Programme
What you can experience during the weekend
In the historical encampment on the rear meadow, you will find various crafts. You can artisans using metal, leather or fabric. There are many props you can ask about. You can also see a medieval kitchen in action. Don’t hesitate to ask the locals about anything, they will be glad to show you all the works. What is more, some of them sell their own products, so you don’t have to leave empty-handed.
Lectures and workshops
We’ve prepared interactive lectures and workshops for you. It’s not just about a lecturer’s monologue; the audience can join the discussion or participate in the workshop. The time and place of lectures are listed in the program, so all you have to do is be there in time and you won’t miss a thing.
There is a number next to each lecture or workshop. You can find that number in the list after the programme with a detailed description. Workshop registration works on a “fist come, first served” basis.
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The whole weekend (THESE ACTIVITIES ARE OPEN FOR THE WHOLE DAY, MOSTLY FROM 10 AM)
Thu–Sun – Board game room (3rd floor)
Thu–Sun – PC game room (3rd floor)
Thu–Sun – Teahouse (Novigrad)
Thu–Sun – Sales stands (space in front of the main stage, 3rd floor, historical encampment)
Thu–Sun – Arena and archery (historical encampment)
Thu–Sun – Crafts (historical encampment)
Thu–Sun – Photo room (rear inn)
Thu–Sat – Elven arts (elven camp)
Thu–Sat – Hairdos and warpaints (elven camp)
Thu–Sat – Fingerloop (elven camp)
Thu–Sat – Golden hour (Cuttlefish camp)
Thu–Sat – Cuttlefish mini LARP (Cuttlefish camp)
Fri–Sun – Breakfast, 7:30 AM – 10 AM (Pontar Inn)
Fri – Photo op with birds of prey (grandstand)
Thursday 8. 9.
2 PM – doors
5 PM – start of the festival
5 PM – 7 PM – concert by Klíč
7 PM – 7:10 PM – The Black Dawn – story line
7 PM – 8 PM – The Black Dawn – story line
8 PM – 9:45 PM – concert by Ginevra
9:45 PM – 10 PM – The Black Dawn – story line
Novigrad:
4 PM – 5 PM – Leather crafts – history, facts and fun facts (8)
5 PM – 5:45 PM – Discussing mead (18)
Rear inn:
3:30 PM – 4 PM – (VIP) A tour of the Housův mlýn with a commentary (19)
Upper hall:
4 PM – 5 PM – Harnischfechten – fighting in armour (2)
5 PM – 6 PM – My first LARP costume (3)
6 PM – 7 PM – My first armour (4)
The rest:
6 PM – 7 PM – Guided mead tasting (Novigrad)
10 PM – 3 AM – Novigrad night life
Friday 9. 9.
5 PM – 7 PM – concert by Strigoň
7 PM – 7:10 PM – The Black Dawn – story line
8 PM – 9:45 PM – concert by Deloraine
9:45 PM – 10 PM – The Black Dawn – story line
Grandstand:
noon – 1 PM – The birds of prey show (12)
1 PM – 1:45 PM – Horses in history (9)
2 PM – 3 PM – The birds of prey show (12)
3 PM – 3:45 PM – Horses in battle (10)
4 PM – 5 PM – Harnischfechten – fighting in armour (lecture in English) (2)
5 PM – 5:45 – Tjost now and then (11)
Novigrad:
10 AM – 11:30 AM – Working with leather, crafting a pendant or a bracelet (13)
1 PM – 2:30 PM – Hookahs plus tasting (17)
2:30 PM – 3:15 PM – Discussing mead (18)
3:15 PM – 4 PM – Medieval board games and gambling (1)
5:45 PM – 6:45 PM – Leather crafts – history, facts and fun facts (8)
Upper hall:
10 AM – 11 AM – SLA 3D print, or Working with resin 101 (1st part) (14)
11 AM – noon – My first LARP costume (lecture in English) (3)
noon – 1 PM – My first armour (lecture in English) (4)
1 PM – 2 PM – A late-medieval town vs Novigrad; where does reality end and fiction begins? (7)
4 PM – 4:30 PM – SLA 3D print, or Working with resin 101 (2nd part) (14)
Upper inn:
10 AM – 10:45 AM – Inspiration through history, or Why you should (not) limit yourself to the Middle Ages (5)
11 AM – 11:30 AM – (VIP) A chat with the President of Gwint Klub (20)
11:30 AM – noon – (VIP) A chat with the producer of Witcher Stories (21)
noon – 1 PM – Translating The Witcher 3 and other videogames (22)
5:45 – 6:45 PM – What if Geralt ended with Triss, or Alternative history in fiction (6)
Historical encampment:
11 AM – noon – Archery and rangership (16)
4 PM – 5 PM – Archery and rangership (16)
Elven camp:
noon – 1 PM – Soft violence with a sabre (15)
3 PM – 4 PM – Soft violence with a sabre (15)
Photo room:
2 PM – 3 PM – Photo op with Foltest and the Northern staff
3 PM – 4 PM – Photo op with Emhyr and the Southern staff
The rest:
Every odd hour from 11 AM (last at 7 PM) – Guided mead tasting (Novigrad)
Every even hour from noon (last at 6 PM) – Guided whiskey tasting (next to main stage)
10 PM – 10:30 PM – Cuttlefish secret ritual (grandstand)
10 PM – 3 AM – Novigrad night life
Saturday 10. 9.
