Why book this evening
Why book this evening
You are seated by colour, not by table number
The hall divides into sections by team colour, and the knight riding for your colour is the one you are there to cheer. Knights ride into the opposing section to needle the crowd, and popcorn gets thrown between the two sides before the night is out — this is a participation sport, not a show you watch quietly from a fixed seat.
Dinner with no cutlery
The three-course banquet is eaten by hand, on purpose — the soup is drunk rather than spooned, and the chicken is pulled apart with your fingers. It is a deliberate piece of staging rather than an oversight, and it changes the mood of the table faster than any amount of scene-setting could.
A full tournament, not a costume walk-through
Six knights on horseback joust with lances, fight with swords, and the evening includes Spanish horse dressage and a falconry display before a champion is declared. The combat is choreographed and the horses are real — this is closer to a stunt show with a plot than to actors in rented armour standing around.
A big night out, not a history lesson
Castillo San Miguel was built in 1987 as a purpose-made entertainment venue, not restored from an existing fortress, and it does not claim otherwise. What you are booking is a loud, physical, food-and-spectacle evening in a very large room — roughly a thousand seats around a 50-metre sand arena — not a quiet heritage tour.
The tournament order
The tournament order
The night runs as a fixed sequence: your colour is decided at the gate, the banquet arrives in three courses, and the tournament itself builds through rounds to a single champion. Here is the shape of it.
The tournament
- The gate
Your colour is decided
Guests are met at the entrance and seated in long-table stands around the sand arena, grouped by colour rather than by booking. Which side you land on is essentially chance — and it decides who you spend the next two hours shouting for.
- The lists
Six knights are presented
The two teams of three ride into the arena to be introduced, in full livery, ahead of the tournament proper. This is the moment the hall picks its noise up — knights sometimes ride straight at the opposing section to get a reaction.
- The joust
Lances, and the first falls
Mounted knights charge with lances across the sand, with Spanish horse dressage and a falconry display worked in between passes. It's genuinely fast, and the horses are the real athletes of the evening.
- The champion
Swords decide it
The tournament closes with sword combat between the knights still standing, judged down to a single champion. The room's two colours get one last chance to out-shout each other before the result is called.
The banquet
- First cup
Bread and wine as you sit
Wine, water and soft drinks are poured as soon as you're seated, alongside bread — the meal starts before the tournament properly does. Beer is sold separately, by the bucket.
- The soup
Cream of vegetable soup — drunk, not spooned
No cutlery is set at any table, so the first course is drunk straight from the bowl. It sounds like a gimmick until you're actually doing it.
- The banquet
Roast chicken, by hand
A whole roast chicken leg with baked potato and dressed tomato arrives next, torn apart with your fingers — the course the evening is named for, more or less.
- The sweet
Ice-cream cake, and the dancing starts
Dessert closes the banquet, and the room moves through to the ballroom for dancing and live music once the champion has been declared.
The castle, and getting there
The castle, and getting there
Castillo San Miguel sits inland from the south coast, in Aldea Blanca, San Miguel de Abona — a purpose-built venue rather than a restored ruin, and easiest to reach with the pickup included on most bookings.
Where it is
The castle stands on Avenida Edelmira Alfonso in Aldea Blanca, part of the municipality of San Miguel de Abona in southern Tenerife — inland from the coastal resort strip, between Granadilla de Abona and Arona.
Pickup from the south coast
Hotel pickup is offered from the three main south-coast resort areas — Los Cristianos, Playa de las Américas and Costa Adeje. Pickup adds meaningfully to your evening, since the bus collects guests from several hotels before heading inland; your exact time is confirmed on your booking.
Arriving on your own
If you'd rather not sit through a shared pickup, taxis and self-drive both work well from any of the south-coast towns — it's a short, direct run inland, and parking is available at the castle.
What the castle actually is
Castillo San Miguel was built in 1987, inspired by a similar dinner-tournament format in Palma de Mallorca — it's a roughly 6,000-square-metre purpose-built venue with towers over 16 metres tall and a 50-metre sand arena, seating close to a thousand guests around it. It was made for exactly this evening, not converted from an older building.
The tournament, in pictures
The tournament, in pictures
Jousting knights, tournament livery and a banquet eaten by hand — representative photographs of medieval tournament reenactment, not photographs of Castillo San Miguel or its own knights.
