I eat about 3500 calories per day to maintain my weight (I’m 6’2″ and weigh 200 lbs). That’s a lot of food (Not if you decide to drink olive oil though). When larping, I rarely find enough time to eat the number of calories my body needs. The lack of energy affects my enthusiasm, performance and will to socialize with other non-hungry
- Can I heat it?
- Can I keep it cold?
- Can I eat it cold?
- Will I be eating in character, if so, what foods are time-appropriate?
- Will the organizers serve anything?
- ….. and more.
What to Eat When Larping
You’ll want to pack a lot of snacks – things you can eat on the go to restore
If you’re looking for something practical to eat during the day (on the go):
- Dried Fruit
- Protein or Granola Bars
- Fruits/Greens (Grapes, carrots, pickles, olives, bananas, apples etc)
- Bread – Keep it stored in a cool place, away from the sunlight
- Boiled or scrambled eggs (Preferably boiled if you’re on the run)
- Canned goods such as chicken, fruit cocktail, tuna etc.
- Snacks of your choice
- Nuts
- Beef Jerky
- Juice
- Cheese (Laughing cow triangles are really good)
- Oatcakes
- Protein Shake.
Store your food safely to keep rodents away. Make sure you hide and store it well. Storing your meals in a robust container will render their attempts to infiltrate your lunch fruitless. If you like bananas, make sure to eat them early on, otherwise you’ll have a tent full of flies.
Cooking For a Larp
Yes, snacks are great but they shouldn’t be your main source for nutrition – only eating carbohydrates will eventually lead to a crash, additionally, a diet consisting mainly of carbohydrates won’t keep the hunger away as efficiently as a diet consisting of carbohydrates, protein, and fats. Therefore, it is beneficial to prepare meals at home. Your energy levels will be more stable, you’ll be able to endure more, and you’ll save money by making your own food at home. But first….
How long is the event? If you’re attending an event that lasts for more than one day, you need to store your meals accordingly. The organizer will, in most cases, not be able to provide a cool place for you to store your food. In that case, you need to bring a cooler. I would opt for a cooler that can retain ice for a couple of days.
What to cook at home? Unless you got the right tools for it, heating up a meal at the event can be a challenging task. In that case, prepare something that you can eat cold. Down below are a couple of options that can be enjoyed cold.
- Sliced chicken breast
- Pasta
- Salad – Use any of the ingredients listed to top the salad, for example, a chicken/tuna/salmon salad with pasta.
- Tuna
- Salmon
- Pre-made chicken burritos/wraps – Make a bunch of rolls and bring a container with salsa.
- Baguettes with a filling of your choice.
It comes down to taste, If you enjoy cold potatoes – bring cold potatoes. If you enjoy other options and don’t mind eating them
Another option would be self-heating meals. These are pretty cool. In the course of a couple of minutes, your meal can self-heat up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. These are pre-made meals – you can’t use these pads for your own homemade meals.
Yeah, the method used is pretty impressive. However, many self-heating meals taste pretty bad. I’m not an expert on self-heating meals but the ones I’ve tried have been below average, taste-wise.
This is a much, much better option – an electric heating lunch box. It plugs into your car and uses the car battery to heat your meal. Store your food in another container and pour it into the heating lunch box to heat it, that way you only need to buy one. If your car is within walking distance and you don’t mind going there to heat your food – go ahead. It’s a very smart device. I purchased 10 of these and gave them to my
Cooking at a Larp
Cooking onsite is a totally viable option that many people enjoy doing for the people at their campsite. There are two ways of doing this, either by cooking over an open fire or using a propane stove, oftentimes, the more primitive way of doing it is favored. Preparing and cooking a meal over an open fire with your entire group gathered around the campfire is great, the only downside is that it takes twice as long to prepare.
If you’re leaning towards the open fire-way of doing this, you need to make sure that the region you’re larping in allows you to start a fire. Sometimes, it may be prohibited depending on conditions (Say there’s been a drought in your area – in that case, you shouldn’t start a fire)
If you’re allowed to cook over an open fire, go for a stew or something small – never opt for a dish that takes hours to do at home – it’ll take an entire day to cook at the event. Doing an entire stew for your group will still take a lot of time – alternatively, you could prepare the stew the day before and reheat it over the open fire. That way you can cook, eat, and enjoy a meal while being in character without spending your entire day in a camp.
Another option that takes substantially less time to cook is a hot dog on a stick, bring toppings of your choice and hot dog buns – you’ll have a meal prepared in a fraction of the time that it would take to prepare the stew.
If you desire that early-morning cup of coffee or tea, you could boil water over an open fire, it will still take quite some time for the water to reach boiling point. Lately, I’ve used a zip cooking system for my coffee addiction – it boils water in a couple of minutes. It’s absolutely perfect for instant noodles, soup, and oatmeal too.
Lastly, cleanliness is of great importance at larps.
- Your hands are most likely dirty – wash them before handling food.
- Some food may go bad even if stored in a cooler – make sure it doesn’t smell strange.
- Bring a garbage bag to dispose of your trash – don’t leave your trash on site.
- Paper plates are perfect – leave porcelain plates at home but bring mugs/water bottles.
Larp appropriate dishes
What’s appropriate to eat at a
Helpful sources include
- Reddit r/Larp
- Townsends Youtube Channel.
- Dystopia Rising’s guide on post-apocalyptic food
Tamwise Travel’s Youtube Video on Larp Food
Related Questions
Can I buy food at larps? Many larps offer edible options that can be purchased for in-game or real currency. This varies a lot depending on the event and their budget/ticket prices. If you’re spending 10 bucks on a ticket, don’t expect them to serve food. If you’re paying more, meals may even be included in the price of the ticket. Browse the event’s website for more information, if nothing can be found contact the arranging crew.