10 AM – 11:30 AM – cosplay contest (non-public round)
1 PM – 2:45 PM – cosplay contest (public round)
5:15 PM – 6:45 PM – concert by Jeden kmen
8:00 PM – 8:15 PM – The Black Dawn – story line
8:15 PM – 9:45 PM – concert by Žywiolak
Grandstand:
12:15 PM – 1 PM – Atypical fight against monsters (23)
1 PM – 1:45 PM – Horses in history (9)
2 PM – 2:45 PM – Horses in battle (10)
3 PM – 3:15 PM – The Black Dawn – story line
3:30 PM – 4:15 PM – Tjost now and then (11)
4:15 PM – 5:15 PM – Harnischfechten – fighting in armour (2)
5:15 PM – 6 PM – Atypical fight against monsters (23)
Novigrad:
noon – 1 PM – Leather crafts – history, facts and fun facts (8)
1 PM – 2:30 PM – Hookahs plus tasting (17)
3:15 PM – 4:15 PM – Medieval board games and gambling (1)
4:15 PM – 5 PM – Discussing mead (18)
Upper inn:
11 AM – 11:45 AM – How to take a picture in cosplay and look good doing it (24)
1:45 PM – 2:30 PM – What if Geralt ended with Triss, or Alternative history in fiction (6)
3:30 PM – 4:15 PM – How to take a picture in cosplay and look good doing it (24)
5:45 PM – 6:30 PM – Inspiration through history, or Why you should (not) limit yourself to the Middle Ages (5)
Upper hall:
10 AM – 11 AM – SLA 3D print, or Working with resin 101 (1st part) (14)
11 AM – noon – My first LARP costume (3)
noon – 1 PM – My first armour (4)
3:30 PM – 4:30 PM – How to create a witcher using science (25)
4:30 PM – 5 PM – SLA 3D print, or Working with resin 101 (2nd part) (14)
5 PM – 5:45 PM – A late-medieval town vs Novigrad; where does reality end and fiction begins? (7)
Historical encampment:
11 AM – noon – Archery and rangership (16)
1:45 PM – 2:45 PM – Archery and rangership (16)
Elven camp:
noon – 1 PM – Soft violence with a sabre (15)
5 PM – 6 PM – Soft violence with a sabre (15)
The rest:
Every odd hour from 11 AM (last at 7 PM) – Guided mead tasting (Novigrad)
Every even hour from 12 AM (last at 6 PM) – Guided whiskey tasting (next to main stage)
10 PM – 3 AM – Novigrad night life
Sunday 11. 9.
10 AM – 11:45 AM – Working with leather, crafting a pendant or a bracelet (13)
11:45 AM – 12:30 PM – Inspiration through history, or Why you should (not) limit yourself to the Middle Ages (5)
Upper inn:
11 AM – 11:45 AM – What if Geralt ended with Triss, or Alternative history in fiction (6)
Grandstand:
10 AM – 10:45 AM – How to take a picture in cosplay and look good doing it (24)
11 AM – 11:45 AM – Atypical fight against monsters (23)
The list of lectures and workshops
1. Medieval board games and gambling
Medieval board games, cards, dice, gambling. What people played for fun and in which games you could lose money and a roof over your head? All games will be playable after the lecture.
2. Harnischfechten – fighting in armour
You cannot pierce a metal plate with a sword. We will discuss what it looked like when two persons faced each other in full plate armour. And perhaps we’ll debunk some deep-rooted myths about armour or knights…
3. My first LARP costume
Crafting and selecting a basic LARP costume – material, sources, design, pointers.
4. My first armour
How to start crafting historical and fantasy armour. Pointers, demonstration, and comparison of options.
