Harry Potter fans just couldn't seem to get enough of anything and everything about the fanciful and fictitious world of wizardry. And, to them the qualifier "fictitious" could even be subjective. They are making it happen in real life.
After a successful run of a Live-Action Role Play (LARP) event titled "College of Wizardry" held in November last year, as noted by USA Today, organizers Liveform and Rollespilsfabrikken -- both non-profit organizations from Poland and Denmark, respectively -- are now set to stage encores this coming April.
If you haven't heard of it, LARP is an interactive event where people get to wear costumes, and role-play their characters in a predetermined fantasy set-up, says the organizers.
"College of Wizardry" is a Nordic LARP where participants play out their coveted roles as witch or wizard students in a perfect backdrop of a real-life castle in Poland - the Czocha Castle in Luban County.
It is a four-day event where students get to be sorted out into one of the five Ancient Houses of the Czocha Castle, attend classes on magical arts, roam the castle and its grounds, meet fellow students and magical creatures, play games, and engage into discussions and other fun-filled adventures, Project Coordinator Claus Raasted explains.
The two "College of Wizardry" events in April were already sold out in a mind-boggling two minutes, according The Verge. But, Potterheads need not fret.
The organizers are now trying to raise funds for their November events via crowdfunding in their Indiegogo Campiagn. As of this writing, the campaign has already raked in more than $25,000. Their goal is to raise $50,000 to cover the first event set on November 12 throughout 15, at a ticket cost of $374.
If the organizers reach $120,000 in campaign funds, there will be another event within the same month; and a third event for $175,000.
Now hear this, if the Indiegogo campaign reaches a million dollars. These guys are going to buy their own castle. And, they are serious about it.
As noted in the campaign, the team is hoping to buy and then make the necessary refurbishments for an "honest-to-Merlin" Polish castle.
In an article by the Telegraph, Raasted of Rollespilsfabrikken said that Warner Bros., which owns the rights to "Harry Potter," has been generous enough to let them use the brand name until their April re-runs.
"They were quite nice, and gave us a special one-off permission to do the two planned April events, but asked that we create a story world of our own for future College of Wizardry LARPs," Raasted said.
