Sunday, October 14th, 2018, 2:00 pm
Tournoi Location-Behind The National Guard Armory at 1022 Vocational Dr., Ville Platte, La.
“Le Tournoi”, which means tournament in French, is the ancient sporting event of jousting. It was first followed by the knights of France. Major Marcellin Garand, an officer in Napoleon’s army, founder and first mayor of Ville Platte, brought Le Tournoi to Louisiana.
Le Tournoi was introduced in the early 1800’s and ran until the late 1880’s when it was then abandoned for unknown reasons. Judge J.D. Buller is accredited with reviving Le Tournoi along with a group of patriotic WWII veterans in 1948. For the first few years of its rebirth, Le Tournoi was run as part of the Fourth of July festivities. When the Louisiana Cotton Festival came into existence in 1953, it was dropped as a Fourth of July festivity and began to run in conjunction with the Louisiana Cotton Festival instead. In 1959, the Louisiana Tournoi Association was chartered and states that a Tournoi can take place anywhere, but the championship must take place in Ville Platte each year.
Le Tournoi requires horsemanship, skill, and accuracy. The knights wear their traditional garb while riding horseback at neck breaking speeds around a semicircular quarter mile track. Carrying long slender lances, the daring knight attempts to spear and retain all seven of the small rings that are suspended on posts around the track. The seven rings symbolize the seven enemies of cotton which are flood, drought, boll weevil, bollworm, silk, rayon and nylon. The knights run three heats each to decide the new champion.
The Louisiana Tournoi Queen’s crown was designed in June of 2004 by Amanda Thille, the newly appointed Pageant Director. It was first worn by Maggie Thevenot, the 2003 queen. The crown was designed with significance and tradition in mind. First, it reflects the Tournoi colors; silver, red, and black. The 5 silver shields on the crown represent the champion and top 4 knights who chose their queen. The 7 silver rings represent the seven enemies of cotton. The red stones scattered throughtout the crown signify bravery and courage. The black/dark gray lances and knight’s helmet in the center shield represent all the Tournoi Knights. The crosses in the center of the remaining four sheilds represent Christianity, the foundation of our country.
Le Louisiana Tournoi de la Ville Platte is the climatic end of the Louisiana Cotton Festival weekend. It follows immediately after the Grand Parade which rides down Ville Platte’s Main Street annually.
