Planning events in Drachenwald can be complicated.  There are more groups in the Kingdom than there are weeks in the year.  And that's before you take out the weekends reserved for Kingdom events, holiday weekends and so on.

That said, it should not be too difficult to get the right weekend for your event, if you understand how the Kingdom Calendar works, and plan ahead.

The Rules of the Kingdom Calendar

The Calendar is governed by laws concerning the dates of Kingdom Events and Policy concerning having multiple events on the same dates.

Dates for Kingdom Events

Kingdom Law specifies five weekends that are reserved for Kingdom Events.  Although the laws only explicitly forbids other events being held on the same weekend as the Tournaments, it would be considered bad form to clash with any of them.  Those weekends are:

The dates for the next year are always listed on the Kingdom Calendar, so check before choosing a weekend near those times. 

Events on the Same Date

Dates on the Kingdom Calendar are reserved on a first come, first served basis.   The Kingdom Seneschal's Policy lays out the rules for allowing multiple events on one date.  The Kingdom is divided into five regions:

• Aarnimetsä (Finland)
• Nordmark (Sweden)
• Insulae Draconis (United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland)
• Central (Germany, Austria, Denmark, The Netherlands and France)
• South (Spain, Greece, Italy, Israel, and South Africa)

A request for an event on the same date as another will always be allowed if they are in different regions.

A request for an event on the same day as another will be allowed if they are in the same region, but more than 500km (310 miles) apart.

A request for an event on the same day as another, in the same region, and less than 500km apart, will be allowed if the group that first booked the date gives written agreement for the clash.

Decisions on dates rest with the Chronicler.

Planning

Planning ahead is the most important thing.  The further ahead you plan, the greater your chance of getting the weekend you want.  Given that some popular sites can be booked a year or more in advance, advance planning is sometimes forced upon us.

As well as making sure you get the weekend you want, you also want to choose that weekend to give your event the best chance of success and get as many people attending as possible.

Look ahead at the Kingdom Calendar.  First, make sure the weekend you want is free, or, if there are events that weekend, they don't clash as defined in the rules above.  If there are events elsewhere, check to see if it might affect attendance at your event.  If you are planning a big fighting event, and there is a big war that weekend in the neighbouring region, you might lose some of your fighters to that.  Also check the weekends either side.  If there are two big fighting events on consecutive weekends, many people will only be able to make it to one of them.

Don't forget out-of-kingdom events.  This is probably not as big an issue here as it is in the USA, but always be aware of the dates for Pennsic, for example, as this is one event that does attract a strong contingent from Drachenwald.

Even if the weekend you want may be free on the Calendar, it may also be worth looking at last year's calendars, to see roughly when the big calendar fixtures are.  It would be a shame if you booked a weekend in April for a fighting event, and then discovered later that Double Wars was going to cover that weekend.