__NOTOC__ Elfia, formerly known as the Elf Fantasy Fair is a fantasy-themed cosplay festival held twice a year in the Netherlands. For the first time, it was organized in 2001 in the historical theme park Archeon. From 2009 Elfia (also known as the Kingdom of Elfia) appears twice a year, in April at Castle de Haar,

Haarzuilens Haarzuilens is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Utrecht, and lies about 12 km west from the city centre of Utrecht. It was a separate municipality until 1954, when it was joined to the municipalit ...

and in September at Castle Arcen,

Arcen Arcen (; li, Árse) is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. In 2010, it became part of the municipality of Venlo. Previously, it had been part of the municipality of Arcen en Velden and the seat of the town hall (). In 2001, Arcen had 188 ...

. The Haarzuilens event is the largest fantasy & costume event in Europe and attracts some 27,000 visitors every year. Elfia has been created b
Stefan Struik
but is now managed by his sister Helena Struik with the support of a group of small companies. Elfia is actually a cross-section of genres: next to fantasy, there are also themes from

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

LARP A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of two unique feature ...

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

cosplay Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, ...

and

historical reenactment Historical reenactment (or re-enactment) is an educational entertainment, educational or entertainment activity in which mainly amateur hobbyists and history enthusiasts dress in historic uniforms or costumes and follow a plan to recreate aspect ...

genres. But most of all it is a costume event with (fantasy and historical) costume parades. Elfia also characterizes herself as a kingdom with a real flag, a border with fantasy customs officers, and royal elections. There are ambassadors appointed in seven different countries. Previous guests of honour included

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his ''Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first nov ...

Robert Jordan James Oliver Rigney Jr. (October 17, 1948 – September 16, 2007), better known by his pen name Robert Jordan,"Robert Jordan" was the name of the protagonist in the 1940 Hemingway novel ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'', though this is not how the na ...

Tarja Turunen Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen-Cabuli (born 17 August 1977), known professionally as Tarja Turunen or simply Tarja, is a Finnish heavy metal singer, best known as the former lead vocalist of Nightwish. She is a soprano with a three and a half o ...

Stanislav Ianevski Stanislav Ianevski (; born Stanislav Rumenov Yanevski, bg, Станислав Руменов Яневски; on 16 May 1985), is a Bulgarian actor best known for playing Viktor Krum in the 2005 fantasy film '' Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' ...

Brian Froud Brian Froud (born 1947) is an English fantasy illustrator and conceptual designer. He is most widely known for his 1978 book ''Faeries (book), Faeries'' with Alan Lee (illustrator), Alan Lee, and as the conceptual designer of the Jim Henson fil ...

, Brian Muir and

Christopher Paolini Christopher James Paolini (born November 17, 1983) is an American author and screenwriter. He is best known for '' The Inheritance Cycle'', which consists of the books '' Eragon'', ''Eldest'', '' Brisingr'', ''Inheritance'', and the follow up sho ...

. The German band

Faun The faun (, grc, φαῦνος, ''phaunos'', ) is a half-human and half-goat mythological creature appearing in Greek and Roman mythology. Originally fauns of Roman mythology were spirits (genii) of rustic places, lesser versions of their c ...

often headlined the event and the English lecturer Professor Rotherham regularly gives lectures in the castle's chapel.

Other events

Since the Elf Fantasy Fair proved to be a success there have been other fantasy related events held in The Netherlands such as the Gothic & Fantasy Beurs at

De Broodfabriek De Broodfabriek ( en, The Bread Factory) is an exhibition and convention center in the Dutch city of Rijswijk. It was founded in 1996 by Henk van der Straaten Rijswijk Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was in , and it has an area of , of which is water. The municipality also includes th ...

(Gothic & Fantasy Exhibition, since 2003, now Fantasy Fest), the Midwinter Fair at the Archeon,

Alphen aan den Rijn Alphen aan den Rijn (; en, "Alphen upon Rhine" or "Alphen on the Rhine") is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The city is situated on the banks of the river Oude Rijn (Old Rhine), where the r ...

(since 2003), Castlefest at the Keukenhof,

Lisse Lisse () is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the Western Netherlands. The municipality, which lies within the Duin- en Bollenstreek, covers an area of of which is water. Its population was in . Located within the mun ...

(since 2005), the Gothic & Fantasy Fair in

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...

(between 2007 and 2009), Keltfest near

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

(since 2008, now near

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

), the MysticFair in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

(in 2008 and 2009), Nox Obscura (in 2008), Phantasium in

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

(in 2009 and 2010) Fantastyval (between 2009 and 2014). and the Midzomer Fair (Midsummer Fair, between 2010 and 2012)Midsummer Fair
Aztek-TV, June 19, 2010

References

External links

* {{coord missing, Netherlands Festivals in the Netherlands Recurring events established in 2001 Fantasy conventions 2001 establishments in the Netherlands

Other events

See also

References

External links