Elfia (festival)

Elfia, formerly known as the Elf Fantasy Fair is a fantasy-themed cosplay festival held twice a year in the Netherlands.^[1]

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 and in September at Castle Arcen, Arcen. The Haarzuilens event is the largest fantasy & costume event in Europe^[2] and attracts some 27,000 visitors every year.^[3] Elfia has been created by 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, LARP, gothic, manga, cosplay and historical reenactment 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, Robert Jordan, Tarja Turunen, Stanislav Ianevski, Brian Froud, Brian Muir and Christopher Paolini. The German band Faun often headlined the event and the English lecturer Professor Rotherham regularly gives lectures in the castle's chapel.