Magic land of Elfia

First of all, you are probably asking yourselves: What is Elfia?

Elfia is a magic land of elves, fairies, pirates, knights, goblins and different mystic creatures. Some call it a fantasy fair, but I think that explanation is too dull for such a magical event.

Secondly, when and where is it?

It happens twice a year, spring and autumn. In spring the location of the event is in Kasteel de Haar, a castle in Haarzuilens near Utrecht. In autumn it is located in Arcen castle in Arcen, near the German border. I’ve only been to Elfia Haarzuilens, and as I understand that is the larger event of those two.

Thirdly, why am I writing about it?

I love fantasy and medieval fairs. If you love fantasy, sci-fi in either books, games, TV shows or films you will most likely love Elfia.

Let’s start with the venue. The castle garden is beautiful and big. The castle itself is not as impressive as Slovak or Romanian castles, but beautiful nevertheless. The festival grounds are huge with several stages and a labyrinth.

Number of attendees is big as well, and they all have amazing costumes. There is a costume parade every year in which you can participate, but just watching and admiring the costumes is fun as well.

My next point is the bands and music. As I mentioned there are a few stages to choose from. As one can expect the music played is mostly medieval folk, celtic folk and similar. When I was there the steampunk band Abney Park performed as well.

There are many attractions that will keep you busy the whole day such as arrow shooting, theatrical plays, sword-fighting shows, Balfolk and line dancing and much more. For the Harry Potter lovers there is a Quidditch game, for Game of thrones there was HBO corner where you could take photos on an Iron Throne replica. It was a long line, but I did take that photo. The HBO team edited the photos and posted them online; they are truly magnificent.

That elf in the photo would be me.

There will also be lots of merchandise available to buy. You can definitely gear up there. Some of the items available to buy are jewellery, drinking horns, wool, blades and swords and generally costumes and gadgets that a medieval fantasy lover would love to have.

And then there is... *drum rolls*... the mead booth. As true medieval lover, and let’s say not an alcoholic, I love mead! For those that don’t know, mead is an alcoholic beverage made from honey, also called honey wine. I believe you can buy mead at all medieval festivals. It can probably also be found in some alcohol stores, but only the basic/classic mead. In Elfia there are so many variations to choose from, such as mead with vanilla or cinnamon or apples, etc. There is also mead beer, that is beer with honey, but I prefer mead instead.

So there you have it: mysterious creatures, birds of prey, cool music, interesting dances, mead, and so much more.

Explore and have no fear; this enchanting land welcomes strangers of all shapes, colours, abilities, with and without fur, wings or claws. Sidekicks and little helpers are welcomed as well.

Photo gallery