5. Inspiration through history, or Why you should (not) limit yourself to the Middle Ages
Most often, we connect fantasy with the European Middle Ages, but we frequently and unknowingly draw inspiration from the entire history. Do nations and professional armies belong to the Middle Ages? Where in history would we find a big council of rulers, and what was the opinion on homosexuality in the past?
6. What if Geralt ended with Triss, or Alternative history in fiction
What would happen if…? A question everyone asks. What do we think about this alternative history today, and how can we use it while writing fantasy or worldbuilding? Can we use alternative history in fantasy and in The Witcher? And what would have happened with that red-haired sorceress?
7. A late-medieval town vs Novigrad; where does reality end and fiction begins?
What was life in a late-medieval town like? What did The Witcher do to give us a good idea or distort it? A short lecture about various aspects of life in a late-medieval town compared to the visualisation by CD Projekt. Key points: town structures, everyday life, urbanism, law.
8. Leather crafts – history, facts and fun facts
Working with leather before and today. What could our ancestors do better? Various facts and titbits people don’t know.
9. Horses in history
A horse in a time of war and peace. What were breeds graded up for, why were knights’ horses so expensive and how “fun” it was to travel.
10. Horses in battle
What was the difference between light and heavy cavalry? Why is it not enough just to hold your lance and go forward? And why is the sentence “I would kill the horse first, then the rider” far easier said than done?
11. Tjost now and then
A comparison of a real and theatrical fight. How to prepare a horse for a show. What lies does the movie business have us believe, and why are “knights in plastic” so popular?
12. The birds of prey show
A complex show and interaction with the audience..
13. Working with leather, crafting a pendant or a bracelet
A practical demonstration and a workshop with leather. You can leave with a handmade souvenir!
14. SLA 3D print, or Working with resin 101
Workshop for 6-8 people, where we take a look at the complex process of 3D print using stereolithography, or resin 3D print. The workshop is divided into two parts: in the fist one, we take a look at processing of the model and discuss the pros and cons of this method; in the second one, we will take a look at finishing the project and the model. If everything goes alright, you can leave with both knowledge and a small souvenir.
15. Soft violence with a sabre
A lecture and a workshop about LARP fights and handling a sabre. Get to know the beauty of this weapon first hand.
16. Archery and rangership
What does archery have in common with elves and rangers? How to shoot with a bow properly? What are the differences between various bows? Plus, many interesting facts about this silent weapon.
17. Hookahs plus tasting
What is the difference between tobaccos, how does a hookah work, and everything you need to know about hookahs. Plus, tasting of various kinds of tobacco.
18. Discussing mead
Water, mead, ferment and drink up. Is it really that simple? How long does it really take, and why are herbs used sometimes? Basic information about mead with subsequent tasting.
19. A tour of the Housův mlýn with a commentary (VIP)
Visit places others cannot. Learn something about the history and get to know Housův mlýn as never before.
20. A chat with the President of Gwint Klub (VIP)
Take a peek behind the scenes of the preparation of Blavicon and ask whatever you want to know.
21. A chat with the producer of Witcher Stories (VIP)
About making the costumes for Blavicon and its theatrical component, plus behind-the-scenes information about shooting mini short video stories from the world of The Witcher. Ask whatever you want to know.
22. Translating The Witcher 3 and other videogames
The former Czech videogame translator Filip Ženíšek discusses his work on the Czech localization of The Witcher 3 and many other videogames.
23. Atypical fight against monsters
You are a swordsman, you’ve got experience and no one can beat you. But what if you are not attacked by a human, but an animal? Or worse, a monster? Can you defend yourself? A demonstration of techniques and options while fighting against monsters, if you don’t have superhuman Witcher skills.
24. How to take a picture in cosplay and look good doing it
You’ve got cosplay inspired by real armour and you’ve even got a real weapon. But you don’t know how to stand, how to hold your weapon and look fantastic in a picture without showing you have no idea how to use your weapon or armour? Then this is the workshop for you.
25. How to create a witcher using science
The order of the witchers has a sacred mission to protect the people of the world from monsters and evil, even though people don’t celebrate them at all and often throw more than curses and swear words at them. Members of this order even had to give up their humanity in order to match the physical or magical attributes of the monsters they fight against. Their bodies and minds went through a mutation during the Trial of the Grasses. However, what does today’s science think about witcher mutations? Can it give people catlike eyes, accelerated healing or the age worth of mages? You will learn this from the scientists of the popularising project Vědátor.
26. Metalworks and torsion
Forging with iron is the basics, but what about other materials? How is metal processed in smithery? You will also learn what is torsion and how to do it.