[HOBBIT EVENTS) Green Dragon Friday 10th anniversary, May 4 and May 11

[Linawillow]

Back in May 2008, the hobbits on Laurelin started meeting at the Green Dragon every Friday night. They met to gossip, drink ales, dance, forge friendships and have a good time. Now we celebrate the tenth anniversary of Green Dragon Friday, and yer are invited!

What is Green Dragon Friday?

Green Dragon Friday is a weekly, player-run event for hobbit roleplayers on the Laurelin server of Lord of the Rings Online. Here, hobbits meet at the end of the week to celebrate a day off from their daily chores.

Why party on Fridays? Friday, or Highday, is a special day in the Shire hobbit calendar. It is the seventh and last day of the week, and from noon hobbits celebrate a weekly holiday with an evening feast. Significant days in the Shire calendar, like 1 Lithe (midsummer eve) and 1 Yule (new year’s eve), always fall on Fridays.

As far as I have been able to find out, Green Dragon Friday is the oldest recurring player-run event in LOTRO. It has been steadily chugging along more or less every week for ten years (apart from the odd Christmas Day Friday break), perhaps a little bit outside of the public eye of folks in Bree and players on other servers.

The fact that the event is hobbit-only (besides visiting dwarves, who are always welcome) has probably contributed to GDF being somewhat less visible than many other events. Remember, though: This is not a rule that is aimed to exclude players to take part, or a result of the organizers hating players of other races.

The rule is simply a tool that helps keep a small but friendly community of hobbit roleplayers together, enabling them to play on their own terms and pursue their own interests, away from troubled mysterious rangers and 1000-year-old elves plotting to leave these lands. It is also a rule that helps create an inn atmosphere closer to what you see in the books. In Tolkien’s Shire, men and elves were rare sights in the hobbit lands, and they rarely (if ever) visited the inns. Sam Gamgee had spent his life dreaming of seeing an elf. You can bet he never saw one dancing on the tables in the Green Dragon.

So, if you would like to take part or come see what the event is all about, please don’t hesitate. Roll up a hobbit character, stay in-character (which generally means, don’t talk about stuff that doesn’t belong in Middle-Earth) and respect the other players there, and you’ll be greeted a warm welcome.


Video from the 7th anniversary

The 10th anniversary parties

There are two parties planned, both held at the Green Dragon in Bywater on the LOTRO server Laurelin, at the usual time of 7:30PM UK/BST (2:30PM servertime). Here are some of the things planned (subject to change):

The roof party on Friday May 4

Since the LOTRO anniversary celebration is on this Friday, the Green Dragon might be invaded by players who run around the inn looking for floating remembrance books for a quest. This is somewhat disruptive when you try drink ales and have a good time, and one of the books is even placed bang in the middle of our regular meeting spot. So, this Friday, we’ll celebrate outside, starting on the roof of the Green Dragon.

Activities planned are:

• The Grand GDF Green Outfit competition - see below for rules
• The Grand GDF Angler championship - a short fishing competition in the Water below the inn. Sign-ups on the day.
• Round one of the Grand GDF Raffle - win fun and grand prizes!
• The Grand GDF Pony Dance - bring yer ponies for a dance outside the inn!
• GDF-related entertainment - see below for how to sign up

(if the flute player outside of the Dragon gets annoying, remember that it is now possible to filter away particular sound effects. Be aware that he plays 3 different songs, all which should be put in your filter)

The main party on Friday May 11

Activities planned are:

• The Grand GDF Anniversary Play - a short theatrical play!
• The Grand GDF Anniversary Meal - 10 courses?
• The Grand GDF Anniversary Speech - short and sweet!
• Round two of the Grand GDF Raffle - win fun and grand prizes!
• The Grand GDF Fireworks Display - boom!
• GDF-related entertainment - see below for how to sign up

Entertainer sign-up

Green Dragon Friday is home to many hobbit performers. For the parties, we encourage sign-ups in advance:

