Czequestria

By years – photos, videos, and reports

About the event

Czequestria is a smaller MLP: FiM con held in Prague every other year, usually the last or before-last week of August, from Friday to Sunday.

On Friday, an all-day LARP with an MLP theme takes place – participants in small groups walk through Prague, gradually revealing the story and performing various tasks. The game is intended for all participants in the con (the basic entrance fee covers participation in LARP) and the difficulty is adapted to complete beginners. You just walk through the Crystal Mirror portal and as a group of ponies, you spend a whole day in the world of humans. You can think of participation as a typical LARP (no cosplays needed), or as an orientation game around Prague – the main thing is to have fun with others. Friday night includes a pre-party in the form of a meetup in a restaurant inside or outside, usually near the end of LARP.

The Saturday and Sunday program belongs to the classic con program with panels, interviews, workshops, a hall full of vendors, etc. Saturday evening belongs to the concerts of the brony musicians and the subsequent DJ party until later hours. The whole program takes place in one venue. The program blocks have longer breaks in between, so there is plenty of time to meet people and other activities, such as music games (My Little Karaoke, DDR Trotmania, My Little Rockband …), QR codes hunt game, etc.

Con organizers usually invite one foreign guest who directly participated in the production of the series (writer, voice actor…) and at least one guest from the Czech and/or Slovak dubbing who participated in the Czech or Slovak version of MLP: FiM. You will also find community guests and creators of fan content of all kinds, both from the Czech Republic and Slovakia as well as from abroad. The event takes place in a cultural house, which is adjacent to the park, where you can relax or participate in chalk drawing. The end of the event includes – as became MLP conventions tradition – a charity auction.

The whole program is held in English (local VA panels are translated from Czech and/or Slovak when needed) and about half of the visitors come from abroad, mainly from Germany and Poland.

The whole event is carried in a mostly informal community spirit but retains the features of a classic con scheme with an official program. Ideal for all who are looking for smaller events, which in addition to the classic program offers plenty of space for informal community entertainment and relaxation among other fans.

Since its beginning in 2014, Czequestria has been organized by the non-profit association CZ/SK bronies z.s.

History

The first idea to organize an MLP con in Prague came when some of the future organizers in 2012 visited the then first GalaCon in Germany. Subsequently, encouraged by M. A. Larson at BronyDays in Paris in October 2013, who asked “When will the MLP con take place in Prague?” and was promised that something is planned for next year – it was decided. Subsequently, in 2013, the same team organized several larger events, where they gained the necessary experience with the organization. In the same year, future organization team members founded the association CZ/SK bronies z.s., which covers all activities formally.

The first Czequestria was held in August 2014 and since 2015 it has been held every other year. It gradually grew to almost twice its original size, but still retained the character of the event with a community atmosphere.

The event history in the whole context was shown in the documentary movie “Road to Czequestria” (English subtitles included):

Mascot

The mascot of Czequestria and the city of Prague is Miss Libussa (in Czech “Libuše”) – a light-yellow unicorn pony with blue eyes inspired by duchess Libuše from the legend of the founding the city of Prague. The red and yellow colors of the mane symbolize the colors of Prague, the cutie mark represents the Old Town Astronomical Clock and the wreath of linden leaves on her head refers to the Czech national tree.

The creator of Libussa art form is Aya Yai, and the voice of her animated form belongs to Perrydotto. Libussa also has a backstory, whose authors are Darm and Iluzon.