Reenactment and LARP
Reenactment is an activity where people recreate or commemorate historical epochs and events through dramatization, costumes, props, staging, and/or authentic environments.
Live-action roleplaying, shortened LARP, can have contemporary or fictional settings, but are often based on historical periods.
Europe
Hungary
- Kurultáj — an annual celebration near Bugac on the dusty Great Plain where you will find Hunnic warriors, Magyar horsemen, and medieval Hungarians. Towards the evening, the atmosphere goes increasingly spiritual with much shamanic chanting and drumming, eventually culminating in a fire ceremony at night.
Sweden
Sweden has a developed LARP scene. While authentic historical environments are few, the right to roam allows for outdoor events. SVEROK is the Swedish federation for LARP-related events.
- Medeltidsveckan ("Medieval Week"), Visby. A one-week Medieval convention in August.
- Stallarholmen Viking Festival, Strängnäs
North America
Historic sites will often have guides in period costume to explain the historic context of a venue. In the United States, the American Civil War appears frequently as a re-enactment epoch. The War of 1812 is likely to make a re-appearance in historic fortresses along both sides of the Canada-US border.
The era immediately before the adoption of steam power (and the subsequent industrialization of the United States and industrial Britain) is most common in pioneer villages, although gold and silver rush ghost towns may also be re-enactment targets. While most sites will represent colonial or post-colonial eras, don't be surprised if your guide is a costumed Viking at the Anse-aux-Meadows archaeological site on Newfoundland's Great Northern Peninsula.