• Prepare riddles, songs, poems, limericks or similar that relates to the Green Dragon, Bywater, Green Dragon Friday and/or its patrons.
• Be creative! Offer to bake an anniversary pie to present and serve, tell a story/poem related to a character previously active at the event, prepare a limerick about Barmy... it is all grand!
• Sign up in advance for a given date by sending me a letter. Given the other activities planned these Fridays, there may be little to no room for on-the-day sign-ups.
• Any entertainment that is related to GDF somehow will be given priority.
• Keep your entries short and to the point (10 minutes is max, but shorter is better)

Green Outfit Competition (no sign-ups, just wear a green outfit during the roof party on May 4)

During the warmup party on May 4, there will be a "stealth" outfit competition running through the night. A jury will choose which outfits they feel celebrate the spirit of Green Dragon Friday the best. Prizes will be awarded near the end of the night.

The only rule? Your outfit has to have a green theme! That's it! It won't have to be fully green (I hear good things about yellow...), but the main colour must indeed be green. Apart from this, feel free to try express GDF through your chosen clothes or cosmetic items (including hand-held items). There will be no sign-up for the competition, just come dressed in your best greens. Lots of prizes will be handed out, to both grand and silly costumes.


Costumes from a previous anniversary

Who can participate?

As mentioned above: Please note that Green Dragon Friday is a hobbit roleplaying event, with travelling dwarves welcome. We kindly ask that men and elves do not attend the event. Not because we are mean and hate you (or the players behind the avatars), but because we'd like to keep the event hobbit oriented and somewhat close to the inn experiences you get from the books.

So, create a hobbit character, stay in-character in /chat, and we'll have a grand good time together!

[Linawillow]

We kick off tonight, with the roof party! 7:30PM UK (2:30PM servertime) as usual, hobbits! Welcome!

Wear green outfits, bring a fishing rod and hope for good luck in the raffles!

Please note: Green Dragon Friday is a roleplaying event for hobbits. While travelling dwarves are always welcome at the inn, for lore reasons we generally ask that the Big Folk do not attend. Please roll up a hobbit instead to attend, it is grand fun!

[Linawillow]

Friday May 11 we celebrate 10 years of Green Dragon Friday, the weekly roleplaying event for hobbits on Laurelin. Every year, we draw up a grand meal that the hobbits can order from Barmy at the bar. This year, I figured we’d announce the menu in advance, so yer can find yer favourites before the event. Or order them all, ‘s up to yer!

This year, the theme is “Food from the Shire Villages”. So we offer ten courses from different locations across our lovely homeland, with dishes inspired by the villages they hail from.

Starters
Hobbiton: Mushroom, goat’s cheese and Appledores apple salad, served with buttered fresh-baked bread.

Little Delving: Fried catfish cakes, served on crisp lettuce with a dollop of sour cream mixed with a twist of lemon.

Michel Delving: Thin slices of cured beef, sprinkled with fresh-picked herbs and drizzled with a light mustard sauce.

Mains:
Waymeet: Lemon and thyme butter-basted roast Brownlocke chickens, served with fresh boiled taters, steamed veg and gravy.

Stock: Crisp-fried golden perch, served with stewed dill taters and a wedge of lemon.

Budgeford: Tender slow-roasted pork with apple and lavender sauce, served with crisp crackling and roasted taters.

Brockenborings: Warm mutton and mushroom pies, served with mashed taters and thick gravy made with a healthy splash of apple brandy.

Afters:
Frogmorton: Treacle and ale tart, made with a gentle splash of Toad’s Tongue Ale and served with whipped cream.

Woodhall: Berry trifle; creamy goodness with wild berries from the wood, sponge cake and whipped cream, sprinkled with crushed gingernut biscuits.

Tuckborough: Slices of the Thain’s favourite caraway seed cake, served with a glass of the Thain’s favourite sherry.

Naturally, ales, wines, cider, brandy and tea is served all night. And, obviously, sherry. Enjoy, hobbits! See yer in Bywater on Friday!