The Elf Fantasy Fair is an outdoor fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 event in the Netherlands

Kingdom of the Netherlands

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a sovereign state and constitutional monarchy with territory in Western Europe and in the Caribbean. The four parts of the Kingdom—Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten—are referred to as "countries", and participate on a basis of equality...

 which is traditionally held in April

April

April is the fourth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and one of four months with a length of 30 days. April was originally the second month of the Roman calendar, before January and February were added by King Numa Pompilius about 700 BC...

 since 2001, but from 2009 it is held twice per year in Haarzuilens

Haarzuilens

Haarzuilens is a small village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Utrecht, and lies about 8 km west of Utrecht. It was a separate municipality until 1954, when it was joined to the municipality of Vleuten....

 (in April at Castle de Haar)

Kasteel de Haar

Castle De Haar is located near Haarzuilens, in the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands. The current buildings, except for the chapel, date from 1892 and are the work of Dutch architect P.J.H. Cuypers, in a restoration project funded by the Rothschild family....

 and in Arcen

Arcen

Arcen 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 'het gemeentehuis' . Gemeente Arcen en VeldenIn 2001, Arcen had 1884 inhabitants...

 (in September at Castle Arcen). The Haarzuilens fair is the largest fantasy event in Europe and attracts some 22,500 visitors every year. The fair is managed by Stefan Struik since 2008, who also initiated the event in 2001. Apart from fantasy there is also representation from the science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

, LARP

Live action role-playing game

A live action role-playing game is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out their characters' actions. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by the real world, while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may...

, gothic

Goth subculture

The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...

, manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

, cosplay

Cosplay

, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and science fiction...

 and historical reenactment

Historical reenactment

Historical reenactment is an educational activity in which participants attempt torecreate some aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge at the Great Reunion of 1913, or as broad as an entire...

 genres.

Previous guests of honour included Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett

Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...

, Robert Jordan

Robert Jordan

Robert Jordan was the pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr. , under which he was best known as the author of the bestselling The Wheel of Time fantasy series. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Reagan O'Neal and Jackson O'Reilly.-Biography:Jordan was born in Charleston, South Carolina...

, Tarja Turunen

Tarja Turunen

Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen Cabuli is a Finnish singer-songwriter and composer. She is a full lyric soprano and has a vocal range of three octaves....

, Stanislav Ianevski

Stanislav Ianevski

Stanislav Ianevski is a Bulgarian actor, known for playing Viktor Krum in the 2005 film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.Ianevski was born in Sofia, Bulgaria and has lived in England and Israel. While attending Mill Hill School in the United Kingdom, Ianevski had no particular acting...

, Brian Froud

Brian Froud

Brian Froud is an English fantasy illustrator. He lives and works in Devon with his wife, Wendy Froud, who is also a fantasy artist...

 and Brian Muir

Brian Muir (sculptor)

Brian Muir is a British sculptor who most famously created Darth Vader's helmet and armour using Ralph McQuarrie's design....

. Some of the recurring guests are the German band Faun

Faun (band)

Faun is a German band formed in 2002 who play pagan folk, darkwave and medieval music. The originality of their music style is that they fall back to "old" instruments, and the singing is always the center of attention. The vocals are performed in a variety of languages, including German, Latin,...

 and the English lecturer Professor Rotherham

Roland Rotherham

Roland Rotherham is a British historian, specialised in medieval legends and lores, especially those related to King Arthur, Merlin and Glastonbury...

.

Dates

In 2011 the Elf Fantasy Fair was held on 16 and 17 April 2011 in Haarzuilens and on 17 and 18 September 2011 in Arcen.

The next Elf Fantasy Fair will be held in Haarzuilens on 21 and 22 April 2012.

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 in Rijswijk

Rijswijk

Rijswijk is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It is a suburb of The Hague and covers an area of 14.48 km² ....

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

Archeon (Netherlands)

Archeon is an archeological living museum in Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands, which opened in 1994. It brings the past to life in various historical settings from various historical periods of Dutch history with reenactors playing the parts of people from those times...

, Alphen aan den Rijn

Alphen aan den Rijn

Alphen aan den Rijn is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, between Leiden and Utrecht. The town is situated on the banks of the river Oude Rijn , where the river Gouwe branches off. The municipality had a population of 72,674 in 2010, and covers an...

 (since 2004), Castlefest

Castlefest

Castlefest is a medieval/fantasy festival in the Netherlands, held in the first weekend of August in the gardens of Castle Keukenhof in Lisse since 2005. The festival takes part during 3 days on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with a opening concert on Thursday...

 at the Keukenhof

Keukenhof

Keukenhof , also known as the Garden of Europe, is situated near Lisse, Netherlands, and is the world's largest flower garden...

, Lisse

Lisse

Lisse is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 16.11 km² of which 0.41 km² is water. Its population is 21864...

 (since 2005), the Gothic & Fantasy Fair in Arnhem

Arnhem

Arnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located near the river Nederrijn as well as near the St. Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has 146,095 residents as one of the...

 (between 2007 and 2009), Keltfest near Dordrecht

Dordrecht

Dordrecht , colloquially Dordt, historically in English named Dort, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the fourth largest city of the province, having a population of 118,601 in 2009...

 (since 2008), the MysticFair in Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

 (in 2008 and 2009), Nox Obscura (in 2008), Phantasium in Eindhoven (since 2009), Fantastic Amsterdam in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 (in 2009 and 2010) Fantasyval (since 2009). and the Midzomer Fair (Midsummer Fair, since 2010)

External Links

• Elf Fantasy Fair website Elf fantasy fair, NRC Handelsblad
  NRC Handelsblad
  NRC Handelsblad, often abbreviated to NRC, is a daily evening newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. The newspaper was created on October 1, 1970, from merger of the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant and Algemeen Handelsblad . In 2006 a morning newspaper, nrc•next, was launched...
  
  , May 4, 2007 (archive)