Elfia Arcen 2017

September 23-24, 2017

Fantasy Convention

It all started in 1994. TV scriptwriter Stefan Struik had an interview with a meditating hermit in Baarn (NL) who was complaining about gnomes who disturbed the power network in his house. A month later he ran into trolls in a Norwegian clothing store in the Dutch-Frisian village Dokkum. A year before he got surprised by the amount of one meter high garden gnomes just across the border between Germany and Poland. It all seemed to point into a new direction he would hit a few months later. In December 1994 he opened with his sister a small game and bookstore in Delft (NL), named Elf Fantasy Shop. The games were a golden opportunity. Three years later the duo could open an second store in The Hague.

In 1995 Stefan also started a new adventure with a free magazine called Elf Fantasy Magazine. In 2001 the magazine became professionalized and despite it never realised any profits it existed until 2009.

Stefan and his sister already organised lectures in the Elf Fantasy Shops about druidism, Tolkien and other fantasy related subjects. In 2001 Stefan decided to combine a few things into a totally new and unique festival concept that later would be copied many times: the Elf Fantasy fair. Starting in the historical theme parc Archeon (NL) it moved the year after to the largest castle in the Netherlands: castle de Haar. With the exception of 2004 (castle Keukenhof, Lisse) it remained in castle de Haar, Haarzuilens since then. In 2009 a second version of the Elf Fantasy Fair started 400 meters from the border with Germany in the small village Arcen in Northern Limburg. In January 2013 the name Elf Fantasy Fair was replaced by the name Elfia. The spring edition of Elfia is also called the 'Light Edition', while the autumn edition is characterized as the 'dark edition'.

Photos and Reports

• No reports found.

Submit a link to your Elfia Arcen 2017 report

Update Information for Elfia Arcen 2017