Plans are under way in the village of Carew for a spectacular re-enactment of the last great medieval jousting tournament ever held in Wales.

In 1507, for five days, Carew Castle played host to knights and their retinues from all over Wales. Over 1,000 people were present to honour Sir Rhys ap Thomas and to celebrate his admission to the Order of the Garter.

And the highlight of the five-day celebration was a grand jousting tournament between knights of Sir William Herbert.

To mark the 500th anniversary of that event, the Carew Community Association is hoping to stage a full scale re-enactment of the original tournament in a field overlooking the castle.

"The event will take place during May 2007, and it should be an amazing five days," said County Councillor Dave Neale, who is a member of the festival steering committee. "The first two days will have a strong educational aspect, with schools invited to the castle to experience life in medieval and Tudor times.

"The main event of the Saturday will be the re- creation of the equestrian cavalcade to Lamphey Palace, with hundreds of costumed horsemen expected to take part in what should be a fantastic spectacle."

The tournament itself will be re-enacted on the Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday. "A professional re-enactment group which specialises in jousting tournaments will provide the centre-piece of the programme," explained Clr. Neale. "But there will be plenty of other related events - music, drama, storytelling - to make it a full five days of activities."

Preliminary preparations for the event have been under way for some time. "We have had meetings with the land-owners, the emergency services, the highways authority and the licensing department and they have all been very positive," explained Clr. Neale. "And we also have the backing of the National Park Authority which looks after the castle.

"Obviously the Community Association will have to raise a good deal of money to finance the event, but so far have been very encouraged by the response from possible sponsors and funding bodies to our initial approaches.

"Hopefully it will be the biggest event of its kind in the county since the Pageant of Pembroke 50 years ago," he added. A public meeting to discuss the proposals for the Carew 2007 festival will take place in Carew Memorial Hall on Monday, March 13, at 7 pm.

"Anyone interested in assisting in any way with the organisation of the festival would be particularly welcome," said Clr. Neale.