Alphen aan den Rijn is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, about 10 km east of Leiden. The city is situated on the banks of the river Oude Rijn, where the river Gouwe branches off. The municipality had a population of 110,986 in 2019, and covers an area of 132.50 km2 (51.16 sq mi) of which 6.27 km2 (2.42 sq mi) is water.
Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, and a broader use of the term "cosplay" applies to any costumed role-playing in venues apart from the stage. Any entity that lends itself to dramatic interpretation may be taken up as a subject. Favorite sources include anime, cartoons, comic books, manga, television series, and video games. The term is composed of the two aforementioned counterparts – costume and role play.
Human chess, living chess or live chess is a form of chess in which people take the place of pieces. Human chess is typically played outdoors, either on a large chessboard or on the ground, and is often played at Renaissance fairs.
Steph Swainston is a British literary fantasy/science fiction author, known for the Castle series. Her debut novel, The Year of Our War (2004), won the 2005 Crawford Award and a nomination for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.
Otakuthon is Quebec's largest anime convention promoting Japanese animation (anime), Japanese graphic novels (manga), related gaming and Japanese pop-culture. It is held annually for 3 days in downtown Montreal during a weekend in August. It is a non-profit, fan-run anime convention that was initiated by Concordia University's anime club, named Otaku Anime of Concordia University. The name "Otakuthon" is a portmanteau of the Japanese word "otaku" and "marathon". Otakuthon strives to be a bilingual event, having programming, the masquerade and the program book in both official languages. The first edition of Otakuthon was held in 2006 in mid-June, but later moved to early-mid August / late July from 2007 onward. Last year's edition, Otakuthon 2019, was held on August 16–18, 2019 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal.
Francesca Dani, sometimes referred to as Francesca Aurora Dani, is an Italian travel photographer, and a former cosplayer, net idol model and jewelry designer.
Blood of the Dragon is the seventh album by Nox Arcana, incorporating an interactive puzzle. The music is mainly instrumental, with a classical, symphonic, and at times tribal Celtic sound. The music is interspersed with brief narrations and sound effects that relate a tale of high fantasy.
De Haar Castle is located in Utrecht, Netherlands. It is the largest castle in The Netherlands.
The Dolmen are an English, Weymouth, Dorset-based, Celtic rock/folk rock band that incorporate elements of Celtic, folk, pagan-themed, and historically based musical works into their largely original repertoire. Current group members are singer and songwriter founder/member Taloch Jameson, guitarist/vocalist/lyricist Josh Elliott, bassist and vocalist Kayleigh Marchant, drummer Chris Jones, and flautist Anja Novotny.
Roland Rotherham is a retired British writer and lecturer, who specializes in medieval legends and lore, especially those related to King Arthur, Merlin and Glastonbury. He also is an expert in historical cookery.
Archeon is an archeological open air and living museum in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands that opened in 1994. In Alphen an ancient Roman military fortress has been established around 40, the settlement was given the Latin name Albaniana.
Castlefest is a medieval/fantasy festival in the Netherlands, held in the gardens of Castle Keukenhof in Lisse since 2005.
De Broodfabriek is an exhibition and convention center in the Dutch city of Rijswijk. It was founded in 1996 by Henk van der Straaten as the Darling Market, a recreation of the Paddy's Markets in Haymarket, near Sydney's Darling Harbour, which he encountered during a trip to Australia).
KunstRAI is an annual art fair for modern and contemporary art held at the RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre in Amsterdam, Netherlands, every May. From 2006 to 2011 it was known as Art Amsterdam. The 2012 Art Amsterdam was to have been held at a different time and location but was cancelled; a KunstRAI did however take place in May 2012.
Multigenre Fan Convention Pyrkon is a Polish fan convention held annually in Poznań on the first weekend after the spring equinox and dedicated to an integration of Science fiction fandom and a promotion of science-fiction/fantasy literature, comics, film, television, video games, RPG, LARP, board games, collectible card games and miniature wargaming. Pyrkon is the biggest event of this type in Poland and one of the biggest in Europe.
The Lusca Fantastic Film Fest is an annual film festival held in Puerto Rico. It is the first and only international fantastic film festival in the Caribbean devoted to Sci-Fi, Thriller, Fantasy, Dark Humor, Bizarre, Horror, Anime, Adventure, Virtual Reality and Animation in Short and Feature Films. The event is held in San Juan, Puerto Rico metropolitan area, and other venues throughout the island of Puerto Rico. It runs for eight days during two weeks during October - November. Its main objective is to promote cinematographic art by presenting high-quality Short and Feature Films. Born as the Puerto Rico Horror Film Fest in 2007 to put focus on independent high quality genre film, and since 2009 in the form of a competitive festival. In 2016, the Puerto Rico Horror Film Fest became LUSCA Caribbean International Fantastic Film Fest, retaining it identity in Lusca's Horror selections.
Vic Anselmo is a Latvian singer-songwriter who lives in Bochum, Germany. Starting out as a performer of gothic metal, Vic performed with her own band throughout her whole career amongst co-operations with several other musicians.
Cesair is a Dutch band formed in 2008 who make pagan folk, world fusion and world music. They are the main representatives of the pagan folk music scene in the Netherlands, alongside pagan folk band Omnia. The band refer to their genre as "Epic Folk & Mythic Music". They perform on a variety of modern and traditional instruments, including accordion, hurdy-gurdy, hammered dulcimer, Irish bouzouki, violin, cello, bodhrán and many others. Their songs are performed in a variety of languages ranging from Arabic, medieval Celtic languages, English, Latin, Greek, to Middle Dutch, Old Norse and more.
The Labyrinth of Jareth Masquerade Ball, shortened to LOJ or simply known as the Labyrinth Masquerade Ball, is an annual masquerade ball and cosplay event in Los Angeles, California. The ball was first held in 1997.
