or Live Action Role Play - one of my madder hobbies. It’s a bit like Dungeons & Dragons, but we actually hit people.
There are various definitions of LARP, some describe it as improvised theater sans audience, lets-pretend for grown-ups and I’ve even heard it described as cross-country pantomime. I like to refer to it as a bunch of people dressed in strange clothes hitting each other with rubber swords :)
Essentially, you dress up in an appropriate costume and “play the role” of your Character. You make In-Character (IC) decisions, and take appropriate actions, sometimes these are the complete opposite of what you would normally do in the real world Out-Of-Character (OOC).
Sometimes you get to hit other people with “LARP-safe” weapons- weapons made from foam and Latex This is fun :)
As much as I would like to say otherwise, I’m an amateur at this, and I am giving just my definition/views/understanding. I’m sure people will correct me :)
Wikipedia has a whole article on the subject, if you want read more see the article
I play in a system called Maelstrom and Profound Decisions - who run this particular system - have a good definition of LARP
You can see more about the system on the Following LARP Pages: