The dark side of larp tourism

Picture of la sirena varada location, taken by Herman Langland

Larp tourism. What a great idea! Although perhaps it is not as awesome as it seems.

Last year the concept of larp tourism was formalized with this video by Claus Raasted.
While I agree in that larp tourism can work marvels for big/commercial events like College of Wizardry, The Witcher School or Fairweather Manor, for other larps I am not so sure.

We had a particularly negative experience in the second run of ‘la sirena varada’ (that's the Spanish for 'The Stranded Mermaid') concerning a couple of larp tourists. Even if they probably will not define themselves as that, they told us that they were going to use the larp as part of a trip through Spain. That’s really cool, mind you. ‘la sirena varada’ is a Mediterranean larp by design, topics and structure. It is deceptively easy-going, a sandbox approach that uses techniques and a specific direction (a descent into madness) with an open hand. It is international, using exclusively the English language, and advertises itself as “A larp about Mediterranean dreams and red-blooded delusion. About waking up late and enjoying life”. It seems like the perfect candidate for larp tourism, right? Hardly.

A primer on Mediterranean Larp - or its absence

Picture from la sirena varada, taken by Esperanza Montero

Starting first with Robota and later with la sirena varada (The Stranded Mermaid), designed by Somnia, or with Blue Flame in Spain, and taking in account the events conceived by Terre Spezzate on Italy, in some Spanish larp circles the expression Mediterranean Larp has been recently coined to speak about a Southern European school or style which would be influenced by Nordic Larp but had its own proper features (and in this 'school' the events of the Snara group could be also included).

As a codesigner and organizer of the first two larps previously mentioned, I disagree on using Mediterranean Larp as anything but a dream for the future, a content indicator or, right now, a marketing label. 

Una introducción al rol en vivo mediterráneo – o a su ausencia



Imagen de la sirena varada, tomada por Esperanza Montero

A raíz primero de Robota y de la sirena varada después, diseñados por Somnia, y con los nuevos eventos abiertos en Italia de Terre Spezzate y Blue Flame en España, en ciertos círculos españoles de rol en vivo ha aparecido la expresión “rol en vivo mediterráneo” (Mediterranean larp) para hablar de una nueva escuela o estilo sureño que bebe del rol en vivo nórdico pero cuenta con sus propios rasgos caracterizados (escuela de la que también participaría algún otro grupo, como Snara).

Aunque haya sido codiseñador y organizador de los dos primeros eventos mencionados, disiento sobre el hecho de usar rol en vivo mediterráneo al margen de un deseo de futuro, una denominación de contenidos o, por ahora, una etiqueta mercadotécnica.