LARP, or “Live Action Role Play”, is a popular form of entertainment where people 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 battles with foam swords, perform magical spells, solve murder mysteries, and more. Emphasis is less on historical accuracy and more on the fun of the game.

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, is a little bit of both. The emphasis at SCA events is on the fun of the game, but the game is applying research to physically embody or “live” pre-modern history to experience it for ourselves.*

Once a year, the SCA and a few other groups hold a festival called Pennsic, which is basically Burning Man for history nerds. Battles are fought (safely), tournaments are held, classes are taught, feasts are given, 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.