Booking options & what's included
Booking options & what's included
| Option | What it includes | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Tournament, banquet & coach pickup | The full evening, the three-course banquet with drinks, and hotel pickup/drop-off from the south coast | The listing this site is built around — simplest choice for an evening that finishes after dark |
| Tournament & banquet, own transport | The same evening at the castle, without the coach | Usually the lower-priced option — check inclusions before booking if you plan to drive or taxi yourself |
| VIP upgrade | A welcome glass of Cava and a gold-trimmed tabard, on top of the standard booking | An extra some listings offer — reviewers mention it as a nice touch rather than essential |
| Pair it with a day out | Booked as a separate GetYourGuide experience | The evening start leaves the whole day free for the coast, Teide or the old towns inland |
Ways to book the tournament
Find a seat for your dates
Every option below is booked through GetYourGuide, with live availability and the final price in your own currency.
Planning your evening
Planning your evening
Book the night — and the colour — you want
With only three or four show nights a week and a listing already flagged as likely to sell out, the date is what you're securing more than anything else. Which colour you're seated with is decided on arrival, not at booking, so it's not something you can choose in advance.
Flag dietary needs before you go
A vegetarian option (lasagne) is available, but this is a fixed banquet rather than a menu — mention any dietary requirement in your booking comments so the kitchen can plan for it, rather than raising it at the table.
Confirm your pickup time
If you've booked the transfer, your pickup window is confirmed on your booking rather than fixed to a single clock time — the coach works its way around several south-coast hotels before heading inland, so build in a buffer either side.
Come ready to get loud
This is a shouting, cheering, popcorn-throwing kind of night by design. If you want a quiet dinner with a show in the background, this isn't it — go in expecting to take a side and back it.
Planning a night at Castillo San Miguel
Planning a night at Castillo San Miguel
Castillo San Miguel, round by round: what actually happens
The gate decides your colour, the banquet arrives in three courses, and the tournament builds through jousting and swords to a single champion — here is the shape of the night, in order.
Read more →The banquet, explainedDinner with no knife, no fork, and no spoon
Why the banquet at Castillo San Miguel is eaten entirely by hand, what's actually on the three courses, and how to handle a vegetarian booking.
Read more →The tournament, explainedSix 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.
Read more →Getting therePickup zones, timing, and getting to Castillo San Miguel from the south coast
Los Cristianos, Playa de las Américas or Costa Adeje — how the hotel pickup works, what it adds to your evening, and the alternative if you'd rather drive.
Read more →Travelling with kidsCastillo San Miguel with children: what ages it actually suits
A loud, participatory tournament and a dinner you eat with your hands — why it tends to work well for families, and what to know before you book for younger children.
Read more →Around the south coastSouthern Tenerife after dark: what else fills an evening
The tournament takes one night. Here's how it fits alongside the rest of a south-coast stay, and what else is worth an evening in Los Cristianos, Costa Adeje and Playa de las Américas.
Read more →FAQ
Castillo San Miguel questions
What is the Castillo San Miguel medieval show?
It's a tournament show and three-course banquet at Castillo San Miguel, a purpose-built castle in Aldea Blanca, San Miguel de Abona, southern Tenerife. Six knights riding for two colours joust and fight with swords in a sand arena in front of the dining hall, with Spanish horse dressage and falconry worked in, ending with a declared champion. Dinner is eaten without cutlery.
How long does it last, and what nights does it run?
The evening runs about two and a half to three hours in total, with doors from around 18:30 and the tournament and banquet finishing by roughly 21:30. It runs on a fixed weekly schedule — Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday year-round — so check your own booking confirmation for the exact night and times.
What's in the banquet, and is there a vegetarian option?
The three-course banquet typically runs cream of vegetable soup, a roast chicken leg with baked potato, and an ice-cream cake dessert, with bread, wine, water and soft drinks included through the meal, and beer available to buy separately. A vegetarian option is available — flag it in your booking comments so the kitchen can plan for it.
Do you really eat without cutlery?
Yes — no knives, forks or spoons are set at the tables, on purpose. The soup is drunk straight from the bowl and the chicken is eaten by hand, which is part of the evening's staging rather than an oversight.
Is hotel pickup included?
On the listing this site is built around, yes — hotel pickup and drop-off are offered from Los Cristianos, Playa de las Américas and Costa Adeje, with your exact pickup window confirmed on your booking. Some listings for the same evening are sold without transport, so check the inclusions on the option you're booking.
Is it suitable for children?
Yes — it's built as family entertainment, with a loud, participatory format that tends to suit children well. A reduced child rate typically applies for younger children, with the current age bands and pricing shown on the GetYourGuide listing at checkout.
Is Castillo San Miguel an actual medieval castle?
No — it was built in 1987 as a purpose-made venue for exactly this kind of tournament dinner, inspired by a similar format in Palma de Mallorca, and it doesn't claim to be a restored medieval building. It's a roughly 6,000-square-metre venue with a 50-metre sand arena and seating for close to a thousand guests, built for the show rather than converted from an older fortress.