To “larp” is to be surrounded by ye olde tents on a scout site in the south of England, with no phone in your pocket but a candlelit tavern to your right, one selling every possible flavour of mead. Oh, and you’re also dressed in the flowing robes of an Arthurian queen, alongside close to a thousand other people in fancy dress.
This, if you’re still unclear, is a little-known and often misunderstood hobby called “live action role playing”, which I am first to admit has a bit of a PR problem. People tend to imagine ageing nerds with rubber swords and dubious social skills. But larp is actually fun, creative and intellectually challenging – and a blissful respite from reality. Between climate change, Brexit and a cost of living crisis, it’s easy to get depressed about the status quo, so why not dress up as a wizard, a knight or a princess to solve the problems of a fictional realm instead?
