LARP, or “Live Action Role Play”, is a popular form of entertainment where people get together and dress up as characters—usually historical, fantastical, or both—and simply act as those characters for a while. Many LARPs involve games where you can fight with foam swords, perform magical spells, etc.

A Reenactment is like a LARP, but based on a real-life event such as a battle. Emphasis is on historical accuracy and applied research over character building and story.

The SCA, or Society for Creative Anachronism, of which I am a member, is a little bit of both. The emphasis at SCA events is on physically embodying or “living” history to experience it for ourselves.*

Once a year, the SCA and a few other LARP groups hold a festival called Pennsic, which has been described as “Burning Man for history nerds”. Battles are fought (safely), tournaments are held, classes are taught, songs are sung, and much mead is drunk.

Most of the photos below are from SCA events, including Pennsic.

*Only the cool parts. No one wants to experience the plague for themselves.