PROFESSOR ROTHERHAM
Roly will tell you in his lecture about the "Legends of the Forest People" - meeting these unique creatures of course goes very well with the theme of this years EFF Arcen.

They highly popular Consul General of Elfia professor Rotherham doesn't miss an Elf Fantasy Fair. Roly, as he is called affectionately, loves the Elf Fantasy Fair just as much as his beloved cricket. Professor Rotherham is best known for his work about the Holy Grail and the Holy Spear. With this subjectmatter he become the world's first professor in Arthurian and Grail studies. He is an  internationally respected and well-known authority within this field. He will treat the audience again to his interesting, intelligent and extremely entertaining lectures. This year's lecture will be called Legend of the Forest People and was inspired by this year's theme.

THE FORESTS OF PAPUA-NEW GUINEA – a lecture by the WWF
Hans Beukeboom, an expert within the field of forests will be giving this interesting lecture. He will speak about deforestation and what effect that has; he focuses especially on the woods of Papua-New Guinea. In his lecture he will also show you some picture of this area. That way you can see for yourself to what good cause your donation (from buying an EFF ticket) is going to. WWF's Bente is currently in Papua-New Guinea and she will also speak to you about her travels and experiences over there.

VOM KLEINEN VOLKE
The world of "Vom Kleinen Volke" is a medieval figure and experience theater. In the detailled world of their behind the scenes live the most wondrous creatures that originate from the otherworld. These beings are so lifelike that you won't ever encouter any like them. Their theater shows are accompanied by medieval music, played live by the musicians of the Kleinen Volke. The audience has the privilege to choose from their repertoire, which consists of more than 40 stories, poems and songs. One moment they are poetic, sometimes in a pensive mood and just as often they are in a humours mood. Important to their act is the interaction with their audience. Not only does the audience get to choose the parts of the play; they may also decide how long the play lasts and what kind of play it will be. They also get to take a puppet into their hands and play along. A fun activity for both young and old. Every show of the Kleinen Volke is different and that's what makes it unique. 
www.vom-kleinen-volke.de

VERTELTHEATER KEES VAN WANROOIJ
Stand up to demons, angry dwarfs and black wizzards; together with storyteller Kees van Wanrooij

Verteltheater (storytellertheater) Kees van Wanrooij is active for years now and is known to be a retorical storyteller. His stories are dynamical, hilarious and touching. Especially for the EFF 2010 in Arcen he has made a revision of Peronnic, a Grail story from Brittany about the quest of a sluggar who is being confronted with his biggest fears. He decides to face his fears and goes out to search for the Cup that gives life and the diamond Spear who causes things to die. He has to pass the dragons in the lake; he faces the woods of fire and demons; with a cunning list he manages to get the apple of wisdom from the angry dwarf and then he meets the black wizzard who guards the Grail and the Spear. A beautiful story filled with symbolism, thrill and adventure; an ageless tale.

Of course he can't forget the hilarious adventures of Timothy O'Leary. Also Daedalus and Icarus will discover the secret of flying; somewhat inspired by circumstances and a minotaur. We will learn how that creature was conceived in the process as well.
More information on www.rojewolf.nl



ABE DE VERTELLER
Meet the trees! Abe de Verteller will take you on a journey where you can get aquainted with a number of trees. Whilst walking he will tell you tales, myths and facts about these green giants.

"Welcome to my world, a world of myths and fairytales. I tell myths and fairytales from the Celtic and Nordic tradition; knight tales; Greek myths; dark fairytales; Dutch sagas and much more. In total I have more than 220 stories in my repertoire. All these stories called out to me, wanting to be told. Apart from the world of tales, nature and symbolism also play a huge part in my life.
I tell tales where en when ever I can because this is my passion. I recount with expression and emotion; with my heart and my hands and with fire and flame!"

Lecture about the Celtic tree-calender
In this lecture you'll learn all about magic; folklore and the mythology of trees. Abe will take you along on a journey where you'll meet the 13 most magical trees of the Celtic world. He will tell you about their meaning and character.

Besides telling stories and giving a lecture Abe will also do tree-walking tours, which goes extremely well with the theme of the EFF Arcen. He will stop at different kind of trees and tell you about them. At these trees and shrubs (oak, linden, ash, beech, hazel, hawthorn etc.) he initially will tell you something about their appearance, learning you how to discern them. Then he will continue with mythology, folk belief and rituals. For instance, did you know that a witch once was called a 'haegtes' meaning hedgerider? The hedge they referred to is the hawthorn, this shrub was once used as a boundary between tilled soil and ontilled ground. Did you know that the Lindentree is devoted to the Nordic goddess of love Freya and that its meaning is reflected in the heart-shaped leafs. And did you know the beech is etymologically related to book and the reason for that being the ancient Germanics who carved their runes (old writing) into the bark of the beech... With this tree-walking tour you'll learn a lot about trees and you will also learn how to recognize them. 
More on Abe on www.abedeverteller.moonfruit.com

THE WORLD OF ANTHOLOGIES - a lecture by Torsten Low
Torsten Low (1975) is a German author and a minor publisher. He lives with his wife in Erlingen, Germany and works in the mobile phone industry. He has been writing short stories since his youth; one of his stories was published by a fanzine. From his hobby bookbinding he created the Torsten Low Publishing. 2005 saw the release of his first novel, the first part of the fantasy-cycle "Dunkel Über Daingistan", which he published himself. In 2007 the sceond part "Dämmerung" was released.
In 2008 the publisher set course to a different path with the release of the anthology "Lichtbringer". "Fair shy" is the motto of Torsten Low, who wants to gather a mixture of unpublished, young authors and published, established authors; he wants to accomplish this with the anthologies and the books that are planned to be released. Thusfar the selection is modest but he is working hard to increase this. Torsten Low will read from his anthologies. www.verlag-torsten-low.de

RELIGION AND FANTASY: A LIKELY COMBINATION? – a lecture by Adrian Stone
Author Adrian Stone will talk about the reasons why not only he, but more and more fantasy authors make religion the focuspoint of their books. Are clergymen the new wizzards?

DUTCH WRITERS HUNTING FOR GERMAN READERS – a lecture with three successfull Dutch authors
Dutch authors Thomas Oldeheuvelt, Tais Teng and W.J. Maryson together will give a lecture in which they will talk about international publication. They will also tell you in what way they approach the German audience; since fantasy is becoming more and more popular genre in Germany. Three writers, three points-of-view ... come and listen to this lecture and find out if they share one opinion.